The voting in the 1st ‘Gussies‘ electric boat awards totalled over 10,000 votes from around the world, cast across two rounds and three categories between May 26 and July 24, 2020.
The first round had 50 electric boats nominated, a great demonstration of the huge variety of non fossil fuel boats now available, all responding to the quickly growing interest in these green solutions.
Even more indicative of the broad interest and growth of the industry is that the boats represented 19 countries of manufacture: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, USA
Awards were presented in three categories.
Electric Boats Under 8 metres / 26 feet
Electric Boats Over 8 metres / 26 feet
Electric Boats Designed for Paying Passengers
Public voting decided which six finalists in each category would move on to the finals round. There were actually 19 total finalists because of a voting tie in the Under 8 m / 26 ft category.
Congratulations to all of the nominees, finalists and winners – as well as everyone who voted. You are truly changing the world.
The winners of the first Gussies electric boat awards: 2020
Category I: Excellence in Electric Boats Under 8 metres / 26 feet
Avon eJet 450 Tender
Zodiac Nautique
France
The Avon eJet 450 Tender is handbuilt in France, each one signed by its construction supervisor. It has a Torqeedo Deep Blue 80 electric motor and BMWi3 lithium-ion battery hooked up to the company’s hyrdojet drive. The 4.5 metre / 14.75 foot RIB can hit a top speed of 30 kts / 55km/h / 34 mph with a range of 1.5 hours at 24 knots, 8 hours at 5 knots and 4 hours of use at speeds somewhere in between.
Category Finalists: Besla 715 • Boesch Portofino 750 • Candela 7 • Electracraft 18TRS • Nautique Super Air GS22E • SunWave S2
Category II: Excellence in Electric Boats Over 8 metres / 26 feet
Aquanima 40
Azura Marine
Singapore and UK
The Aquanima 40 is the culmination of years of development that started with adding solar panels to a traditional Indonesian fishing boat and taking it on a 2,000km voyage without burning a single drop of fuel. She has 24/7 autonomy and on a recent 4 hour sea trial actually came back with more energy than she started with, thanks to the 56 square metres / 600 sq.ft of solar panels on her roof.
Category Finalists: Designboat Elektrotender 08e • Electricat • Evoy 1 • Pogo Loxo 32 • Silent Yachts Silent 55
Category III: Excellence in Electric Boats Designed for Paying Passengers
Aditya Solar Ferry
Navalt Solar & Electric Boats
India
The Aditya, from Navalt Boats, is a sun-powered commuter ferry that is one of the great stories of the future of electric marine propulsion. Every day she makes 22 trips with 75 people on board – that’s 580,000 people a year – and the charging cost to top up the batteries is US$2.60 – TWO DOLLARS and SIXTY CENTS A DAY – preventing the burning of 58,000 litres of diesel and saving ₹ 4,612,000 – US$ 65,000 a year.
Category Finalists: e-Ferry Ellen • Green City Ferries BB Green 24 • Q Yachts Q30 Water Limousine • SeaBubbles • Soel Yachts SoelCat 12