Pure Watercraft Ready For All-Electric Performance Boat Production
Touting a “dramatically better boating experience,” Pure Watercraft makes all-electric performance boats. The better boat experience is because it only makes electric boats, which means no emissions, noise, and fumes. Sounds great, but electricity and water don’t go together very well. Pure Watercraft has fixed that, which we’ll explain below, while it shoots for a more simplified boat ownership experience.
What is the Pure Watercraft electric boat?
The company sells a number of pontoon, bass, and cruiser boats, as well as electric outboard propulsion systems. Pure seals them completely to avoid any contact with the water. Its outboard electrics are a direct replacement for any gas outboard with the same output, which in this case is 50 hp.
These electric outboards come with several features including a Bluetooth throttle, a mobile charger, all connections, and a standard 16-inch prop. The motor is a 25kW unit. It comes with either one or two 8.85 kWh batteries, but the more you add the more range you have. The batteries are from General Motors. In fact, GM has a 25% stake in the company.
The electric boat manufacturer builds several types of boats, in varying sizes and packages.
Pure Pontoon electric boat
This is its first in-house design. The almost 26-foot-long boat has seating for 10 and a top speed of 23 mph. Not quite in production yet, today the company announced that the Pure Pontoon will be manufactured in a recently acquired 80,000-square-foot facility in Beech Bottom, W Virginia. It has set aside $5 million to outfit the manufacturing facility.
RIB Sport 420
This is a combined package in conjunction with Highfield Boats. The 13’11” boat features an all-aluminum hull, keeping weight down. It has a 25 mph top speed with a range of 43 miles. Power comes from the 25 kW electric outboard.
RIB Classic 380GT electric boat
Similar to the Sport 420, it is shorter at 12’6” long, but with similar aluminum construction. Other features are also similar to the 420.
Highfield Classis 360 Rigid Inflatable
This rigid inflatable features the Classic 360 hull at 11’10”. Everything available with the previous Highfield boats is included in this package.
Founded in 2011, Pure Watercraft has been mostly selling its electric outboard motors. The completion of the Pure Pontoon is its first in-house project, expected to make its first deliveries later this year. In all, there are about 100 electric boat manufacturers, making up around 2% of boats manufactured as of the end of 2021, according to Mobility Insights.
But larger penetration is found in pleasure boats, and the trend is going up, as it is with electric vehicles. So electric boats are seeing similar gains. For now, the future of mobility seems to be all going to electrification.
