World’s first full-scale electric seaglider hits the seas for testing [Video]

Is it an electric plane, boat? It’s the best of both. The world’s first full-scale electric seaglider officially hit the seas for testing this week with passengers onboard. It can fly and glide on water. Watch it in action below.

Meet the world’s first electric seaglider

After completing its first on-water tests this week, Mike Kinker, CTO and co-founder of REGENT, boasted “the era of seagliders has begun.”

REGENT has been developing electric seagliders since 2020, and in four short years, the company is now testing full-scale prototypes on the water.

With backing from Mark Cuban, Peter Thiel, Lockheed Martin, and others, REGENT’s seagliders have secured a backlog of orders worth over $9 billion across six continents. The founders, Billy Thalheimer and Mike Klinker, both studied Aerospace Engineering at MIT and worked at Boeing’s subsidiary, Aurora Flight Sciences.

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Completing the first on-water tests marks the latest milestone as Regents looks to unlock a faster, more affordable way to travel.

Seagliders are a new type of vessel that combines the speed of an aircraft with the convenience of traveling by boat.

They have three modes: floating on the hull, foiling above the water on hydrofoils, and flying (within one wingspan) on the water.

The seaglider, “Viceroy,” is a 12-passenger prototype. At 55 feet long with a wingspan of 65 feet, it’s the largest fully electric “flying machine.” That’s about the size of a typical personal aircraft.

As tradition, REGENT christened the prototype, “Paladin,” before it hit the water at Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.

After the first on-water tests were completed this week, the company plans for additional passenger flights around mid-year.

.@elonmusk we were productive this week https://t.co/CdoS6qfPAl pic.twitter.com/0u1LfNeJ2q

— Billy Thalheimer (@billythalheimer) March 6, 2025

On X, Thalheimer celebrated the milestone by reposting an Elon Musk tweet from 2022 that said, “A flying, electric boat would be sickkk,” with the caption “We were productive this week.”

REGENT says the electric seaglider can travel 180 mph (156 kts) with up to 180 miles (156 nm) range from an electric battery and 120 kW motor.

With next-gen batteries, it expects the seagliders will be able to achieve over 400 nautical miles range within the next few years.

In January, the company broke ground on its 255,000 sq ft manufacturing facility in Rhode Island, where the seagliders will be built. It’s expected to come online next year. The company has raised over $90 million and already is working with the US Marine Corps to use the vessels for defense.

Would you take a trip in REGENT’s electric seaglider? Let us know in the comments. It may be here sooner than you think.