TRAVERSE CITY — The growth of the electric car market is well-known by now to US consumers — but the fledgling electric boat industry is ready to drop anchor in Northwest Michigan.
The expansion of electric-powered boats, solar-powered boats, marine-based charging stations and other innovations are helping the state of Michigan lead the charge in the E-boat industry. Several were highlighted at a recent E-Marine event at the Elk Rapids Marina, where some of the latest technology from Michigan manufacturers was demonstrated for a handful state officials and local civic leaders.
Electric powered watercraft from companies, including Vita Seal, X-Shore, Ingenity and Lilypad Labs, were featured — representing the first time in Michigan that four electric watercraft were gathered at one location.
“No matter what you think about this move toward electricity – if you have an electric boat, you’re making the water cleaner,” said Lewis Cooper, who owns the Elk Rapid Marina with his wife Susan. The Coopers purchased the former Elk River Marina on Elk Lake two years ago and, last year, installed the region’s first electric boat charging station.
The state of Michigan is also helping propel the e-boat industry forward, thanks in part to a $135,000 Fresh Coast Maritime Challenge grant through the Michigan Economic Development Corp. that was facilitated through the regional economic development organization Traverse Connect.
The grant is helping LilyPad Labs expand the production and marketing of its solar powered, recreational watercraft. Two of the boats are stationed at the historic Fountain Point Resort along South Lake Leelanau in Leelanau County, and are available for two-hour cruises costing $150.
Dana Lowell, co-founder and CEO of Lilypad Labs, is an ex-automotive technician who started kicking around ideas about ways to expand the advances in electric automobile technology into the boating industry almost 10 years ago. Working with some associates from the automotive industry, he formed a Michigan-based corporation and built his first prototype solar-powered boat two years ago.
“We wanted to make our watercraft more accessible, carbon-free and simple to operate,” Lowell said.
The Lilypad is powered by two EV motors that are charged by two small solar panels at either end of the craft that pull out to create the seating area. Beyond the electric power source, Lowell said designers wanted to make the boats environmentally friendly in other ways, including using recycled aluminum to construct the hull and utilizing wood from invasive black locust trees for the wooden decking. Its lithium-ion phosphate batteries are cobalt free and recycled from Toyota Prius vehicles. The boats are also equipped with Bluetooth technology.
Lowell said the Lilypad is designed as a low-speed boat that’s easily operated with some brief instruction. It’s also self-charging since developing an infrastructure of charging stations like the one in Elk Rapids is still years away — much like the evolution of charging stations needed for electric automobiles.
“The building of the charging infrastructure takes time and money,” he said.
The electric boat industry in the US lags behind what exists in Europe, Lowell said. But the e-boat technology here is already to the point where EV outboard motors are available for traditional watercraft through manufacturers, including Mercury and Brunswick, although they require access to charging stations.
The EV technology has advanced to where electric-powered boats are powerful enough to pull a waterskier or power through choppier waters in larger lakes and even the Great Lakes, he said. Much like the electric vehicle industry, EV watercraft right now are more expensive than traditional gasoline-powered motors and boats. But Lowell said those costs will come down as technology improves, manufacturing increases and more venture capital is poured into the E-boat sector.
But advantages over gas-powered boating are already there. The boats are quiet, emit no exhaust and don’t create fuel spills and plumes that are common at traditional gas docks. They’re also easier to start and maintain than gasoline boat motors.
State Rep. John Roth, R-Traverse City, who spent more than 20 years in marine sales and service, said the e-boat industry solves two of the most-frequent complaints about boating that he’s fielded over the years.
“What do I hear all the time — how do we slow the boats down and get them to be quieter? This does that,” Roth said while speaking at the E-Marine event. “If 50 percent of the boats are shifted to electric, there’s a 50-percent reduction in the noise.”
LilyPad plans to build four additional e-boats over the winter and hopes to have six watercraft available for public use around northern and western Michigan by the 2024 boating season.
Given that Michigan is home to 20 percent of the world’s fresh water supply, Lowell fully anticipates the region will continue to make a big splash in the E-boat industry.
“It’s an incredible opportunity for Michigan to be a global leader in the electrification of boating,” he said.