• By Wilson Rothman
    Mar 16, 2009 10:45 PM 6,468
    read more: #boats, #hybridboat, #electricboat, #epic, #aptera, #boat, #speedboat, #motorboat, #hybrid, #green, #epicboats, #epic23e, #23e, #video, #clips

    Electric Car Whiz Builds World's First Plug-In Hybrid Speedboat

    One of the brains behind the Aptera electric three-wheeled car also runs Epic Boats, which just intro'd the Epic 23e, the first plug-in hybrid electric boat. Who knew lithium-ion batteries were waterproof?

    For as little as $150,000, you too can own the first-generation of the plug-in, battery-powered equivalent of a 375-horsepower motorboating experience, which uses the auspiciously named Flux Propulsion EVO 8.1 Marine Drive System to recharge itself over a four-hour run via gas motor. In all, it uses just half what a similarly beefed-up powerboat would use to pull skiers and wakeboarders and let's not forget fat, drunk tubers. If you're a bit strapped for cash, wait till 2012, when AutoblogGreen reports there may well be a $70,000 version.

    The funny thing is, no matter how smugly green a boat gets, any promotional video of it—shown below—still makes it look like just the thing for some good ole red-state R&R. I should know, having grown up waterskiing on Lake Maxincuckee in Culver, Indiana. Tip to director, though: For an even more successful promo vid, add some bikini-clad blondes, a case of Coors Light, and more life-threatening airborne trick action. [AutoblogGreen via Engadget]


    Send an email to Wilson Rothman, the author of this post, at wilson@gizmodo.com.