Venice Boat Show: 36 electric boats, e-Regatta, new e-boat races and more.
This year’s Venice Boat Show marks another important step in e-boating, with 36 electric and hybrid boats from 22 exhibitors showcasing how greener propulsion is available in almost every category from family leisure boats to electric water taxis, industrial workboats, high speed runabouts and ocean cruisers.
UPDATE: See the results of the 2022 e-Regatta
The electric boats at the Salone Nautico Venezia (May 28 – Jun 5) will be serviced by 18 specially designed AC charging stations and 2 high power DC installations in the historic Venice Arsenale, site of the show. This year also sees the newest edition of e-Regatta introduced in 2021 which will reprise the Grand Canal Parade, Slalom and e-Ballerina events while introducing a series of competitions in the new GT-Electra one design racing class.
Growing presence of electric boats
The is the third year of the Salone, and electric boats keep growing in numbers. The Q-Yachts Q30, Ecoline’s ECO 800 and the first X Shore boat – the Eelex 650 – were part of the first show, along with some hybrid workboats and water limo prototypes.
Read about the electric boats at the first (2019) Salone Nautico Venezia
The second show, held last year (the 2020 show was cancelled because of the pandemic) featured the e-Regatta and a growing recognition of how electric boats are shaping the future, especially in this city that relies on water transportation.
One of the reasons electrics and hybrids are welcomed here is that the city has long had a love/hate relationship with fossil fuel boats. They have obviously been necessary for the city to provide services like fire, ambulance, and garbage pickup.
They are also required to move people about in ways more efficient but less romantic than gondolas, and who hasn’t thrilled to the high speed high expense chase scenes in movies like Indiana Jones, The Italian Job and numerous Bond films?
Unfortunately, they also come along with thunderous noise amplified by echoing in the canals, oil and gas slicks and noxious fumes spewing into the air. Below the water the turbulence of the ICE motors and propellers have been slowly but relentlessly assaulting the foundations of the city’s centuries-old palazzo. The Guardian newspaper reported in 2016 that “The foundations of more than 60% of the buildings on the Grand Canal have been damaged by the wash from the waterbuses and barges.”
Read about electric boats at the 2021 Venice Boat Show
An organization called Venice Agenda 2028 (also an organizer of the e-Regatta) has launched a petition (you can sign it here) to have all boats in the canals fossil fuel free by that year, and the city has given some incentive for the adoption of electric boats by making them exempt from traffic restrictions on certain canals.
Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro has been a big supporter and promoter of the electrification of boating in the city. In announcing this year’s e-Regatta he said:
“With this third edition The Boat Show is confirmed as a place of experimentation and innovation and the e-Regatta shows how Venice is “the oldest city of the future”. Venice confirms its commitment to becoming the World Capital of Sustainability and be a place that salutes our tradition as the undisputed queen of the seas for a thousand years, and is also where we look to the future of the nautical industry through the continuous pursuit of our green conversion.“
You can see all of this year’s electric boat exhibitors, with links to their websites, in the directory at the bottom of this page, and here are some electric highlights of Salone Nuatico Venezia 2022.
20 charging stations at Arsenale E-village
The venue for the show is the city’s Arsenale, a magnificent complex of former shipyards and armouries that could turn out a ship a day in Venice’s fifteenth century heyday when the city state literally ruled the seas and there were over 3,000 Venetian merchant ships in operation.
This week, its 1,000 metres of piers have 240 moorings dedicated to every kind of vessel from super yacht to sailboat to rowboat and electric wakeboard. The Darsena Vecchia (Vecchia dock) was created in the 12th century and is now home to the latest in 21st century boating technology as the designated E-Village with its electric exhibitors.
One of the most striking images is the line of electric boat chargers along the water. Global marine charging network Aqua superPower and Italian charge point manufacturer e-concept have teamed up as technical partners to the Salone and have installed twenty marine chargers.
Two of the stations are Aqua’s 75kW DC fast chargers, while the other 18 are standard speed AC chargers that have been designed by the e-concept team to look like the traditional ‘palina’ – wooden mooring poles – that dot the banks of the Venice canals.
“The Venice Boat Show is a particularly significant forum for us to promote our dedicated marine fast charging network.” says Alex Bamberg, CEO of Aqua superPower. “We are actively working to install charging infrastructure in Venice as a highly sensitive location where critical environmental, cultural and heritage considerations increasingly drive the demand for electric boats.”
Candela hydrofoiling water taxi
Earlier this year Swedish hydrofoiling pioneers Candela launched their C8 electric speedboat, which is now one of Europe’s best selling boats – of any propulsion. At Venice they unveiled the passenger version of the C8, the Candela P-8 Voyager, that is perfect for helping address the problems of the Venice canals.
