Exclusive: Former Tesla exec unveils slick-looking solar-powered electric speedboat
Electric boating is quickly becoming a fascinating industry with a growing list of players offering high-tech watercraft. The latest high-performance electric speedboat planning to hit the waters is the R30 from Blue Innovations Group (BIG).
BIG was founded by Tesla’s former head of global manufacturing John Vo. He ran Tesla’s manufacturing from 2011 to 2017 and knows a thing or two about building electric vehicles, though boats are certainly new territory for Vo.
We spoke about the growing electric watercraft industry, and Vo described to me why the time is ripe for a revolution in boating. “Ten years ago, starting an electric car company made sense. But now it is established,” explained Vo. “But electric boats on the other hand are a no-brainer. I want to bring a revolution to the industry.”
The R30, he believes, is the kind of revolution that could help clean up boating. That’s why the company’s goal isn’t to hand-build just a few expensive luxury boats. “To really impact the environment, you can’t build electric boats by the dozens. It has to be by the thousands.”
Vo hopes to reach that volume by designing the 30-foot electric cabin cruiser for mass production utilizing automotive manufacturing techniques. Part of that plan involves eschewing typical boat manufacturing methods such as fiberglass or carbon fiber in favor of an aluminum hull as well as using a battery that is structurally integrated as part of the boat’s frame.
Longevity is also part of the plan. Vo’s aluminum construction allows him to offer a lifetime guarantee on the hull. Opting for lithium iron phosphate instead of traditional NMC or NCA lithium-ion batteries also allows him to more than double the lifespan of the battery. “So it’s a little bit bigger of a battery with slightly lower energy density,” he mused. “I have the space – it’s a boat.”
The downside of the aluminum design is that it complicates tooling, something that the boat’s designers are still working on solving. They’ve got time, though not too terribly much of it. BIG has an aggressive schedule ahead of it. They’ll debut a prototype at CES early next month using a prototype hull. That prototype will become an alpha model for testing by February of 2023, followed by four beta models to be produced by October of 2023. By Q2 2024, BIG expects to be delivering R30 boats to reservation holders.
Speaking of those reservation holders, you can already hop in line for an R30. It’s not cheap with an expected price of US $300,000, but that’s in the ballpark of other high-end electric boats hitting the market soon. It’s also not far off of the price of gas-powered luxury boats these days. Even if the $300K price tag fits the current market, Vo fully expects that price to drop as mass production enables cost reductions.
And to be fair, the R30 looks to be squarely in the luxury column. Vo described it as a connected oasis with versatility allowing it to be used within the confines of a healthy work/life balance. Take a Zoom call in the comfort of the sofa in the cabin, then return up top to go fishing on the walkaround bow. Or if fishing isn’t your thing, just lay out on the sun bed. For those that prefer to get wet, foldout swim platforms on three sides of the stern will make it easy to enter and exit the water.
And if it’s shade you’re after, the hardtop does double duty by blocking the sun and also turning those rays into usable energy. Extendable solar panels fold out from the main canopy to provide up to 2.7 kW of solar power for recharging the boat’s massive liquid-cooled 221 kWh battery. At that rate you could run the battery nearly empty each weekend and come back at the end of the week to a fully-charged battery. Of course you could also just charge it up using shore power at the dock, but where’s the fun in that? And having an infinite supply of electricity above our heads sure makes for a nice way to recharge while bobbing around out on the water.
Considering that many power boats aren’t actually used everyday (or even multiple times during the week), the R30 stands to become a net zero boat for many users, meaning it would independently generate all the energy it needs to operate.
With a maximum speed of around 39 knots (45 mph or 72 km/h) from a pair of motors creating a combined 800 hp (600 kW), the R30 provides some serious performance to match its slick design. In fact, that’s more than 50% more powerful than the previous ‘highest-powered electric speedboat’ title claimed by Arc.
And a former Tesla executive isn’t going to build an electric boat without a slick design to match. From the spacious below-deck cabin with versatile bed/table arrangement (flip the table upside to turn it into a large mattress) the large dual-screen console complete with Tesla-style yoke steering wheel, the R30 doesn’t seem to miss a beat on style.
What do you think of the Blue Innovation Group’s R30 electric powerboat?
Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Air taxi startup Vertical Aerospace achieved a world’s first this week, completing the first flight between two airports through public airspace for an eVTOL at the Royal International Air Tattoo in Gloucestershire, England.
The Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) is the world’s largest military airshow, held every July and serving as a public showcase for the latest advancements in aviation technology. It’s fitting, then, that RIAT served as setting for the Vertical VX4 prototype’s first piloted public flight.
The eVTOL aircraft flew 17 miles from the company’s Flight Test Centre at Cotswold Airport to RAF Fairford, a Royal Air Force station used by the US Air Force. The Vertical VX4 reached speeds of 115 mph, and an altitude of 1800 ft, and also marked the first landing at a public location for an aircraft of this type.
The Vertical Aerospace entry was the only battery-electric aircraft present at RIAT 2025, and the flight served as a demonstration of the company’s broader strategy to unlock new hybrid-electric applications for defense, logistics, and special/close support missions where the eVTOL’s (relatively) quiet operations could give it a tactical advantage.
