Evoy motors, Performance Boats and Mercury sterndrive team up for 50 knot electric boat
Norwegian electric boat motor company Evoy has now added Germany’s Performance Boats to the roster of companies going electric with Evoy’s high power units.
The Performance e801 was introduced at the Austrian Boat Show in Tulln last weekend with an Evoy Hurricane 300+kW ‘plug & play’ liquid-cooled electric inboard motor linked to a Mercury Bravo One XR sterndrive.
Coupled with twin 63.1 kWh / 173.2 Ah Li-Ion batteries, the team says the e801 will be able to achieve short burst speeds in excess of 50 kt (57mph, 92km/h) with 21nm range at an ‘average’ cruising speed of about half that speed. The pilot can monitor speed, RPMs, range, water temperature, charge capacity and more with Evoy’s display console.
Evoy partnering with multiple boatyards
Evoy has developed both inboard and outboard electric motors. The inboards range from the 90+kW Breeze to the 150+kW Gale to the 225+kW Storm and 300+kW Hurricane. Outboards are available in the Breeze and Storm power ratings.
At the 2202 Cannes Yachting Festival they showcased the Storm outboard on an Axopar 22 and are also working with Iguana to marry the Storm with a hydrofoiling model that will be the world’s first fully electric amphibious boat.
They have partnered with RIB builders Goldfish on the Evoy Explorer using an inboard Hurricane with sterndrive. On the workboat front they are powering vessels by Helgeland Plast of Norway and Tideman of the Netherlands.
Evoy is also working with marine high speed charging network Aqua superPower to help build out the infrastructure for expanding electric boat use. They were part of the Aqua ‘Virtual Network’ at Boot Düsseldorf 2023.
Custom crafted Performance boats since 1985
Performance is a designer and manufacturer of performance boats (surprise!), that was founded in 1985 and operated under the guiding hand and inspiration of speedboat racing legend Uschi Woebel during the 1990s. She and business partner Werner Sonderwald had taken over the company and shipyard Porlezza, Italy in 1992 and grew sales by 15-20% per year.
The economic crisis of 2008 presented some trying times for all high end boat manufacturers and in 2013 an avid fan and driver of Performance boats was brought on board – Eckhard Spoerr, former CEO of German internet portal freenet.de.
Another avid driver and successful entrepreneur, Frauke v. Kleberlsberg, took over the Performance brand in 2020 through her company SVK Marine Consulting with Woebel heading up production. Sonderwald and Spoerr continue to be friends of the company and Stefan A.v. Kleberlsberg will support Performance in the future as an active advisory board member.
The company currently has a range of seven models, from 7.8m metres to 14.8m metres (22 feet to 49 feet). All are completely customized for purchasors and all have big fossil fuel engines: 2,000 horsepower in total for the 1501 model.
Increase sales for coastal and lake boating
So what prompted them to consider electric propulsion?
Frauke v.Klebelsburg says “Tightening regulation is making it increasingly difficult, (and completely impossible in many cases), for owners of anything other than electric boats or sailing boats, to apply for a new licence to go boating on environmentally protected waters.”
They started talking to Evoy in 2021 and were impressed by the company’s lineup of high power electric motors. Engineers from the two companies began collaborating and the 7.9m/ 22 foot long e801 is the result. A sports-orientated daycruiser with stylish clean lines, it has 2-day berths and 1.5m cabin height.
v. Klebelsburg says “The emission-free e801 will enable us to increase sales, not just in foreign coastal locations, but in our homeland countries, such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy where lake boating is extremely popular.”
Evoy CEO Leif Stavøstrand is equally optimistic. “The Peformance e801 follows a long line of beautifully made craft from this prestigious, custom boat manufacturer. We are absolutely thrilled for our our 400hp inboard electric motor to be part of the future of this iconic and noteworthy brand.”
| Performance e801 | |
|---|---|
| Length LOA | 7.9 m / 22 ft |
| Beam | 2.5 m / 8 ft |
| Draft | 0.7 m / 27.5 inches |
| Weight | 2,800 kg / 6,175 lbs |
| Motor | Electric Inboard: Evoy Hurricane 400+HP |
| Battery Pack |
63.1 kWh |
| Top Speed | 50 knots (57 mph – 92 km/h) |
| Cruising Speed | 25 knots (28mph – 46km/h) |
| Range | ≈ 21nm at Cruising Speed |
| Price | €419,000 ex VAT |
