Categories:
Electric Boats Up To 8 metres / 26 feet 3 inches (includes 8m / 26′ 3″)
Divisions: In Production • In Development
Electric Boats Over 8 metres
Divisions: In Production • In Development
Commercial Passenger Electric Boats
Divisions: In Production • In Development
Electric Sailboats
Electric Workboats
Customized / DIY Electric Boats
New Category for 2025
Personal Watercraft (PWCs) / e-Foils /e-Boards / Water Scooters / Water Toys
Criteria
The spirit of the Gustave Trouvé Awards is to recognize achievement and excellence in electric boats – boats with non fossil-fuel propulsion – and to promote zero emission motor technology.
While the Awards are conducted annually, it is not restricted to boats launched in that year. Any boat that qualifies under the following criteria can be nominated, including past Gussies Finalists. The only non-eligible boats are Gussies winners.
Criteria for Production Boats Categories:
Electric Boats Under 8 metres / 26 feet 3 inches
Electric Boats Over 8 metres / 26 feet 3 inches
PWCs, e-Foils, e-Boards, Scooters and Water Toys
Commercial Passenger Electric Boats
Electric Workboats
- Main propulsion must be electric
- Can include other non fossil fuel propulsion methods as secondary propulsion (i.e. a sail)
- Fossil fuel propulsion as secondary propulsion does not meet criteria:
a hybrid boat that uses fossil fuel for propulsion does not meet the criteria UNLESS it is also offered for sale to the public in an all-electric propulsion version - At least one production model sold by September 14, 2025
- If requested, must submit video of boat in real life (not test/demo) conditions
- Commercial Passenger Electric Boats must have at least one vessel in operation
- Only one model per Category per Manufacturer
- Boats that are previous Gussies Winners of the category are not eligible for the 2025 Awards
Criteria for In Development Boats Categories:
Can be in any stage of development, but must meet propulsion requirements of Production Boats Categories above.
Clarification of Commercial Passenger Electric Boats
This category is to award electric boats that have been designed specifically to take paying passengers from one location to another such as ferries and water taxis. Boats designed for recreational use that may be used as tenders should be nominated in the appropriate length category above, as should boats that are designed for recreational use but are in use for rental or charter purposes.
The general criteria for Production Boats apply to this category.
In Operation boats must be accepting payment from the public for transportation as of September 9, 2025. Other boats are In Development.
Criteria for Retrofitted / Customized Electric Boat
- ‘One-off’ boats that have been specifically built or refitted / retrofitted for electric or hybrid propulsion. Production boats customized, altered or fitted to the purchasing client’s desires are Production Boats.
- ‘DIY’ boats either built or refitted / retrofitted by individuals are welcomed in this category.
Criteria for Electric Sailboats
- Main propulsion wind/sail
- Secondary propulsion all electric
- Sailing boats with an all-electric drive train that use fossil fuel to generate electricity but not to propel the boat are eligible.
Voting
Finalists in each category are decided by the International Judging Panel of representatives from national electric boat associations and other organizations such as Foiling Week and the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge, along with representatives from past Gussies winners.
Finalists are voted on by the public with the Final Winners determined by weighted votes of the public and the Panel: 75% Panel, 25% Public.
After nominations close, the International Judging Panel selects Finalists by selecting 3 boats in each category. Depending on the number of entries in the category, the Finalists will be the top 6, 9 or 12 top vote-getting boats (plus ties). The exception is the Retrofitted / Customized category, in which all entries are automatically Finalists.
After the selection of the Finalists, public voting begins. At the end of the Public Voting, the Judges will vote again, but this time voting for only 1 boat in each category. (This is because a Judge’s ‘favourite’ boat or boats may not have made it to the finals.)
The Judge’s votes in deciding the eventual winners are weighted 75% and the Public votes 25%.
For the mathematically inclined, here is the analysis of how that works:
Assumption: 1,000 public votes in the category. Those 1000 votes represent 25% of the total ‘points’, so the total number of points for the category works out to 4,000. The total Judging Panel votes will account for 3,000 points ( 75% of 4,000) and the public points for 1,000. There are 36 Judges, so in this example, each vote from a Panellist represents 83.3 points.
Judges may cast one of their three votes for their own boat in the selection of Finalists, but can not vote for their own boat in the selection of a Winner. If a Judge has a boat as a Finalist in a category, they have the choice of voting for another boat in the category or of recusing themselves from voting, in which case the weighting points of each other Panellist will increase accordingly. ie: if there are 36 judges and one does not vote, than the votes of the other 35 judges are weighted at 1.028 votes instead of 1 vote.
The voting criteria for both Panellists and public is “what boat best exemplifies ‘excellence”. For some voters this may be excellence in hull design, for others, excellence in propulsion efficiency, or finishing details or sustainability of materials or something else – it is up to each individual how they decide.
One of the refreshing things about The Gussies is that it reflects the competitive camaraderie in the electric boat industry. The Judging Panellists appreciate the role of rewarding excellence as everyone pushes themselves and others to promote zero emission boating and literally help change the world.