Vision Marine to supply Limestone Boat electric powertrains

Another established boat builder jumps on board the e-train with the Limestone Boat electric drive being supplied by Vision Marine Technologies. Both companies are well known in Canadian boating and both have set their eyes in the past year on increasing their sales in the larger North American and world markets.

In December Vision Marine went public with an Initial Public Offering and listing on the NASDAQ exchange. A few months before that, in late September 2020, Limestone was purchased by marine industry veteran Scott Hanson and a team of partners and is now traded on the Toronto Venture Exchange.

One of the big announcements with Vision Marine’s NASDAQ listing was that it would be expanding from its longstanding business of building electric boats (it was established as the Canadian Electric Boat Company in 1995) to developing and marketing its new E-Motion Electric Outboard Powertrain. The company still offers 4 electric boat models: the Volt, Bruce, Fantail and Quietude.

Limestone Boat will order a minimum of 25 of the E-Motion powertrains over the next 12 months as the initial step in its plans to significantly scale its electric boat footprint. The agreement includes Vision Marine investing $2.8M USD in Limestone through a convertible debenture.

Limestone is a heritage boat brand in Canada, with a distinctive hull renowned for its big water performance and a series of models developed by renowned designer Mark Ellis since the 1980s. Its headquarters are in Ontario, Canada and it has a 145,000 sq. ft. US manufacturing facility in Tennessee.

The goal for electrification is to focus on the 20’ to 29’ market for its stable of brands that include Limestone, Aquasport, and Boca Bay. Limestone expects to sell up to 550 boats in the 2022 calendar year.

EPA cleaner waterways good for Limestone Boat electric push

Among the things that should help in the electrification efforts is the focus by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on cleaning up U.S. waterways. Also, Vision Marine is the only electric boat engine technology company with certifications from the European Conformity, the United States Coast Guard and the Canadian Coast Guard.

Vision Marine’s new E-Motion 180-E is the first fully electric 180 HP outboard powertrain system available to the boating market, with continuous power of 110 kiloWatts. Speaking about the Limestone agreement, Alexandre Mongeon, CEO and co-founder of Vision Marine said “I am very excited about this contract and our partnership with Limestone, as it marks the beginning of the commercialization of Vision Marine’s E-Motion powertrain, the world’s most powerful electric outboard powertrains available on the market today.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Vision Marine.” said Limestone CEO Hanson. “This partnership provides us with a leading technological advantage as we move to establish Limestone and Vision Marine as leaders in transitioning the recreational boating industry to electric powertrains.”