The P-8 Voyager carries six passengers and two crew, has a range of 50 nautical miles at cruise speeds, and can hit a top speed of 30 knots with a wake of only 5cm. It uses the torpedo-like technology of Candela’s proprietary double motor C-POD, (you can read about it here) which has two motors with contra rotating propellers meaning almost zero turbulence under the water. The palazzo will be pleased!
RaceBird of the E1 electric boat race series
One of the exhibitors at Venice this year is the new E1 electric boat race series, the UIM EI World Championships. The RaceBird electric foiling completed its first successful trials on the River Po in northern Italy a few weeks ago and a static model is on display in the Arsenale at Booth Tesa 113. This will give visitors the chance to look at a RaceBird up close, including the underwater propulsion system. It is accompanied by interactive displays that tell the story of the birth of the E1 Series and what is coming up in the future.
This fits nicely with the recent announcement that Venice will have a team in the World Championship Series. Francesco Pannoli and Claudio Iannelli of e-concept fame (see above) will be leading the team and have hooked up with racing expert and offshore world champion Luigi Radice and motorsport expert Eugenio Razelli. They are joined by Francois Richard from Lanéva Boats who will oversee business development and Nicolò Muraro from Meneghini & Associati heading up communications.
The e-Regatta
The Darsena Grande (main dock) of the Arsenale is just a few metres from the e-Village and is where the e-Regatta event will be taking place – with the exception of the new GT-Electra races. These will will be held at the Idroscalo in the waters of the island of Vignole, near the main entrance to the Venice ‘Lido’.
The e-Regatta is a great example of a variety of stakeholders coming together to ensure the success of a common project. It has been organized by Assonautica di Venezia (Nautical Association of Venice), Associazione Motonautica Venezia (Venice Motorboating Association), VeniceAgenda2028, Venti di Cultura (Winds of Culture tourism society of Venice) and Triumph Group International with the collaboration of the Venice Convention Bureau Vela and the Italian Motorboat Association FIM.
June 1: SAILence Venice e-Regatta Parade and 1st GT-Electra Race
The e-Regatta begins with the ceremonial parade that was a great spectacle last year – electric boats of all descriptions witnessed by native Venetians and curious visitors who applauded when informed that these vessels were all electric.
This year’s parade, dubbed the SAILence in Venice, will build on that tradition, again starting in the Darsena Grande, travelling along the north of La Serenissima past the Cannaregio, then into the Grand Canal, along under the Rialto, exiting at the San Marco Basin to pass the iconic Basilica and return home to the Arsenale. The only boats not in the parade will be the three one design speedboats competing in the inaugural GT-Electra series.
The GT-Electra races are the brainchild of Associazione Motonautica Venezia President Giampaolo Montavoci, who approached Franco Moro of Italy’s Huracan motors to develop the powertrain.
Four identical hulls have been produced and will be piloted by Montavoci himself, Marco Crosera, Fabio Magnani and Francis Notschaele. The composite hulls weigh only 200 kg including engine and 8kWh battery, and are powered by 15kW Huracan motors for a speed of about 50 km/h / 25 kts. Moro says “We will be able to reach 70 km/h by increasing the power a little, but we thought we would take it one step at a time.”
June 2: Slalom, e-Ballerina, GT-Electra Finals
Thursday is the big event day for the e-Regatta.
At 10:00 AM the Slalom course will be set in the Darsena Grande. Boats are required to go between the gates on a ‘there and back’ course with timings.
The Slalom is followed by the e-Ballerina at 11:00 AM. This event, designed to test and show the manoeuvrability of the boats, has musical accompaniment as the pilots go through a complex series of twists and turns.
At the Idrascola the second heat of the GT-Electra races takes place at 12:30 with the finals set for 6:00 PM.
Friday June 3: Conference and Awards
At 10:30 on Friday many of the exhibitors and e-Regatta organizers will convene in the Arsenale’s Torre Porta Nuevo (New Port Tower, built in 1813) for an in-depth discussion and exploration: “Towards a green economy transition”
Organized by Assonautica di Venezia, speakers include Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro, Michele Emiliano, President of the Puglia Region, Gianluigi Taroni, Global Sales Director for TRANSFLUID, Paola Matteri of Cantiere Matteri, Alberto Toffolo of Toffolo Officine, Kevin Desmond, founder of Venice Agenda2028, and others.
Finally, at 5:00 PM the awards will be presented for the e-Regatta and plans will begin to have electric boats even more prominent at Salone Nautico Venezia 2023.
Directory of Salone Nautico Venezia 2022 Electric Boats Exhibitors
amperetta HYBRID-DRIVE is the powerful, compact, and easy-to-use plugin-hybrid on the water. Strong electric motors are available for accurate maneuvering as well as for slow and medium cruising. amperetta HYBRID-DRIVE runs almost silently.
