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Plugboats: Toronto Boat Show Embraces Electric

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The Frauscher X Porsche 850 Fantom Air

Jan 23, 2025

North America’s largest indoor boat show, the Toronto International Boat Show this year will host a segment each afternoon on the Lake: “The Electrification of Boating in Canada.”

In addition, there are over 20 companies exhibiting that have electric boats or motors in their model lineup (although the e-boats may not be on display at the Show) and Plugboats Editor / Publisher Jeff Butler will be speaking about the state of electric boating on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Below is more information about each.

Indoor Lake Demos

Jetsurft 2 Ski

JETSURF
With their new Electric 2 Ski, riders can switch from electric jet-ski to e-surfboard in minutes. It has a swappable battery pack with 3 kiloWatthours of energy storage, delivering 25-55 minutes of surfing at speeds of up to 50 km/h (30 mph)

E-Surf
The E-Surf R has a carbon fibre hull with a 19 kW motor and 3.3 kWh battery pack that delivers up to 45 minutes of drive time. Among the people who helped them develop the product are Yamaha Official Moto GP Rider Fabio Quartararo and Professional Big Wave Surfer Kai Lenney.

Tohatsu
will be showing off their first entry into the electric outboard market, the ALARIS 6.0kW (≈ 10 hp), with integrated power trim & tilt, built in GPS and a 3” touch screen control display with variety of controls and readings on speed, tilt position, and battery level. The ALARIS 6.0 is available in short (15”), long (20”), ultra long (25”) transom height.

Legend
The indoor lake is a chance to see the Mercury Avator electric outboard in action, paired with the Legend 10’ Pulse, an easy-to-handle boat for first-time and young boaters. Built with HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) and foam-filled for safety, it is virtually unsinkable.

Visitors can also sign up at the Mercury booth (1847) for a ride on a Mercury inflatable powered by the Avator.

Rand
Rand is a Danish company that is one of the pioneers of electric boating, having been around since 2014. They are represented by the Muskoka Boat Gallery in Canada and have exhibited at the Toronto show in past years. This is the first time they will be on the lake, with their 23 foot Rand Mana powered with a Torqeedo Cruise 12.0 Outboard (≈ 18 hp) and 15 kWh lithium battery.

Vision Marine Technologies
VMT is a proudly Canadian company that goes back even further than Rand, founded in Montreal in 1995 as the Canadian Electric Boat Company. They have a number of electric boats at the show, and on the lake will be demoing their new Armada Pontoon 168, an 8 passenger, 17’2” model with a Navy 6.0 electric outboard (≈ 10 hp) from one of the electric motor market leaders, ePropulsion.

Navigator Boats.
This Toronto company specializes in RIBs (Rigid Inflatable Boats) and has the largest selection of electric motors of any dealer in the country. You can visit their booth to see the full lineup, but on the lake they will have one of their RIBs powered by the innovative ePropulsion eLite, a 500W (≈ 1.5 ho) unit where the electric motor, battery and controls are all built into a thin shaft that also acts as the rudder.

Electric Boat Exhibitors

Vision Marine Technologies
In addition to the Armada Pontoon, Vision Marine will have 4 other boats at TIBS. Three are made by Vision and can be seen at their booth (#255) while the fourth, an Axopar, with Vision Marine’s eMotion 180e electric outboard, will be at the booth of EZ Dock (#100)

The Fantail 217 at the Vision booth is patterned after the most classic of electric boats, which took visitors through the lagoons of the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. Thousands of these types of boats have been sold all over the world, and continue to be extremely popular in California and Florida. They were almost the original pontoon boat where families could get out on the water and spend a leisurely day soaking up nature.

The Volt 180 is a very contemporary version of the original fantails, the ‘Picnic Boat’ style popular throughout Europe. Like the Fantail, it is designed for families and friends (it can carry up to 10 people) to get out on the water for a relaxing day. The bow area is designed so everyone gathers around a dining table to enjoy some drinks and snacks or meals as you quietly cruise along with electric propulsion.

In the Phantom model at the booth, Vision goes from the past to the future with a boat using rotomolding. You’ve probably seen the method used on kayaks and other small boats. The hollow polyethylene hull combines durability with extremely light weight – only 800 lbs for the 16’ 6” boat. That extends the range capabilities of the electric propulsion and also makes for a very stable ride. Its shallow draft and durable hull make it an ideal choice for fishing.

Axopar 22 Spyder

Axopar
Speaking of the future, Axopar has been one of the fastest growing boat companies in the world since it was founded just over a decade ago, and recently announced that it is getting into electric propulsion in a serious way with the launch of a whole new electric line. At the EZ-Dock booth (#100) you can see the Axopar 22 Spyder matched up with a 180 horsepower Vision Marine eMotion 180e all-electric outboard.

