Last week I sent you Part I of the Plugboats 2024 Year in Review and here is Part II, covering July to December.

As I said last week, there are a lot of stories that could be included in these recaps, but I’ve tried to keep it to a manageable size. In each month I have one highlight story, followed by some others that took place about the same time. Click on any of them to read the full stories in Plugboats. (Click »» here to see the Part I newsletter, January - June 2024).

I am sure there can be lots of debate about my selections as the ‘lead story’ for each month, but no debate that all of the stories together show electric boating is growing quickly, with even more opportunities for both boaters and the industry in the coming months and years.

I am also going to do a little cheat and start with December, then go to July. That is only because the results of the fifth annual Gustave Trouvé awards were announced in December, and some readers may not have seen them yet. (If you have seen them, my apologies, you can just »» jump to July)

The next newsletter will have the latest electric boat news, including a preview of what electric boats, motors and accessories will be showing at the world’s largest boat show, Boot Düsseldorf, that starts next Saturday (18 January). I will be there to cover it all for Plugboats articles and the newsletter.

Thanks for your support of Plugboats and I hope you enjoy this newsletter.

Jeff Butler,
Editor / Publisher
Plugboats.com

A big thank you to electric transition leaders Aqua superPower, BlueNav and Oceanvolt for presenting this year’s Gustave Trouvé Awards, as well as to the International Judging Panel made up of Electric Boat Organizations and Gussies Past Winners. If you haven’t seen the 2024 winners yet, here they are! You can also see all of the Nominees or all of the Finalists through the links below.

»» See all of the Gussies Nominees
»» See all of the Gussies Finalists chosen by the International Panel

July: Monaco Energy Boat Challenge an electrifying success!

The 2024 MEBC was the 11th edition of the event, and it showcased (among other things), the largest on-water congregation of electric boats in history. There were 50 student teams from 40 international universities competing in the Energy Class and Solar Class divisions and 15 commercially available electric boats in the Open Sea Class.

All of this led to a feeling of energy, excitement and optimism that was evident throughout the event and around the host Yacht Club de Monaco in every conversation and encounter. There was a real sense that this was a moment when electric boating is coming of age and the possibilities for the future are opening up quickly.

There are two Plugboats accounts of the event, one focussing on the commercial entries, the other on the Student entries.

»» Read MEBC an electrifying success Part I (Commercial)
»» Read MEBC an electrifying success Part II (Student) 

August: largest fleet of electric boats ever helps open the Paris Olympics 

I have to confess to a little bit of misinformation here by putting this as the August highlight. The opening of the Olympics took place in July, although the Games themselves lasted until August 11. At any rate, only a few weeks after the largest congregation of electric boats ever in Monaco, Paris upped the game with its historic Opening Ceremonies - the first to take place on water. The 10,500 participating athletes and nations travelled along the Seine river in a fleet of 150 boats of all sizes, with 1 in 5 of them – 31 – using electric propulsion.

»» Read the whole Paris Olympics story

September: Volvo Penta electric hybrid announced for yachts and commercial vessels

The electric boat motor industry has been grown almost exclusively by companies specializing in electric propulsion, and congratulations to each of them for their achievements. But you can tell the industry has an even bigger future when the leaders in fossil fuel engines start getting involved.

In January of 2024 Yamaha purchased Torqeedo and Mercury widened their electric outboard model range. Those are two of the largest names in traditional outboards. They were joined by Tohatsu launching an electric OB in February.

In September, Volvo Penta, one of the leaders in inboards and inboard-outboards (and indeed one of the world’s leading manufacturers of boat and ship motors), announced a hybrid-electric propulsion package for both recreational yachts and commercial vessels.

The September lead stories could actually be shared, because it was also in that month that Yanmar – the largest manufacturer of combustion saildrives – launched their first electric model.

»» Read the whole Volvo Penta story

October: Candela launches world’s first electric hydrofoiling service

There are quite a few Candela stories highlighted in 2024, and rightly so. The company has been working on their hydrofoiling technology since 2014, with two markets in mind: leisure and commercial passenger ferries and watertaxis. On the leisure / recreation side of things they have sold over 100 boats, and in October of 2024 the world saw its first all-electric hydrofoiling ferry service launch in Stockholm.

This, (in my opinion) is going to be one of the most significant moments in history for urban water transport. The long term emission reductions and cost savings with an electric transport system are huge, and immensely attractive to municipalities and private companies. For the passengers, the trips are smooth, fast, quiet and free of fossil fuel fumes. Congratulations to the Candela team for being the first, you are going to see a lot more of these vessels from Candela and others in the future.

»» Read the whole Candela story

Along with electric hydrofoiling ferries and the large ICE manufacturers entering the electric market, the other big and evolving story is the growth in the high power electric motor sector, especially electric outboards. Just a couple of years ago there was only Evoy from Norway and Vision Marine Technologies of Canada building anything above 75 kW. They are now joined by ACEL Power, EPTechnologies, EVOA, Explomar, Flux Marine and Seabird Technologies, with more on the way.

There are also a bunch of new motors in the mid level outboard power range, including one from ZeroJet, which started out focussing on jet drives. This is all noted in the Plugboats METSTRADE Overview, as well as a bunch of other innovations seen at the world’s largest B2B exhibition for the leisure marine industry.

»» Read the whole METSTRADE overview

December: Gussies Winners Announced (see top of newsletter)…
but also, just take a look at the number and quality of nominees!

Aside from the winners, though, one of the most impressive things about the year of electric boats and boating was the sheer number of excellent boats from around the world entered in the Gussies. Click »» here or on the image below to see them all.