Lake Tahoe getting hydrofoil electric ferry as Candela lands major deal
Candela, the Swedish electric boat maker known for its hydrofoil recreational boats and commercial ferries, is grabbing headlines yet again. This time the company is announcing a new C-series funding round and the first P-12 electric ferry headed to the US.
The P-12 is the company’s first operational hydrofoil electric ferry, and it builds upon the success of the C-7 and C-8 recreational speedboats.
All three employ Candela’s sophisticated computer-controlled hydrofoil technology that allows the boats to quite literally fly several feet above the water. Traveling at 25 knots (30 mph), the P-12 is the fastest electric ferry in operation, all while using a fraction of the same energy.
The hydrofoil flight results in a much smoother ride and dramatically improved efficiency. The fast-charging electric boats can thus carry much smaller batteries, making them lighter and more cost-effective. They can then quickly recharge at the dock in a matter of minutes.
We recently saw the first P-12 enter service as a commercial ferry in Stockholm, and now Lake Tahoe is getting into the fly electric ferry business as well.
The P12 hydrofoiling ferry will reduce travel times for Tahoe locals and visitors, providing a much-needed north-south connection across the lake, while also helping to cut emissions and mitigate road sediment that threatens the lake’s famous cobalt-blue clarity.
Lake Tahoe boasts over 15 million outdoor enthusiasts year-round, which has often led to severe road, especially during the winter months. The implementation of a fast and efficient new electric ferry will help avoid long car lines from snow-induced road closures, as well as grid-lock traffic during the summer months of popular biking and hiking destinations.
A local company, FlyTahoe, will offer a new 30-minute cross-lake ferry service, cutting the travel time in half compared to the daily 20,000 car trips along the same route.
In the winter, that same trip can often take over two hours due to heavy snowfall and road limitations. FlyTahoe will create a vital link to the 14 world-class ski resorts encircling the lake, making it an ideal option for both tourists and locals.
“It’s ironic that while millions, myself included, drive around Lake Tahoe to admire its beauty, the road sediment we generate contributes to the largest threat to the lake’s famous cobalt blue clarity. Our service will provide a faster transport than cars or buses, while keeping Tahoe blue,” says Ryan Meinzer, Founder & CEO of FlyTahoe.
Simultaneously, Candela is also celebrating another major milestone back home in Sweden, announcing an additional US $14M raised in its Series C round. That puts Candela’s total secured funding in 2024 at over $40 million. The investment will enable Candela to meet the soaring demand for its groundbreaking zero-emission vessels as it ramps up production of its various models now in service around the world.
“This is the dawn of a zero-emission revival in waterborne transportation,” says Gustav Hasselskog, Candela’s founder and CEO.
The new $14 million investment is led by SEB Private Equity, a global Private Equity investor, with additional participation of existing investors EQT Ventures and KanDela AB.
“This investment, made during a challenging time for many companies, is a testament to Candela’s technology and its unique ability to solve the pressing issue of decarbonizing transport,” added Hasselskog.
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Germany’s largest offshore wind farm under construction, EnBW’s He Dreiht, just hit a big milestone: The first enormous turbine is now up in the North Sea.
He Dreiht – which means “it spins” in Low German – is using Vestas’s massive 15 megawatt (MW) turbines, the first project in the world to install them. Just one spin of one of the rotors can generate enough electricity to power four households for an entire day.
When it’s finished, He Dreiht will have 64 mega turbines cranking out 960 megawatts (MW) of clean power – enough to supply around 1.1 million homes. And it’s being built without any government subsidies.
EnBW, one of Germany’s major energy companies, has been working in offshore wind for more than 15 years, but He Dreiht is their biggest project yet. “It will play a key role in helping us to significantly grow our renewable energy output from 6.6 GW to over 10 GW by 2030,” said Michael Class, who heads up EnBW’s generation portfolio development.
