Vessev built an electric ferry that almost flies

“When will we start flying?” I asked Vessev co-founder and CEO Eric Laakmann, as we pulled away from the Brooklyn marina in the startup’s VS-9 electric ferry. “We already are.”

I’ll admit I was a bit disappointed. I thought the moment when it transitioned from sailing like a regular boat to almost-flying as a surface-skimming hydrofoil would be more … momentous.

I’ve been on my share of boats, including large ferries, small sailboats, and plenty of others in between, but never been on a hydrofoil and I was curious what flying along the water might feel like during the brief ride from the Brooklyn Marina out toward Governors Island on the East River in New York.

It didn’t feel like flying, but it was a bit like a riding in a sports car.

Traditional boats of this size — about 30 feet — start to bounce and slap the water as they gain speed. But on a hydrofoil, that’s when the foils start to do their work.

On the surface, the VS-9 looks like plenty of other catamarans. But under the hull are two wing-like structures that lift the boat as they slice through the water. Computer-controlled underwater flaps keep the ride smooth and stable. In the VS-9, most of the lifting is done by the front foil, with about 20% handled by the rear.

The rear foil also hosts the electric motor, which Vessev makes in-house. Why not outsource it? Laakmann said that it’s important to keep costs in line — eventually, you’ll have to bring production in house, so why not do it earlier in development? The only thing Vessev doesn’t build are the batteries. “Those have been commoditized,” Laakmann said.

By lifting the hull clear of the water, hydrofoils can operate more efficiently than other boats. That’s especially important for electric boats, where every kilowatt-hour counts.

Shipbuilders have been experimenting with hydrofoils for well over a century. The design offers several advantages, including lower drag and a smoother ride. The subtle transition I experienced on the VS-9, from sailing to almost-flying, underlined just how smooth a hydrofoil can be.

Despite hydrofoils’ advantages, they’re not a panacea. The design works best in waters the boat can clear when sailing on its foils. For the VS-9, that’s about two and a half feet, or 0.75 meters. If the waves go higher than that, they start hitting the hull, ruining the smooth ride and sapping some efficiency. While they’re not ideal for the open ocean, hydrofoils make sense for other waterways, including lakes, rivers, and bays. 

Vessev, which raised a $19 million Series A in August, is targeting transit operations to start. Laakmann thinks the combination of electric propulsion and hydrofoils can bring down the cost of operating smaller vessels and make them comfortable enough that they could augment urban mass transit systems.

Somewhere like New York City could use them to zip people to Brooklyn or Queens without needing to build much new infrastructure.

Hotels and tour operators are also an early target market, and public demonstrations like the one I attended have attracted wealthy individuals looking for another toy, Laakmann said.

For now, the VS-9 I rode is one of a kind, but Laakmann said Vessev plans to build more. Eventually, the company might shift to producing electric hydrofoil kits, allowing other boatbuilders to design their own vessels around the technology, Laakmann said.

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Tim De Chant is a senior climate reporter at TechCrunch. He has written for a wide range of publications, including Wired magazine, the Chicago Tribune, Ars Technica, The Wire China, and NOVA Next, where he was founding editor.

De Chant is also a lecturer in MIT’s Graduate Program in Science Writing, and he was awarded a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at MIT in 2018, during which time he studied climate technologies and explored new business models for journalism. He received his PhD in environmental science, policy, and management from the University of California, Berkeley, and his BA degree in environmental studies, English, and biology from St. Olaf College.

You can contact or verify outreach from Tim by emailing tim.dechant@techcrunch.com.