E-boat races Tesla Model 3

Which is the best commuter vehicle in rush hour traffic – the Tesla Model 3 or the one of the world’s fastest electric boats the Candela Seven?

To find out, German VOX’s TV show Auto-mobil arranged a race (featured on part 3) between Cologne and Düsseldorf, two cities connected by the river Rhine.

The idea was to show that waterborne, electric high-speed ferries can be a viable alternative to the Autobahn, especially in rush hour traffic when thousands of commuters clog the road network between the cities.

The boat was the Swedish electric Candela Seven – the first high speed and long-range electric boat in serial production.

Thanks to hydrofoils under the hull, the Seven flies above the surface, which reduces friction from the water by 80% and gives a range of 92km in 25 knots (46km/h), about three times the range of the best conventional electric boats on the market. Top speed is 30 knots (55km/h).

The stretch from Cologne to Düsseldorf is about 45km on land, but 55km on the river which is well within the Candela Seven’s range from its 40kWh battery.

The Tesla Model 3’s higher top speed and the Autobahn’s unrestricted speed would be expected to give the car a clear advantage, but heavy traffic on the outskirts of both cities makes it hard to drive the distance in less than an hour.

The Candela Seven could go full speed, but anyone driving on the Rhine faces other obstacles.

Heavy barge traffic creates wakes that would force most planing boats to slow down, but the Candela Seven’s computer-controlled foil system detects waves in front of the boat and automatically adjusts the foil position 100 times per second.

The race proved electric, foiling boats would be a great zero-emission alternative to road transport in many urban areas.

Waterways, especially in Europe, are underused for this purpose, and since the e boats produce zero wake, you can go full speed without disturbing other boats, marine life or cause erosion, Candela control systems engineer Kristian Sloth Lauszus says.

In the end, the race resulted in a very close competition – despite hold ups for both vehicles.