The project is a win for Vestas, too. “With the installation of the first V236-15.0 MW, we have reached an important milestone for both the He Dreiht project and our offshore ramp-up, which helps Germany build a more secure, affordable, and sustainable energy system,” said Nils de Baar, president of Vestas Northern & Central Europe.
He Dreiht is located about 85 kilometers (53 miles) northwest of Borkum and 110 kilometers (68 miles) west of Helgoland. At peak times, more than 500 workers will be out at sea building the farm, using a fleet of more than 60 ships. EnBW’s offshore team in Hamburg is running the show.
The installation process is a major operation. The 64 foundations were already set in the seabed last year. Parts for the turbines are loaded onto the installation vessel Wind Orca in Esbjerg, Denmark, and shipped out in a 12-hour journey to the construction site. From there, the turbines are lifted into place. Meanwhile, crews are also working on internal wind farm cabling.
A partner consortium made up of Allianz Capital Partners, AIP, and Norges Bank Investment Management owns 49.9% of the shares in He Dreiht.
Read more: Trump admin halts $5 billion NY offshore wind project mid-build
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Tesla has released a quick update about its Tesla Semi factory in Nevada. It says that it is on track for volume production of the electric semi truck in 2026.
The Tesla Semi was first scheduled to go into production in 2019, but it has faced numerous delays.
Now, it appears that there is finally some momentum to bring it to volume production.
For the last two years, Tesla has been working to build a new factory next to Gigafactory Nevada, where it builds the battery packs and drive units for most of its electric vehicles built in North America.
Today, Tesla released a “progress update on the factory, confirming that it finished building and it’s now working on deploying the production lines:
Tesla had previously mentioned aiming for volume production by 2025, but it is now only talking about starting production toward the end of the year and ramping up next year.
The automaker reiterated its planned production capacity of 50,000 units.
We recently reported that an early Tesla Semi customer, Ryder, stated that the electric truck program is experiencing more delays and a price increase described as “dramatic.”
They now expect to take deliveries of their first trucks later in 2026 and said that the price has increased “dramatically,” leading them to scale back their pilot program from 42 to 18 Tesla Semi trucks.
When originally unveiling the Tesla Semi in 2017, the automaker mentioned prices of $150,000 for a 300-mile range truck and $180,000 for the 500-mile version. Tesla also took orders for a “Founder’s Series Semi” at $200,000.
However, Tesla didn’t update the prices when launching the “production version” of the truck in late 2022. Price increases have been speculated, but the company has never confirmed them.
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Vietnamese solar panel maker Boviet Solar just opened the doors to its first US factory — a huge new PV module plant in Greenville, North Carolina.
The company dropped $294 million into the state-of-the-art facility, which will pump out Boviet’s Gamma Series monofacial and Vega Series bifacial solar panels. They’re using advanced PERC and N-Type solar cell tech, which basically means these panels are built to deliver higher efficiency and better performance across residential, commercial, industrial, and utility-scale projects.
The Greenville factory’s first phase is now online with an annual PV module output capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW). For Phase 2, which is scheduled to come online in the second half of 2026, Boviet will invest another $100 million to add 600,000 square feet and ramp up to another 2 GW. It will make high-efficiency solar cells.
Once both phases are complete, Boviet’s campus will cover more than 1 million square feet of manufacturing and R&D space. It’s one of the biggest clean energy manufacturing projects North Carolina has ever seen.
The jobs impact is significant, too. The first phase will create 460 skilled local jobs. Phase 2 is expected to add another 908, bringing the total to over 1,300 direct jobs, plus nearly 2,000 more indirect jobs across the region. That’s good news for Pitt County’s economy, real estate market, and workforce training programs.
“This facility is not just creating jobs, but creating opportunity, innovation, and a stronger foundation for eastern North Carolina,” said Senator Kandie Smith. Governor Josh Stein added that Boviet Solar’s move shows how North Carolina is leading the way in clean energy growth.
Read more: Thomas Built Buses debuts its next-gen electric school bus
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