Survey shows more than half of boat owners would consider going electric

A new survey of US boat owners shows that just more than half – 54% – would consider making their next boat an electric one. The survey also finds that just more than 2 out of 3 owners (68%) say a brand’s commitment to sustainability impacts their purchase decision.

The 2025 U.S. Boat Owners Sustainability Study, done by Unmuted Consumer Insights, gathered and analyzed responses from more than 750 boat owners across the U.S., representing a wide spectrum of recreational boating types and uses: freshwater fishing boats, saltwater fishing boats, center consoles, runabouts, bowriders, speed/high performance boats, pontoons, cabin cruisers, houseboats and sailboats.

The study was conducted online from May 21–28, 2025, in partnership with Veridata Insights, which provided participant recruitment services. The intent is to provide insights into what importance boat owners place on environmental sustainability and eco-friendly practices, and their willingness to consider purchasing an all-electric vessel.

“Our findings confirm what we’re seeing across many markets: sustainability matters,” said Bridget Millar, President of Unmuted Consumer Insights. “Many consumers are better informed and more discerning in their choices than ever before. Increasingly, they look beyond price and performance to consider how products align with their values, including environmental responsibility. The marine industry is no exception.”

The shift is also evident in attitudes toward emerging technologies such as electric boats, where consumers weigh environmental benefits alongside performance and cost. Millar, a lifelong boater who took her first boat ride the day she came home from the hospital, says the trend is “reshaping the future of recreational boating.”

To gain insight into participants’ mindsets, the survey began by asking about a variety of factors, including how often they go boating, the types of waterways they frequent, how many boats they’ve owned over their lifetime, and technical details such as fuel and drive type.

The boat owners participating in the survey lived across the US, with just over 1/3 of the respondents living in California, Florida, Michigan, New York and Texas. Roughly 1/3 of all participants said they own a freshwater fishing boat (29%), another 10% own a saltwater fishing / centre console boat, and about 1 in 5 (17%) own a pontoon. Speed / high performance boats represented another 15%, cabin cruisers 12% and runabout / bowriders, sailboats and houseboats were owned by less than 5% of the consumers (about 25% own more than one boat.)

Some going electric results surprising

When asked about whether they would probably or definitely consider an electric boat when the time came for a new one, some of the results would be as expected and some were a bit surprising.

It probably isn’t surprising that 65% of boaters on the Great Lakes would probably/definitely consider an electric boat, but a bit surprising that owners of ocean going boats were even more interested, at 71%. On the the other end of the scale, owners of of boats on small lakes were actually the least likely to be interested in electric boats, at 38%.

When it comes to the type of boat owner/user most interested in electric, the top two types of boat are houseboats and sailboats at 80% and 75% respectively. The next most interested are owners of high performance / speed boats at 66%. The two types of owners least likely to be interested in an electric boat were freshwater fishing boats and runabouts / bowriders. In fact, they were the only two that were below 50% interest (43% and 36%)

It needs to be pointed out here that you don’t want to jump to too many conclusions by slicing and dicing the numbers too much on a survey of this size. For example, if you matched up the boat type with the water type, you might find that there is someone whose second boat is a 12 foot sailboat on a small lake who is never gong to need a motor at all, so that brings down the percentage of interest of boat owners on small lakes. Still, the interest by ocean boats is somewhat counterintuitive, as is the low interest by freshwater fishing boats and owners on small lakes.

Encouraging news for electric boats

The survey was not intended to dig deeply into all of the decisions that need to be made about whether to buy an electric boat or not, but it is probably safe to assume that when these boat owners do look at an electric option they will consider initial price, maintenance costs, charging infrastructure and of course usage related factors like the speed and range they need.

That may also play into the results. This is not in the survey, but as an example, owners of small bowriders and freshwater fishing boats may have the perception that the initial price of an electric boat is not in their budget, while the owner of a cabin cruiser may be less concerned about that upfront cost.

In the end, this is a very encouraging survey for the future of electric boats. I am willing to bet that if a similar survey had been conducted five years ago, the interest in electric boats would not be anywhere near one in two people saying they would be probably or definitely interested. I don’t think it would be that far off to to say that somewhere near 50% of boat owners at that time would not have even known electric propulsion was an option.

Perhaps the most striking thing about the Unmuted report is the flip side of the equation. Only one in ten (11%) of all boat owners surveyed said they would not even consider an electric boat. Only 13% said they would ‘probably not consider’ it. That’s only one in four people that are diehard fossil fuelheads. That is good news.

DOWNLOAD THE U.S. BOAT OWNER SUSTAINABILITY STUDY HERE