Candela and Polestar unveil new flying electric boat based on Scandinavian design
When it comes to hydrofoil electric boats, there’s basically one company to turn to: Candela. This Scandinavian boat builder has been putting high-performance hydrofoil electric boats into customers’ marinas for years. And after recently teaming up with fellow Swedish electric automotive company Polestar, the duo have now released a new edition of Candela’s famed C-8 hydrofoil boat.
Meet the Candela C-8 Polestar edition.
Built on the same carbon fiber hull as the existing Candela C-8 and showcasing much of the same high-tech engineering, the Polestar edition combines Polestar’s Scandinavian take on luxury EV design with Candela’s innovative electric hydrofoil and boatbuilding technology.
As Polestar’s Head of Design Maximilian Missoni explained:
“Candela’s hydrofoil technology is a paradigm shift for sustainable performance in the marine industry. Like the first time driving an electric car, you instantly feel that this is the future when the boat ‘takes off’ – and now with the special gold details that we so proudly exhibit on our cars.”
Earlier this year the two companies announced a partnership to introduce Polestar’s high capacity 69 kWh electric car batteries to Candela’s hydrofoil electric boats.
Now the newly announced Candela C-8 Polestar edition further brings Polestar’s expression of Scandinavian luxury to the marine industry. A new solid grey exterior color is complemented by a lighter grey tone for interior areas that gives the boat a sleek and uniform look. The aesthetic is strengthened by the use of the same marine-certified textile everywhere, from seats, cushions and sunbeds to wall and roof panels.
Candela’s CEO and founder Gustav Hasselskog expanded on the partnership:
“Aesthetic excellence is an intrinsic value, but it can also serve as a powerful driving force towards a sustainable future. At Candela, our primary focus is to create vessels that are more compelling in every respect. I am therefore very happy about the C-8 Polestar edition and our collaboration with the brilliant team at Polestar.”
Polestar’s electric car batteries and charging hardware from the standard-range Polestar 2 help all Candela C-8s, not just the Polestar editions, achieve a range of up to 57 nautical miles (65 miles or 106 km) on a single charge while cruising at 22 knots (25 mph or 40 km/h).
Recharging takes as little as 2.5 hours on a 230V three-phase outlet or overnight on a typical 230V 16A wall outlet.
The boat’s high efficiency is possible thanks to Candela’s dual hydrofoil design that lifts the entire hull out of the water. The hydrofoils help the boat essentially “fly”, significantly reducing its energy usage. Soaring nearly a meter above the surface of the water dramatically slices the boat’s drag, using around 80% less energy than conventional boats. With higher efficiency, the C-8 can go farther with a smaller battery pack and less powerful motors than most other electric powerboats.
Candela even says that the C-8 comes with a high-speed range that is 2-3 times longer than conventional electric speedboats.
The hydrofoils can be retracted when not in use, lifting fully out of the water when docked to prevent marine buildup.
For propulsion, the Candela C-8 uses the company’s new, in-house developed 75 kW electric direct drive pod motor known as the Candela C-POD. The pod motor actually contains two counter-rotating electric motors and pairs with computer-guided hydrofoils that automatically lift the hull above the water at high speeds.
I had the pleasure of testing the first Candela C-8 prototype in the water last summer, and it’s amazing how smooth the operation was. Simply pushing the stick forward is all that is necessary, as the flight controller handles everything else to automatically “take off” and “land” the boat for you.
See my video below to check out the experience yourself.
When foiling the ride is silent and smooth, resulting in no damaging wakes thanks to Candela’s computer-stabilized foil technology.
The Candela C-8 Polestar edition comes either as an open daycruiser, a T-top version or as a weather-protected hardtop version crafted from carbon fiber, with a retractable roof for sunny days. A spacious cockpit provides seating for up to eight people on three individual seats and an aft sofa. A sunbed provides additional space for two comfortable passengers. The forward cabin sleeps up to two adults and two children.
The Candela C-8 Polestar edition is available online both from the Polestar Additionals webshop and on Candela’s website. Pricing starts from €400,000 or US $450,000. Production will take place at Candela’s factory in Stockholm, Sweden, and deliveries are expected to begin in June 2024.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Paris’ bike-share system, Vélib has long been considered one of the shining success stories of urban micromobility. With a massive fleet of over 20,000 pedal and electric-assist bicycles around Paris, the service has helped millions of residents and tourists get around the City of Light without needing a car or scooter. But lately, a growing problem is threatening to knock the wheels off this urban mobility marvel: theft and joyriding.
According to city officials and the service operator, more than 600 Vélib bikes are now going missing every single week. That’s over 30 bikes a day simply vanishing from the system – some stolen outright, others taken on “joy rides” and never returned.
“At the moment we’re missing 3,000 bikes,” explained Sylvain Raifaud, head of the Agemob company that currently operates the Velib system. That’s nearly 15% of over 20,000 Vélib bikes across Paris.
The sticky-fingered culprits aren’t necessarily professional thieves or organized crime rings. Instead, they’re often regular users who treat the shared bikes like disposable toys.
The city estimates that many people have figured out how to pry the bikes out of the system’s parking docks, unlocking one for a casual cruise and then ditching it somewhere far from a docking station.
Once pried free, the bikes are technically usable for the next 24 hours until their automatic locking feature kicks in. At that point, the bikes are often simply abandoned. Some end up in alleyways. Others get tossed in rivers. A few just disappear completely.
And since the bikes are intended to be parked at their many docking stations around the city, they don’t have GPS chips, further complicating recovery of “liberated” bikes.
The issue started small but has grown into more than an inconvenience – it’s beginning to undermine the entire purpose of the service. With bikes going missing at such a high rate, many Vélib docking stations are left empty, especially during rush hours.
Riders looking for a quick commute or a convenient hop across town are increasingly finding themselves without available bikes, or having to walk long distances to find a functioning one.
That kind of unreliability chips away at user confidence and threatens to drive potential riders back into cars, cabs, or other less sustainable forms of transport at a time when Paris has already made great strides to dramatically reduce car usage in the city.
The losses are financially painful, too. Replacing stolen or vandalized bikes isn’t cheap, and the resources spent on tracking down missing equipment or reinforcing anti-theft measures are stretching thin. Vélib has faced theft and vandalism issues before, especially during its early years, but this latest surge has officials sounding the alarm with renewed urgency.
Officials acknowledge that there’s no easy fix. Paris, like many cities with bike-share systems, walks a fine line between accessibility and accountability. Part of what makes Vélib so successful is its ease of use and widespread availability. But those same features make it vulnerable to misuse – especially when enforcement is limited and the consequences for abuse are minimal.
The timing of the problem is especially unfortunate. In recent years, Paris has seen impressive results in reducing car traffic, expanding bike lanes, and promoting cycling as a key part of its sustainable transport strategy. Vélib is a cornerstone of that plan. But if the system becomes too unreliable, it risks losing the very people it was designed to serve.
Meanwhile, as Parisians increasingly find themselves staring at empty docks, the challenge for the city and Vélib will be to restore confidence in the system without making it harder to use. That means striking the right balance between freedom and responsibility, between open access and protection against abuse.
In a city where cycling is supposed to be the future of mobility, losing thousands of bikes to joyriders and sticky fingers isn’t just frustrating; it’s unsustainable.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike