One boat company is trying to become the “Tesla” of the seas by selling a high-tech electric sports boat.
Startup Ark Boats plans to launch the $258,000 Ark Sport Boat, following up its $300,000 luxury cruiser, the Ark One.
Ark Boats says boat owners are becoming interested in electric boats because they are quieter, more reliable and less expensive than gas boats.
CEO Mitch Lee founded Ark Boat in 2021 with his friend Ryan Cook using capital raised from the sale of personal finance app Penney and embarked on a mission to electrify boating.
Electrifying boats has been in the back of Li’s mind since Tesla launched its first car in 2008, and he began to wonder if the technology could eventually be used on boats.
The company started out with luxury vessels that would appeal to a small, wealthy demographic of customers willing to spend big bucks to own the latest technology.
Customers include people like Jonathan Kuhn who aren’t traditional boat owners.
“My philosophy about boats has always been that someone else’s boat is the best boat, because someone else’s boat can be a nightmare,” Mr. Kuhn, 54, said in an interview from Austin, Texas, where he oversees development of a lakeside community.
“But now it’s different. They’ve perfected every detail of an electric boat that’s just fun to use,” said Kuhn, who made his fortune starting 1-800 Contact out of his college dorm room in the 1990s.
After buying a luxury Ark One cruiser a few years ago, Kuhn is now spending big to become the first customer to buy the Ark Sport, a model made for popular water activities such as wakeboarding and waterskiing.
So far, Lee has sold only a few Ark One luxury cruisers, but it plans to expand production to sell hundreds of Ark Sport models a year, targeting major boating areas such as California, Texas, Idaho, Minnesota, Michigan and other lake-rich U.S. regions.
The first Arc Sport is due to be delivered to Coon by the end of this year.
“There’s a lot of excitement about a product like this because it solves all the fundamental problems that gas-powered boat owners have today,” said Lee, 35, as he piloted his Arc Sport on the San Joaquin River near California’s Bethel Island.
Like Tesla vehicles, the Arc Sport will be equipped with a range of technologies that make the boat something of a floating computer.
The boat is equipped with display screens, sensors, Wi-Fi and a hydraulic system to raise and lower the roof.
Li hopes that software updates will allow the ship to dock autonomously.
It was the development of the electric car that provided the tools to make electric boats a reality.
The success of Tesla vehicles and other electric cars has finally built a supply chain for the batteries and other parts needed to electrify boats.
Ark Boat currently employs more than 100 people, including former engineers from Elon Musk’s Tesla and rocket-ship maker SpaceX.
Other electric boat companies are entering the market, but it’s still a small market compared to electric cars.
Global sales of electric boats were just $5 billion in 2021, but are projected to reach nearly $17 billion by 2031, according to Allied Market Research.
By contrast, global sales of electric vehicles exceeded $250 billion last year.
This story contains reporting from the Associated Press