Electric hydrofoil craft maker opens US test drive centre

Candela’s mission is to electrify waterborne transportation. With over 100 orders for the new Candela C-8 daycruiser, the company is now leading electric boat sales in Europe thanks to the unique combination of speed, silence, and long, all-electric range. However, the majority of new customers are from the US, making the American powerboat market a key target for Candela.

“We’re not just aiming at making the best electric boat. We’re making a vastly better boat than today’s conventional powerboats, hands down – combustion engine or electric. Thanks to our hydrofoil technology and our direct-drive C-POD motor, there’s no slamming, no noise, no fumes and very little maintenance. It basically takes away all the bad things with powerboats. Once you’ve tried a Candela, it’s very hard to go back to conventional boating,” says Tanguy de Lamotte, CEO of Candela US.

Candela's 80-strong team of engineers and technicians from the aerospace, car and software industries have been developing the proprietary hydrofoil technology and associated software since 2014.

Using the learnings from their first serial production model, the C-7 sportsboat, Candela now ventures into mass production of leisure craft with the Candela C-8, while simultaneously developing the world's first hydrofoiling shuttle ship, Candela P-30, which will go into production in 2023.
Starting on the 1st of April 2022, Candela will offer test rides out of their Candela San Francisco location in Sausalito.

More information on Candela

Candela's ultimate purpose is to speed up the transition to fossil fuel-free lakes and oceans.

A traditional 25-foot petrol boat consumes about 15x more fuel than a family car, leaving a heavy footprint on our planet. Multiply that number with the number of ships and boats in seas worldwide and it’s easy to see that the concept of traditional combustion engine boats is simply not sustainable.

By making electric, hydrofoiling boats and ships with long range, high speed and new capabilities not seen in traditional powerboats, we aim to electrify waterborne transport on a global scale.

Candela was founded in 2014 in Stockholm Sweden. Serial production of the first leisure model Candela C-7 started in 2019, followed by the mass market successor Candela C-8 in March 2022.