Three years ago, we posted about all-electric hydrofoil runabouts designed and built by Candela that succeeded in combining high speed with substantial range. Bloomberg referred to the company as “Sweden’s Tesla of the Sea” for challenging the conventional internal-combustion-powered leisure-craft industry.
At the time Candela offered 25′ and 28″ runabouts. The firm was also developing a 30-passenger electric foiling commuter ferry. This fall, the first such ferry, the model P-12, will enter service in Stockholm, traveling between City Hall and the suburb of Ekerö.
The Candela P-12 can cruise at a destination-to-destination speed of 30 knots. Because the ferry flies on foils and is powered by batteries, it is almost silent, creates virtually no wake, and has a cost per passenger mile of only 10% of traditional diesel ferries. The P-12 uses up to 80% less energy than traditional diesel ferries.
Because the P-12 creates so little wake, it can operate at higher harbor speeds than conventional ferries. Fast Company reports that in Stockholm, for example, ferries are limited to a 12-knot speed (about 13 miles per hour) so that they leave no wake. Those waves made by a boat can affect other vessels and damage shore lines or dock infrastructure. But Candela’s P-12 electric hydrofoil ferry is exempt from that limit; by flying above the surface of the water, it doesn’t create a wake.
With its higher operating speed, the Candela ferry is expected to drastically cut commuter times for Stockholm residents.
Candela’s P-12 commuter ferry accommodates 30 passengers (the company also makes two models for private use). That’s quite a bit smaller than other ferries: Stockholm’s diesel commuter ferries (including the one that currently travels to Ekerö) can fit about 340 people—but Candela says their average occupancy rate is only around 10%. “By switching from almost empty big vessels to a system where you have larger fleets of smaller, more nimble vessels, you can get more frequent departures and shorter travel times,” says Mikael Mahlberg, Candela’s head of communications. “You end up with a more bus-like system but on water, which has a lot of benefits for passengers and the environment.”
Beyond Stockholm, Candela has agreed to provide the initial order of eight electric foiling ferries for the service network of the massive Saudi Arabian Red Sea Project NEOM.
Candela’s model P-12 electric foiling ferries prove the perfect complement to the 10,270 square mile (26,500 square kilometer) development at NEOM, a zero-carbon, circular economy gigaproject on the Red Sea coast, according to Forbes.
Candela sees its ferry as a way to revolutionize city transportation. Without emissions controls, diesel ferries can produce more nitrous oxide and particulate matter pollution per passenger trip than if those riders commuted by car. Because they’re electric, Candela’s boats don’t release any exhaust emissions. A 2022 lifecycle analysis on Candela’s P-12, performed by students at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, found that electric hydrofoil ferries emit 97.5% less carbon dioxide emissions than diesel ferries.
Neom’s new electric hydrofoil water taxi Candela P-12 revolutionizing water travel