“RIAT is a global stage for the most advanced, mission-ready aerospace technology, and we’re proud to showcase how electric aviation will support the future of defense,” says Stuart Simpson, CEO of Vertical Aerospace. “Our hybrid-electric roadmap unlocks new capabilities for military operations, and Vertical’s RIAT presence reinforces our commitment to playing a meaningful role in the future of military and special mission aviation.”
Vertical’s VX4 debuted last year, with a 20% increase in the power-to-weight ratio that enables a top cruising speed of 150 mph and transports four passengers plus a pilot up to 100 miles on a single charge.
The inaugural VX4 flight was witnessed by several thousand UK aircraft enthusiasts, and showed how an eVTOL aircraft could integrate with real-world airport operations, building momentum toward more regular, certified deployment.
Electrek’s Take
Archer, BETA, EHang, Joby, XPeng – the list of eVTOL manufacturers seems to be as long as the list of new electric car brands that didn’t exist back when I first started working with EVs back in ::gulp:: the 1990s. The future of regional point-to-point air travel certainly seems to be vertical, and electric.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Vertical Aerospace.
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Say what you will about Elon Musk, but Tesla has changed the way that millions of people buy cars and, by extension, car insurance. Now, Honda is taking a page from Tesla’s successful playbook and launching its own in-house insurance business. Enter: Honda Insurance Solutions.
Honda Insurance Solutions is being launched as a fully licensed insurance agency serving the insurance needs of Acura and Honda customers, but it’s not stopping at competitive pricing and coverage options for Honda cars and motorcycles. Honda Insurance Solutions promises to go several steps beyond Tesla’s offering with coverage for trailers, RVs, homes, and even pets.
“Honda Insurance Solutions offers customers access to coverage through a brand they know and trust,” says Petar Vucurevic, President, American Honda Insurance Solutions, LLC and Senior Vice President, American Honda Finance Corporation. “Insurance is a key touchpoint in the vehicle ownership journey, and we aim to deliver a superior experience tailored to the unique needs of each customer, while promoting safer driving and increased peace of mind on the road.”
The company says the launch of its new insurance business is just part of Honda’s broader digital vehicle sales platform strategy, with future plans to integrate insurance offerings into new products.
Electrek’s Take
It’s important to note some of the key differences between Honda’s insurance offering and Tesla’s. Honda isn’t offering discounts, they’re not bundling insurance premiums into the vehicle financing, and they’re not building their insurance offerings into their dealerships’ checkout/F&I offices. Not yet, anyway.
What Honda is doing right now is deepening relationships with its existing customers and finding ways to make money on products it hasn’t sold them – whether that’s the Harley parked in the garage next to their Prologue or the garage itself.
It’s a smart play. And, once Honda figures out a way to cut franchise dealers out entirely and go to a direct sales model, it’ll look even smarter.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Honda.
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Nobody ever says “this is business” before doing something nice, and the recently reborn Lion Electric company is keeping that streak alive by doing the unthinkable to cut costs: they’re going to void the warranties on hundreds of electric school buses.
In a letter issued to exiting Lion Electric customers last week, Deloitte Restructuring announced that the warranties on all Lion vehicles purchased outside of the company’s home Province of Quebec are null and void – leaving dozens of school districts in the lurch with stranded assets that won’t get fixed, and can’t be sold to generate funds for replacements.
“We are working with alternate vendors at the expense of the school district to help keep our electric buses functional and on the road,” explains Dr. Richard Decman, Superintendent of Herscher CUSD No. 2 district in Herscher, Illinois. “Currently, six of our 25 (Lion) electric buses need some type of repair.”
Student Transportation News reports that Lion buses represent fully half of Herscher’s overall fleet of 50 buses, and that the district has received nearly $10 million for the purchase of 25 electric buses and the related charging stations from various state and utility incentive programs.
Herscher isn’t the only district having problems with Lion buses. “All four Lion buses that we own are currently parked and not being used,” Coleen Souza, interim transportation director of Winthrop Public Schools, told Clean Trucking. “Two of them are in need of repairs which would cost us money which we are not willing to invest in because the buses do not run for more than a month before needing more repairs.”
More of the same in Maine, where Yarmouth School Department bought two Lion Electric buses in 2023 with the state covering the costs. According to Superintendent Andrew Dolloff, the buses almost never worked. “We’ve had some sporadic service over the past two years, but as soon as the tech leaves, the buses produce error codes again,” explained Dolloff. ” and “Then the technician quits or is released, and we wait a few months for the next response.”
Dolloff added that Yarmouth’s electric buses did not operate during the 2024-25 school year.
Lion’s new owners are seemingly uninterested in their customers’ plight – which might be easily dismissed if those new owners, Groupe MACH, weren’t also the old owners of Lion Electric.
That’s right, kids. Quebec-based real estate company Groupe MACH, which stepped in to “save” Lion Electric earlier this summer, along with Ontario-based Mirella & Lino Saputo Foundation, bought $90 million of equity in Lion Electric back in 2023. And, while the MACH people may not have been the ones who ultimately made the call about voiding the warranties (that decision was made by the Deloitte bankruptcy team), it is absolutely Group MACH who have, to date, not announced plans to continue to honor those warranties, either.
Make of that what you will.
Deloitte Lion letter
SOURCES: School Transportation News, Clean Trucking, Deloitte.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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