Potsdam, Germany
Anvera Elab is the story of a technological challenge, it is our nature. It was born from the encounter between Anvera and TecnoElettra, which, since 1974, has been studying innovative projects in automation and motor sports.
Together we created the prototype of a single-hull planing boat built only in carbon fiber as part of a larger project: the creation of a pleasure boat with totally electric propulsion. Even as a prototype, the boat is duly CE certified and has reached speed records that we are already prepared to beat.
Our Mission
To accelerate the transition to clean marine propulsion by delivering intelligent charging infrastructure for every type of electric vessel and marine operation.
AQUA superPower is the first fully marinised global dockside network of fast charging stations for electric vessels. Powered by its proprietary cloud-based Neptune platform, AQUA combines reliable charging hardware, intelligent network management and 24/7 customer support to deliver a seamless charging experience.
From marinas and yacht clubs to ports, harbours, commercial operators, boat builders and powertrain manufacturers, AQUA provides the infrastructure, software and expertise needed to accelerate the adoption of electric marine mobility.
Eco-sustainable boating accessible to all
Comfort, reliability and innovation with European design and technology.
Barchelettriche was born from the experience of its founders who for years have been engaged in the field of eco-sustainable boating through projects and collaborations based on boats with full electric propulsion for navigation both on inland waters (lakes and rivers) and on the sea. Barchelettriche aims to develop the concept of environmentally friendly boating by making it accessible to everyone.
Location: Chiavari (Genoa) Italy
Our Electric Boats
We have always believed that the future will be full of electric motors, both in boats and in cars, but we were born in Venice and therefore we have focused on the sea route, or to stay closer in the lagoon.
Our conviction regarding electric boats was so deeply rooted that since 2005 the adventure started with an epic journey: The circumnavigation of Italy, the “IMES” boat set sail from Venice, has always reached Genoa only by the power of the sun. If then it was possible to reach this much, today technology has made giant steps:
Nothing is missing to confirm that ours was not an illusion, now it is a certainty.
Venice, Italy
Hydrofoiling electric boats and ferries, made in Sweden.
Transforming transport on the water with technology; enabling electrification and vastly improving performance vs. combustion engines.
Our ultimate purpose is to speed up the transition to fossil fuel-free lakes and oceans by re-thinking efficiency in marine transportation to radically push the performance boundaries of electric boats and ships.
At Candela, we care about doing something good for the planet and all its species. Coming from 20 different nations, we share a conviction that kindness combined with deep knowledge in science, has revolutionary power.
Location: Lidingö, Sweden
Rent one of our traditional Venetian boats equipped with eco-friendly electric engines and an easy to use GPS to help you navigate through the Lagoon of Venice.
In manufacturing and purchasing our Classic Boats, we support traditional craftsmanship and rely on advanced technology. All boats of the category Sanpierota, Topa, Topo and Bragozzo are built exclusively in Venetian shipyards.
Almost all our boats for the day rental are equipped with a very quiet electric drive from Torqeedo® using Lithium-Ionen battery technology, which emits no pollutants.
e-concept puts innovation at the center, with the aim of optimizing production processes, improve the quality of life and stimulate creativity respecting the planet.
our core business is e-dock: a charging infrastructure for the electric yachting sector, with a special focus on Venice.
the product is designed to allow electric boats, to easily access the electricity supply infrastructure during the mooring phase, allowing them to draw the energy needed to recharge the batteries.
Venice, Italy
January 23 – 24: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
April 24 – 25: Lake Como, Italy
June 13 – 14: Dubrovnik, Croatia
July 17 – 18: Monaco
September 4 – 5: Luanda, Angola
October 3 – 4: Lagos, Nigeria
November 14 & 15: Miami, FL, USA
November 21-22: Bahamas
Read Plugboats Coverage of the E1 Series
• The world’s first all-electric raceboat championship
• Racing on water in iconic cities around the world
• Driving positive change to protect our coastal areas
Immerse in the UIM E1 World Championship presented by PIF, a realm where relentless innovation, marine preservation, and exhilarating races converge, unveiling a new chapter in water sports.
Engineers of Emotions since 1927
The Frauscher boatyard’s model range is as diverse as the sea. In addition to award-winning design classics, we regularly add innovations that embody our passion for development, new ideas, and revolutionary technologies. Perfected down to the last detail.
Frauscher has been building electric boats since 1955. In 2008, Frauscher built the world’s first sports boat with a hybrid engine, and in 2009, the world’s first certified hydrogen-powered boat. With a share of around 40% of total production, electromobility is not just a dream of the future, but a living reality.
Every magnificent piece that leaves our factory carries the Frauscher spirit into the world and demonstrates what we value: outstanding design, an incomparably dynamic design language, fine materials, new technologies, the highest level of comfort, and, of course, a vibrant tradition of craftsmanship.
