Electric Speedboating's electric boat reached a top speed of 113.8 mph, making it the fastest electric boat in the world.
Big Bird electric boat during a record-setting run. Photo: Princeton University
A team of Princeton University students broke the world record for electric boats with an average speed of 113.8 miles per hour. The event took place on October 26 at the American Electric Boat Association (APBA) racetrack on Lake Townsend near Greensboro, North Carolina. During the event, the boat was allowed to gradually increase its speed before entering a kilometer-long section of water where its top speed was recorded, New Atlas reported on November 10.
As required for the record attempt, the boat ran both outbound and return, with the final top speed figure being the average of the two runs. Pilot John Peeters, who was piloting the boat, hit a top speed of 110 mph on the first run and 119 mph on the second, for an average of 113 mph. By comparison, when Jaguar set the world record five years ago, its average top speed was 90 mph.
Developed with input from the Black Sheep Racing in California, Princeton Electric Speedboating's Big Bird incorporates the front end of a hydroplane created by renowned boat builder Ed Karelsen in 1993. Previously powered by a gas engine, the boat had set numerous flight records.
The hull is now powered by a special version of Flux Marine’s FM100 electric drivetrain, which has been modified to provide more power (149 kW) while maintaining a light weight. In fact, the total weight of Big Bird, including John Peeters, is just 442 kg. Some of the previous record-breaking electric boats weighed as much as 1,814 kg. Big Bird was unable to fly again last month due to a damaged propeller shaft. The team hopes that once the repairs are complete, the boat will be able to reach a top speed of 193 km/h.
“Overall, electric boats are developing at a rapid pace and are an integral part of the industry. Furthermore, there are many efforts to create electric racing boats and it is likely that there will be about a dozen electric boats with speeds above 100 mph by the end of 2024,” said Edric Zhang, a member of the Electric Speedboating team at Princeton University.
An Khang (According to New Atlas )
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