Like many people with a strong connection to the water, Swedish entrepreneur Konrad Bergström bought a boat. Because of the success of his audio company Zound Industries, he had some money to spend; eventually, according to a 2019 article in Forbes, he settled on a speedboat, about which he soon became ambivalent. Why? Two primary reasons: the sound of the motor made it hard to communicate onboard the boat, and the engine left him with concerns over the environment.
Bergström was inspired by Tesla’s approach to technology; eventually, that led to the creation of electric boat company X Shore. X Shore is the firm behind the Eelex 8000, a boat which runs silently, has a range of roughly 100 nautical miles and takes its design inspiration from eels.
The Eelex 8000 is already available in Europe, but the company just announced that the boat is also available in the United States. At Electrek, Micah Toll has the news along with some analysis. Toll points out that the work being done by X Shore, though out of the price range of many, will still benefit the industry as a whole, along with helping to make technological advances. It’s a powerful boat with a sophisticated technological system — including a Garmin watch that will shut off the engine if it goes overboard.
If you’re looking to be one of the first stateside Eelex 8000 owners, X Shore is currently accepting orders. They’ll build the boats to your specifications, beginning at $329,000. According to Toll’s article, X Shore plans to open an American facility in 2022.
More Like This
Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know.