Princecraft
Princecraft has had electric propulsion as an option on their pontoons for the past five years and officially launched their Brio Electric Series in November of 2021.  It was not known at writing time which boats would be at the show, but they have three models, the BRIOe 17, BRIOe 19 and BRIOe 21-2S, available with three electric motor options, the Avator 20e or 35e by Mercury or the Torqeedo 3,0 Cruise. Booth #1101.

The following boat manufacturers have electric boats in their model lineups. They are unlikely to have them on display at the Toronto show, but are certainly happy to have you inquire:

Frauscher Pride Marine Group
Frauscher is one of the world’s premier electric boat companies. They built their first electric boat in 1955 and have been creating stunning runabouts and sports models ever since. In 2024 they launched one of their most stunning yet in collaboration with Porsche, the Frauscher x Porsche 850 Fantom Air, which unites a classic Frauscher hull with the electric drive train of Porsche’s Macan electric SUV. Canadian representatives are Pride Marine Group, Booth #1401.

Godfrey Pontoons
Godfrey is one of the top builders of pontoon boats and is widely known for quality of construction and detailing. The ‘Mighty G’ is their first pontoon with an electric motor as an option in their online Boat Builder. Booth #950

Harris Pontoons
The CRUISER-E 210 was launched in 2024  to provide the same level comfort, amenities and style the Cruiser model is known for, in addition to a more sustainable, gas-free option to explore the waterways. It was designed, engineered, and tested as an integrated system in partnership with Mercury Marine. Booth 601

Highfield RIBs
Highfield is the world’s largest builder of Rigid Inflatable Boats and has a number of electric models, including three models in their Classic Tender range powered by ePropulsion motors, the EJET330 powered by the 18 kW (≈ 25 hp) MKII electric jet system from New Zealand’s  ZeroJet and the SP660 powered by a 100 hp electric outboard from Flux Marine of the USA. Booth #G703

Scout
Flux Marine’ 100 hp outboard also powers the electric version of Scout 215 Dorado Dual Console model, producing a top speed of 30mph and 25+ miles of boating from a single charge. Booth #1401

Veer Boats
While not specifically ‘an electric boat’, the Veer 13 is a lightweight shallow draft boat designed by Lund (Veer is a subsidiary) to match up nicely with the Mercury Avator electric outboard (all three companies are part of Brunswick Corporation). Booth #1117

Electric Motor Exhibitors

Navigator Boats
In addition to the ePropulsion motors Navigator is demonstrating at the Indoor Lake, Navigator has a wide range of motors from other manufacturers. Booth #1769

Aquamot is a European company founded in that has been building electric inboards, outboards and pod motors (where the motor is under the water line) since 2003. Their products range from 1 kW of power to 25 kW (≈ 3 – 35 hp)

Elco is the leading US manufacturer of electric outboards and inboards. They actually started as the company that built those electric boats at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, but became a motor only company in 2009. Their models range from 5 – 200 horsepower (≈ 3kW – 150 kW – most US companies do not give the kW ratings of their motors)

Rim Drive Technologies is a Dutch company tat specializes in rim drive motors, where there is no central shaft for the propeller blades. They are instead attached directly to the rotor (the moving part of an electric motor) which increases efficiency and allows water to flow freely through the centre of the unit.

TEMO is a French company that has won numerous awards for its innovative ‘wand’ electric motors that have a control trigger at one end, a propeller and motor at the other and a battery encased in the wand itself. They weigh less than 5 kg (11 lbs) in total and are popular for sailboat owners with small inflatables and dinghy tenders for going to and from the shore to the mothership.

ePropulsion will have their models on display at the booth of their North American distributor, Mack Boring and Parts. Booth #1774).

Torqeedo is perhaps the best known range of electric boat motors and was purchased by Yamaha last year. Bridge Yachts been showing their motors at the Toronto Boat sow and will have a wide range of outboards on display both standalone and on small inflatables. Booths #1035, 351, 851

Plugboats Editor Speaks about Electric Boats and Boating 

Jeff Butler, Editor / Publisher of Plugboats, the world’s only international website dedicated 100% to electric boats and boating, will present ‘Electrifying! An Electric Boats and Motors Primer’ during the last few days off the show (he will be at the Düsseldorf show before that and will bring back all the latest e-boat news). The talk centres on the most asked about questions about electric boats and boating and is followed by a Q&A session:

The talks take place at the Main Stage: Aisle 100, Heritage Court.
Thursday January 23: 7-8 PM
Friday January 24: 3-4 PM
Saturday January 25: 3-4 PM
Sunday January 26: 1-2 PM

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