World’s fastest electric boat takes on Tesla

The idea was to show that waterborne, electric high-speed ferries can be a viable alternative to the Autobahn.

The hydrofoil Candela Seven flies above the surface, which reduces friction from the water by 80 percent and gives a range of 92km at 25 knots (46km/h). Top speed is 30 knots (55 km/h). A full charge of the 40kWh battery costs 95 percent less than filling up the tank of a petrol powered, planing boat.

The stretch from Cologne to Düsseldorf is about 45km on land, but 55km on the river – a distance that no other electric boat could cover at speeds of more than 20 knots.

For the Tesla Model 3 heavy traffic on the outskirts of both cities makes it hard to drive the distance in less than an hour.

The Candela Seven, on the other hand, could go full speed, but anyone driving on the Rhine faces other obstacles. Heavy barge traffic creates wakes that would force most planing boats to slow down. The Candela Seven, however, simply flew over the wakes thanks to its computer-controlled foil system that detects waves in front of the boat and automatically adjusts the foil position 100 times per second.

In the end, the race resulted in a very close competition – which can be seen on VOX TV:s homepage.

By Jake Frith