Electric boat propulsion, spearheaded by companies like eD-TEC, is making strides, and by all accounts, it’s not about to stop or fade away like some TikTok trend. Most major engine manufacturers have some electric propulsion engine on the drawing board, if not already on the market, and the electric propulsion movement has inspired many start-up companies. A perfect example is eD-TEC, a German company created by former Volkswagen Group Chief Strategist Michael Jost, who has led the VW Group toward a future of “smart” cars. Jost, along with his family, has gathered a team of sustainability “believers” to create electric mobility for the ocean. Their first step to “electrify the ocean” with smart boats comes with the development of the eD-QDrive.
The system, designed and developed by the team, is an electric drive solution for vessels from small dayboats and tenders to performance cruisers up to 98 feet in length. A modular and scalable design allows for an installation of a single unit up to a quad setup with a high-C-rate battery bank for a power range from 50kW to 2,400kW and a modular battery bank that offers power from 80kWh to 320kWh. eD-TEC plans an operating window between 20 to 40 knots. In order to achieve optimal performance in electric boat propulsion, eD-TEC focuses on six core principles.
“Michael really drove the change in the automotive industry and pushed the transformation of the entire VW brand,” said Marc Jost, chief strategy officer at eD-TEC. “But there’s a clear mismatch between transforming the automotive into a more sustainable market and then hopping on a vessel and blowing out diesel fumes. That led us to think about how one can achieve a sustainable drive train, or a sustained, measured method of propulsion, without sacrificing convenience, performance, or range.”
