Sweden's X-Shore, a burgeoning manufacturer of eco-conscious electric boats, has unveiled a new model with a drastically reduced pricepoint.
The all-new X-Shore 1 will have a retail price of $139,000 USD, a significant drop from their flagship Eelex 8000 with it's $329,000 USD entry point.
The new X-Shore 1 is a smaller platform at 21-feet, but bears many of the keynote stylistic and engineering attributes that brought the Eelex 8000, and X-Shore themselves, to the forefront of electric boating.
A pre-preg production method designed for the X-Shore 1 is a major key to its performance features as the new system produces a significantly lighter boat, which be default reduces the electric demand placed upon the battery bank and motor.
The company have always been upfront advocates for environmentally friendly production methods, and that mindset carries over to the X-Shore 1 with the use of a mixture of glass fiber and carbon fiber to balance material costs and environmental concerns. Like the Eelex 8000, the X-Shore 1 will use cork decking and various recycled materials throughout its interior.
X-Shore CEO Jenny Keisu told Bloomberg, “We could easily continue to sell 40 boats per year to very wealthy individuals,” Keisu said. “But if you want to see real impact, you need to replace traditional boats, and for that to happen the electric boats must become cheaper.”
As the potential of the X-Shore 1 and the viability of electric boating pushes closer to the mainstream, Keisu and X-Shore are anticipating raising an additional $50 million capital within the year and going public with an IPO in the shorter term. In her Bloomberg interview she added: “the board come to the conclusion that we should go public, and the market is open for it, we could move very quickly.”
Design-wise, the X-Shore 1 will features a built-in swim platform and an open transom, same as the Eelex 8000, which provides both a unique look and a surprisingly adaptable platform for recreational boating. It also features central passage along the deck, navigation lights, a cantilevered roof, a retractable sun awning, and watersports capabilities.
It will be available in two variations -- open top or canopy top -- and will feature a 125 kW motor (168 hp) and a single 63 kWh battery to provide a top speed of 35 mph (56 km/h).
The standard 20-80% battery charging measurement can be done in about 90 minutes with a mid-range 22.5 kW charger. A high-output 45kW charger can top up the battery bank in less than an hour.
The new model claims a range of 50 nautical miles (92 km) at an 8-knot (9 mph) cruising speed, and a standard midrange cruising speed of 20 knots (23 mph).
The X Shore 1 will begin production at X Shore Industries 1 in Nyköping, Sweden and is expected to be available for delivery in Q2 of 2023.
You can watch the unveiling video and a breakdown of the X-Shore 1's features in the video below:
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