The world’s largest electric ferry can take you and your closest 2000 friends across the ocean
Electric power is flexing its muscles again as the world’s largest electric ferry – capable of carrying 2,100 passengers and their vehicles – is set for delivery in two years.
World’s largest electric ferry set to sail
Incat Tasmania, an Australian manufacturer of high-speed craft (HSC) ferries, is ready to deliver the 148-meter (485.5 feet) Utility Ro-Pax ferry, which will be the world’s largest electric ferry.
Designed by Revolution Design and built by Incat, the ferry is powered by two electric motors (5 – 9.6 MW) beneath the hull. The vessel can carry up to 2,100 passengers and 226 vehicles at up to 25 knots for a max range of 100 n.m.
Buquebus, which operates several Incat vessels in South America, will use it to transport passengers between Argentina and Uraguay.
The vessel was initially intended to be powered by LNG, but after having second thoughts, both Incat and Buquebus agreed it was best for the environment and its customers to go zero-emission electric.
Incat Group founder Robert Clifford speaks on how the new electric ferry will revolutionize the industry:
Zero emissions shipping is the future and Incat based in Tasmania, one of the few places on the planet which has already delivered net zero, is now poised to revolutionise the world’s shipping fleet by delivering the world’s first zero emissions, lightweight ship.
Although swapping for electric propulsion requires a significant redesign, Clifford says the company would replace 500 tons of equipment and fuel tanks with 400 tonnes of batteries to maintain its light weight.
In addition, Clifford says, using aluminum instead of steel to build the vessel could halve its weight, and adding electric ferries would not be an additional cost compared to traditional ships.
Incat’s strategic advisor, Peter Gutwein, revealed the sale:
Delivering the world’s first large battery electric ferry for Buquebus would lead to exponential growth in the international market for large lightweight electric ships. The world wants large, lightweight zero emission ships and we are already scaling up our workforce and production facility in readiness for what will be a significant expansion.
Electrek’s Take
Shipping contributes a significant amount of carbon dioxide each year, accounting for around 3% globally (in Europe, marine traffic accounts for about 12%). The International Maritime Organization aims to reduce CO2 emissions for new ships built from 2025 by 30% while lowering average overall fleet emissions by 40% by 2030.
Electric ferries and ships can play a significant role in the transition. Zero-emission ferries are an excellent place to start electrifying as they generally run the same routes, making it easy to place charging infrastructure.
Not only will electric ferries save the environment, but they will also save operators money. The first all-electric ferry in Norway claimed it cut costs by 80%. In addition, Ellen, the self-proclaimed world’s largest electric ferry (before Incat’s, of course) operating in Southern Denmark, helps save 2,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually.
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In a move that helps the brand duck protectionist anti-Chinese tariffs, Volvo Cars has switched production of its award-winning EX30 models destined for US roads from its Zhangjiakou plant in China to the Ghent facility in Belgium.
Volvo EX30 production began in the company’s Ghent factory back in April, but those first cars were earmarked for the Swedish domestic and European export markets, but that move wasn’t primarily motivated by avoiding tariffs. As Electrive reports, the company seemed happy enough to continue importing its small electric crossover from China and accepting the new 28.8% tariffs (up from 10%), but the wait times to get the vehicles shipped in from China was imply too long.
In 2024, Swedish and German buyers had to wait up to eight months for their EX30 in some cases, according to Volvo Cars’ European boss, Arek Nowinski, per Automotive News. Once production in Ghent is fully up to speed, however, wait times should be cut to about 90 days. Those wait times, and the price hike associated with the tariffs, have hurt sales of the originally Chinese-made Volvo EV. In 2024, for example, the EX30 ranked third in European EV sales, but slipped out of the top 10 first half of 2025.
“The car is now being built in Europe, which means faster delivery times,” Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson to Automotive News. “We should return to the sales and market share figures for the EX30 that we had before the introduction of tariffs.”
Coming to Staying in America
The EX30’s switch to Ghent is good news for American fans of the compact, lickety-quick Volvo EV. Now that it’s no longer exclusively made in China, Volvo has decided to give it a stay of execution as it revamps its US product lineup to better align with market trends (read: SUVs) and the changing political landscape (read: tariffs and inflation).
The reason? The Made in China version of the EX30 would virtually unsellable in the US due to the implementation of 147% tariffs on vehicles imported from China. Vehicles imported from Europe, meanwhile, carry just 15% tariffs, keeping the EX30 in a competitive price bracket.
Expect to see both Ghent and South Carolina play an increasingly large role in Volvo’s US product mix – at least for the next three-odd years.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Volvo Cars, Automotive News, via Electrive.
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New filings have revealed that BYD is about to release a ridiculous 3,000 hp electric supercar: the Yangwang U9 Track Edition.
BYD already shocked the world when it launched the Yangwang U9, its first all-electric supercar.
It featured four advanced electric motors with a combined power of nearly 1,300 horsepower. The U9 can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph (0 to 100 km/h) in just 2.36 seconds.
With a motor at each wheel and a highly advanced electric-air suspension, the U9 can turn on itself and even jump over potholes.
But that was only the beginning.
Based on a new filing with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), BYD is preparing to launch a new ‘Track Edition’ of the Yangwang U9:
When an automaker releases a “track” version of a car, it typically primarily features body changes for better aerodynamic performance, adding downforce, and it will also often feature bigger brakes.
The Yangwang U9 ‘Track Edition’ appears to feature all that… and much more.
The filing reveals that BYD updated the motors at each wheel to a new 555 kW motor. That’s a higher-performing motor than in most performance electric vehicles. The U9 Track Edition has four of them for a total of 2,220 kW (3,019 hp).
I would have thought that this was a typo if it wasn’t for the insane electric vehicles coming out of China these days.
Here are a few pictures from the MIIT filing:
There are a lot of performance specs that are not included in the MIIT filing. Therefore, it will be interesting to see when the vehicle is fully unveiled and BYD reveals what kind of performance it can achieve with 3,000 hp packed in 4 electric motors.
Here are a few other features mentioned in the filing:
Standard features:
- 20-inch wheels with 325/35 R20 tyres
- Carbon-fibre roof
- Large fixed carbon-fibre rear wing
- Rear diffuser with adjustable blades for aerodynamic optimisation
Optional aerodynamic parts:
- Standard or enhanced carbon-fibre front splitter
- Electric rear wing
Electrek’s Take
How are they going to keep that thing from flying away? Seriously.
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