Recreational boating company Groupe Beneteau and Vision Marine Technologies have formed a partnership to integrate the latter’s high-power outboard motors on board several of Groupe Beneteau’s models.
With growing market demand for electric boats, Groupe Beneteau presented the Beneteau Oceanis 30.1 with an electric engine and the Excess 15 Hybrid in September 2021, before launching the Delphia 11 vessel in March 2022, which featured an electric propulsion system designed for use on inland waterways and lakes.
“After the construction and thorough testing of a first, jointly developed prototype in early 2022, the objective is to bring to market a 100% electric boat and propulsion package,” commented Erik Stromberg, power and motor yacht product director at Groupe Beneteau. “The key to electrification is to have a full analysis of the customer use case. Many of the boats in our portfolio fit perfectly with a 100% electric solution. This solution is complementary and fully compatible with our other propulsion packages.”
For the partnership, Vision Marine will offer its fully electric E-Motion 180bhp outboard motor, which features a battery capacity of 70kWh of continuous power. The duo’s first commercial offering will be launched under the Four Winns brand, with deliveries currently scheduled for spring 2023. The technology will then be rolled out by other Groupe Beneteau brands in the North American and European markets.
“We are honored to have the opportunity to power the Four Winns boat with our E-Motion 180E technology and look forward to a long-standing partnership with them,” said Alexandre Mongeon, co-founder and CEO of Vision Marine. “We continue to showcase our technology and rig the E-Motion powertrain on numerous third-party boats in order to formally move toward scaled production of our E-Motion technology for commercial usage.”
“Our high-end technology adapted from the state-of-the-art automotive market is the driver of our partnership with Groupe Beneteau,” added Xavier Montagne, COO of Vision Marine. “The E-Motion propulsion system is not only a motor and a high-voltage battery but also a fully optimized powertrain system designed to increase performance and reduce maintenance.”
