Arc is developing a 26-foot dual motor electric tugboat for the Port of Los Angeles
Electric boat developer Arc is venturing into the commercial sector by building an electric tugboat that will serve the Port of Los Angeles later this year. The retrofitted 26-foot ship will feature Arc Boats‘ electric powertrain and software technology.
Arc Boat Company was founded in January 2021 as a venture-backed startup based in Los Angeles, California, led by a team of former rocket engineers and EV experts from companies like SpaceX, Tesla, Rivian, and Lyft.
The company made (small, quiet waves ) in June 2022 with its first product – the Arc One, a limited edition all-electric cruiser. Less than 20 were built in total and quickly sold out. As an encore, the boatbuilder unveiled the Arc Sport – an electric wake boat with more power, technology, and ballast than its predecessor, back in February 2024.
That following May, we were invited aboard the Arc Sport and were (nearly) floored by the jolt of its 500 hp electric powertrain. Recently, Arc announced a new venture into the commercial segment, in which it is implementing its technology into an electric tugboat.
Arc to launch an electric tugboat in LA this summer
According to an update from Arc Boats, it is retrofitting a 26-foot tugboat with electric motors and massive lithium-ion battery packs to serve the Port of Los Angeles. The tugboat is being developed through a new partnership with Portland shipyard Diversified Marine Inc. and will feature the same high-voltage architecture in the Arc Sport.
In addition to the large batteries, the electric tugboat will be propelled by a 600 hp dual motor drivetrain and will be equipped with a modernized captain’s helm and real-time performance monitoring using Arc’s proprietary software.
When completed, the electric tugboat will operate around the Los Angeles and Long Beach port complex in California, which processes approximately 76% of all waterborne goods that move in and out of the West Coast, and 31% nationally.
As a leading port in the Western Hemisphere, Los Angeles and Long Beach have set goals to transition to zero-emission equipment by 2030 and zero-emission trucks by 2035, with harbor craft to follow thereafter. Arc’s research and development lead, Robert Binkowski, spoke about the company’s decision to retrofit a commercial tugboat with all-electric technology:
It just makes sense. This is the future of every port in the world. We’re not starting from scratch. We’re leveraging our substantial engineering resources and IP from our consumer platform. We want to make anything that lives full-time in the harbor zero-emission.
Arc said the electric tugboat features split assembly construction, enabling land transport via truck and crane. Arc shared that this initial retrofit will serve as a lesson in electrified boat integration that is already “informing designs for larger tugs.”
The revamped electric tugboat is expected to launch operations in the Port of Los Angeles as early as this summer, before Arc begins working on larger vessels later this year.
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Tesla confirms it has given up on its Cybertruck range extender to achieve promised range
Tesla has confirmed it has given up on plans to make a Cybertruck range extender to achieve the range it originally promised on the electric pickup truck.
It started refunding deposits for the $16,000 extra battery pack.
When Tesla unveiled the production version of the Cybertruck in late 2023, two main disappointments were the price and the range.
The tri-motor version, the most popular in reservation tallies before production, was supposed to have over 500 miles of range and start at $70,000.
Tesla now sells the tri-motor Cybertruck for $100,000 and only has a range of 320 miles.
The dual-motor Cybertruck was supposed to cost $50,000 and have over 300 miles of range. In reality, it starts at $80,000 and has 325 miles of range.
However, Tesla had devised a solution to bring the range closer to what it originally announced: a separate battery pack that sits in the truck’s bed. Tesla called it a “range extender.” It costs $16,000 and takes up a third of the Cybertruck’s bed.
Even though the Cybertruck has been in production for a year and a half, the range extender has yet to launch.
Initially, Tesla said that it would come “early 2025”, but we reported in October 2024 that it was pushed to “mid-2025” late last year.
At the time, Tesla also reduced the range that the removable battery pack adds to the Cybertruck to “445+ miles” rather than “470+ miles” for the dual motor – a ~25-mile reduction in range.
Last month, Electrek reported that Tesla has quietly removed the range extender from the Cybertruck online configurator, where buyers could reserve it with a “$2,000 non-refundable deposit.”
At the time, we speculated that Tesla was most likely giving up on the product.
Sure enough, the automaker has now confirmed that it doesn’t plan to produce the range extender.
A Tesla Cybertruck owner contacted Electrek to share communication that Tesla started sending to Cybertruck owners who reserved the range extender, letting them know that the product is dead.
Tesla wrote in the email:
“We are no longer planning to sell the Range Extender for Cybertruck.”
The automaker says that it will start processing refunds for the deposits.
Here’s Tesla’s communication about the Cybertruck range extender in full:
Update to Your Cybertruck Range Extender Order
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for being a Cybertruck owner.
We are no longer planning to sell the Range Extender for Cybertruck. As a result, we will be refunding your deposit in full. The amount will be returned to the original payment method used for the transaction.
Thank you for your understanding.
The Tesla Team
Electrek’s Take
There could be many reasons why Tesla has given up on the product.
The range extender was confirmed to take 30% of the Cybertruck’s bed, and Tesla needed to install and remove it at a service center. Owners couldn’t remove them themselves. I think it was pretty much dead on arrival at $16,000.
But I think it could also be as simple as it’s not worth producing due to demand – both due to insufficient people reserving it and not enough Cybertruck buyers to create a market for the range extender.
Therefore, the range extender is dead for the same reason that the Cybertruck RWD now has the same battery pack as the AWD instead of a smaller pack for less money: the Cybertruck is a commercial flop, and it’s not a high-volume program enough to justify making several battery pack sizes, including a removable one.
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The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USTPO) has denied Tesla’s attempt to trademark the term “Robotaxi”. which it has been using to refer to its long-promised self-driving vehicles.
CEO Elon Musk has been using the term “robotaxi” for years.
At first, it was to refer to what its existing consumer vehicles (Model S, X, 3, Y and Cybertruck) would become once it finally delivers on its “full self-driving” promises– something that was supposed to happen by the end of every year for the last 6 years.
However, Tesla held its ‘We, Robot’ event in October 2024, where it unveiled two new vehicles, a dedicated robotaxi vehicle and a self-driving ‘Robovan’ – pictured above.
Musk referred to the dedicated robotaxi vehicle as both a ‘Robotaxi’ and ‘Cybercab’.
Shortly after the event, we reported that Tesla filed trademarks for both terms, as well as ‘Robobus’ and ‘Robovan’.
Now, Techcrunch reports that USTPO has denied Tesla’s trademark application for being too generic:
Tesla’s attempt to trademark the term “Robotaxi” in reference to its vehicles has been refused by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for being too generic, according to a new filing. Another application by Tesla to trademark the term “Robotaxi” for its upcoming ride-hailing service is still under examination by the office.
USTPO notes that other companies and media have used the term ‘robotaxi” to refer to other self-driving vehicles.
The decision is “non-final”. Tesla can still appeal the decision.
Tesla also saw its trademark application for ‘Cybercab’ halted as USTPO reviews other applications using the term ‘cyber’.
Electrek’s Take
I don’t think Tesla should get a trademark for ‘Robotaxi’. It’s indeed too generic. ‘Cybercab’ should be fine though. If Tesla was able to get Cybertruck, it should be able to get ‘Cybercab’.
I hope the Cybercab works out better for them than the Cybertruck has so far.
But it’s tough to make a steering wheel-less vehicle works if you haven’t solved self-driving.
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