Candela secures $A30m to accelerate rollout of 30-seat electric hydro-foil ferry

Swedish electric boat maker Candela has secured SEK210 million (around $A30.4 million) in new funding to accelerate the launch of its P-12 electric hydrofoiling ferry.

Following the launch of its C-7 and C-8 electric leisure cruisers, Candela is edging towards the launch of its much-anticipated P-12 electric hydrofoiling ferry.

When Candela first unveiled the P-12 back in 2021 the ferry was a 12-person boat that the company boasted would be “the very end of sea sickness” due to its quiet, above-the-water running.

The soon-to-launch P-12, however, will be a 30-passenger ferry, designed specifically for coastal, archipelago, or lake-based transport in locations such as Oslo, Stockholm, and New York.

The P-12 hydrofoil ferry – which uses a wing-like strut or struts below the water which elevate the boat above the water level when at speed – delivers a range of up to 60 nautical miles (around 110 kilometres) at a cruising speed of 27 knots.

As the ferry is electrically powered and doesn’t have to push through the water as a normal boat would, the P-12 uses approximately 80% less energy than a traditional vessel.

“This new investment will unlock the potential of underutilized waterways for climate-friendly, high-speed commuting,” said Gustav Hasselskog, Candela’s founder and CEO.

“The P-12 Shuttle will in many cases be faster and cheaper than land transport like bus lines, and it will be profitable for operators from day one.

“We are now heavy into the process of finalizing the development and putting this ferry into production, which we think is going to be kind of a game changer in public transportation.”

Speaking to TechCrunch, Hasselskog also explained the decision behind a 30-passenger ferry over large sizes.

“It looks the same in Oslo, in Stockholm, in New York and everywhere: most of these boats are typically 300 passengers,” said Hasselskog.

“But when you study optimal boat size, especially in Stockholm, Istanbul and in San Francisco, it’s concluded that it’s not the optimal boat size. Seat utilization is typically super low. In Stockholm, it’s 5% over the year.

“When you have only 30 passengers, you don’t need more than one staff member on board; otherwise, you need three staff members. If you put that all together, you get a very good cost equation, and that’s why we went with this format. Operators save typically around 40% compared to traditional, large, diesel setups.”

Hasselskog is also expecting smaller ferries like the P-12 will start to replace larger vessels, and even road travel.

The Swedish capital of Stockholm is also planning to start a nine-month trial of the P-12 this year. Stockholm, an archipelago of 14 islands connected by 57 bridges and an estimated fleet of 756,000 leisure craft, is a perfect use-case for the P-12.

“The first one we’re going to put in water is for the city of Stockholm,” said Hasselskog this week.

“It’s going to run from a suburb outside of town into the centre. If you travel that route today by bus and subway, or by the current boat, it takes 50 minutes. We can do that in 25 minutes, the reason being we don’t create any wake so we have permission to go faster. If we can save commuters’ journey time, that makes a huge difference.”

“The next step for us here is to… take a place like Stockholm, where there are, say, 35 big ferries today,” Hasselskog continued.

“We will replace them with 120 of ours. It’s a global business that we envision and so far, we are in dialogue with hundreds of customers. They are spread from Hong Kong to Sydney. There are a lot in the Gulf region, in Europe, and we have dialogues in Mexico, Belize, San Francisco, New York.”

Candela has also partnered with fellow Swedish electric pioneer Polestar, incorporating the company’s batteries in the Candela C-8. The two companies announced their partnership back in August 2022 and launched the first C-8 ‘powered by Polestar’ electric watercraft earlier this year.