Candela partners with Polestar in battery deal

The Swedish electric car maker Polestar will provide battery and charging systems for Candela boats. The battery deal aims to bring mass-market electric boats one step closer to reality.

“To make electric boats mainstream, we need to build thousands of boats every year. Working together with Polestar, we’re able to bring the scale of production and world class engineering from the automotive industry to the marine sector,” says Gustav Hasselskog, Candela CEO and founder.

“I am fascinated by way Candela’s boats glide elegantly and efficient through, or better, over the water – amazing proof of the great aesthetics and experiences modern, sustainable technology can create,” says Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO. “That Polestar will be part of future projects with Candela by supplying an essential part for the innovative propulsion of their boats, is awesome. As a battery supplier to Candela, we can help drive the transition to cleaner oceans and lakes, and electrify waterborne transport.”

The deal between the two Swedish companies is an attempt to overcome the two major hurdles for electrifying boating. The first hurdle is the massive energy consumption of conventional powerboat hulls, which so far has resulted in poor performance of electric boats. The second hurdle has been the prohibitively high cost of marine batteries for electric boats.

Electric boatbuilders typically have so far relied on smaller, boutique vendors of marine battery packs. Scarcity and high unit costs of these packs are two factors that have prevented electric boats from achieving parity with ICE vessels.

“Thanks to the partnership with Polestar, we’re able to secure state-of-the-art battery packs for our production ramp-up,” says Hasselskog. “As the number of electric vehicles increases worldwide, a steady battery supply will become increasingly important to hold a competitive edge and allow us to compete with combustion engine boats.”

The battery supply agreement is just the beginning of a broader intended partnership between Polestar and Candela, with both companies reporting to be committed to exploring further opportunities for collaboration.