Location: Oberosterreich, Austria
With the introduction of the first hybrid boat in 2008, Greenline revolutionized the boating industry and ever since then the brand has been a synonym for constant innovation in boat building and design.
Our vision is to continuously shape the future of responsible boating by being the most innovative and responsible boat brand in the world.
Location: Begunje, Slovenia
Dealers located Worldwide
PREMIUM ELECTRIC SURFBOARDS
Lampuga produces premium electric surfboards combining innovative designs and state-of-the-art technology that offer fun and exciting experiences on water with the touch of a button. The boards are user-friendly, completely emission free and are built to the highest safety standards.
Rastatt, Germany
Prestigious Shipyard on the Shores of Lake Como specialized in the restoration of vintage boats, Riva restoration and in the construction of unique models.
If you are looking for change, your future is already here. Our goal is to let you experience the sea at its best in uncompromising electric mode.
Sustainability
The science is clear: using electricity as traction produces up to a 90% reduction in atmospheric CO2 emissions. Electric traction protects above all the waters of seas, lakes and rivers where the discharge of combustion gases and fuel leaks irreparably pollute the water.
Technology
Advanced engineering, reliability, state-of-the-art components and precision machining define a Mitek engine. The company based in the Motor Valley has great Italian manufacturing excellence in its DNA. The use of innovative PMSM-type brushless synchronous electric motors can boast over 90% efficiency.
Performance
Mitek motors provide outstanding acceleration and speed thanks to high and constant torque already at very low speed. Unlike combustion motors, they develop the maximum propulsion power immediatly. Say goodbye to heavy fuel tanks and ignition problems.
Discover the joy of using a Mitek electric motor: efficient, silent and simply plug and play.
MOLABO SYSTEM SOLUTION
Looking for the perfect electric drive system for your boat?
The MOLABO shaft system offers a silent, vibration-free drive solution that is easy to install thanks to the safe-to-touch 48 V technology.
To make the installation as easy as possible for you, we offer additional components to the motor with integrated controller. With us you get everything you need for an efficient and reliable propulsion of your electric boat on a one-stop basis.
Germany
May 27 – May 31, 2026
Arsenale, Venice, Italy
The Venice Boat Show brings the real jewels of the sea the historic Arsenale. The Boat Show, one of the main international exhibitions in the sector with 270 exhibitors and 300 boats on a water basin of 55,000 sqm: come to live an immersive experience made for those who love the sea and boating.
We have been at the forefront for years for the development of the electric motor in the lagoon. Recently Toffolo Officine Srl was chosen as partner and official Dealer & Services for the German electric marine engines Torqeedo.
Venice, Italy
Bellmarine is a Dutch brand and historical leader in electric marine propulsion and more besides; With a concentration on the European market with over 4000 systems installed in various types of applications.
Transfluid S.p.A., an Italian company, has been manufacturing power transmission products for over 60 years and is well established in the market thanks to its organisation of subsidiaries and distributors around the world. Transfluid has developed a complete range of hybrid propulsion systems and produces permanent magnet electric machinery.
Established in 2018, the new company Transfluid North Europe B.V. combines the experience and knowledge of the two companies; both share a vision orientated towards the future with environmentally friendly propulsion, for marine and industrial applications, the natural evolution of their technologies.
The merger between the two companies now enables proposal of electrical and hybrid solutions suitable for any type of boat or industrial vehicle, covering a unique range of powers worldwide.
Netherlands
We come from a better future.
Vita was founded to reduce the impact of boating on the marine environment through the development of an all-electric and integrated ecosystem of high-performance electric powertrains and fully electric yachts, supported by dedicated marine supercharging infrastructure.
Boats
Vita Seadog: 5.8m • 20 kt cruising speed, 30 kt top speed • 1 hour DC charge time
Vita SEAL: 7m • up to 30 kts • charging 10% – 90% in 40 min
<aserati Tidente: 10.5m • up to 35 kts • charging 10% – 90% in < 1 hour
Motors
Vita Power’s high performance systems integrate electric marine technology with proprietary control software to deliver peak power between 100hp and 660hp and DC fast charging capabilities.
Vita systems were the first to be compatible with high-speed DC charging on both CCS 1 (US) and CCS 2 (Europe) and are among the fastest charging on the market, supercharging from 10%-90% in under an hour.
The dedication and passion that we at Cantieri Vizianello put into play every day in the nautical world has allowed us to emerge worldwide.
Our daily challenge is to create a tailored product that combines Made in Italy artisan excellence with the best technology available.
Venice, Italy
The Yujet brand was founded on the premise of bringing world class products to market in order to provide the most amount of fun on the water. This innovative brand is the culmination of years of experience as well as like minded individuals from various backgrounds, skills and resources. This collective has been formed by pro surfers, designers, engineers, investors and business executives with significant experience in mass manufacturing, sales and marketing.
Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
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