New Florida-built electric speedboat offers high power and solar charging

Blue Innovations Group (BIG), the electric boat startup founded by a former Tesla executive, has just launched its first electric boat. The R30 falls somewhere between an electric powerboat and a day cruiser, offering impressive specs in a spacious 30-foot (9.4 meter) package large enough for 12 passengers to relax in comfort.

As founder and CEO John Vo shared during the announcement, “The R30 will provide the ultimate boating experience for customers with uncompromised safety, performance, style, and value while being environmentally friendly.”

The BIG R30 is built in Florida, where the company is headquartered.

As Vo continued, “We are thrilled to launch the R30 in St. Petersburg, Florida, a community that has embraced our mission from the very beginning. The R30 is a testament to American innovation and the cutting-edge technologies emerging from the state of Florida.”

The boat is powered by a large 221 kWh battery pack that feeds a pair of 300 kW (400 hp) motors for a combined power output of 600 kW (800 hp).

The boat features an open terrace stern design with a semi-walkaround bow created by the offset control console.

In addition to a mains power charger, the R30 includes a foldout solar canopy that can provide up to 2.7 kW of charging power. The T-Top has an exposed solar array as well as two additional solar panels that can be extended to increase both the charging power and the available shade offered by the canopy.

Below deck is a cabin featuring a marine bathroom, kitchenette, and air conditioning.

The 30-foot (9 meter) boat features a 10-foot (3 meter) beam and has a height of 9.5 feet (2.9 meters).

Displacing 10,000 lb. (4,500 kg), the boat is targeting a top speed of 39 knots (45 mph or 72.4 km/h) and a run time of eight hours, though it is not clear at what cruising speed that eight-hour runtime is measured. As we’ve seen in smaller craft, an electric boat’s runtime can vary from an hour to multiple days depending on cruising speed.

With deliveries expected to commence in Q3 2024, reservations are now open for the R30. The electric boat currently carries an estimated price of US $300,000, which puts it in line with several other flagship electric boats in the market.

Customers can reserve an R30 for US $1,000 with a “BLUE Reservation” that offers standard delivery, or can dig a bit deeper into their pocketbook for $5,000 to snag a “BIG Reservation” that comes with priority access to one of the first 100 boats produced by the company.

The company explained that after the first 100 boats go to BIG reservations, “50% of our production capacity will be split between between BIG and BLUE reservations.”

Several new electric boats in the 25- to 30-foot segment have hit the market over the last few years, but many come from Scandinavian boat makers like Candela and X Shore. BIG would be one of the first US electric boat builders to offer a comparable product in this category.