Groupe Beneteau is launching a partnership with Vision Marine Technologies to develop and market 100 percent electric outboard boats. Groupe Beneteau, the world leader in recreational boating, and Vision Marine Technologies, a leader in the electric transition in the recreational boating sector, have launched a partnership to integrate Vision Marine Technologies' revolutionary and powerful outboard motors on board several models of Groupe Beneteau's brands.
Innovation is a pillar value of Groupe Beneteau, it has been shaping boating trends for more than 130 years. Groupe Beneteau quickly recognized the growing market demand for electric boats and in March 2022 launched the electrically propelled DELPHIA 11 for navigation on inland waterways and lakes. At the Cannes Yachting Festival in September 2021, the excess 15 Hybrid catamaran was presented to the public while the monohull sailboat Beneteau Oceanis 30.1 with electric motor will be unveiled this summer at Hiswa te Water 2022 in the Netherlands. This partnership with Vision Marine Technologies ensures that electric propulsion will now also be available on outboard powerboats.
"After having built and extensively tested a first jointly developed prototype at the beginning of 2022, Groupe Beneteau's objective is to bring to market a 100 percent electric boat and propulsion system," says Erik Stromberg, Groupe Beneteau's Boat and Motor Yacht marketing director. He continues: "The key to electrification is to have a complete analysis of the customer use case. Many boats in our offer perfectly meet a 100 percent electric solution. This electric offer complements the other propulsion systems already available and is compatible with these boat models."
The revolutionary Vision Marine E-Motion 180-hp propulsion system combined with a battery with a capacity of 70 kWh of continuous energy, offers the perfect solution for daytime navigation. This innovative engine will first be launched with the Four Winns brand for models available in spring 2023. The technology will also be deployed by other Groupe Beneteau brands, both in North America and Europe.
"We have always highly valued Groupe Beneteau which, as a market leader, has been working since its creation to develop excellence within the nautical industry. We are honored to have the opportunity to offer our E-Motion 180E technology as a propulsion system for Four Winns and look forward to a long-term partnership with them. We continue to showcase our technology and install the E-Motion solution on many third-party vessels in order to officially move to large-scale production of our E-Motion technology and commercialize it," said Alexandre Mongeon, co-founder and CEO of Vision Marine.
"Our high-end technology adapted to the state of the art of the automotive market is at the origin of the partnership with Groupe Beneteau. The E-Motion propulsion system is not only a high-voltage motor and battery, it is also a fully optimized powertrain system, designed to increase performance and reduce maintenance. We worked extensively with McLaren Engineering and its parent company Linamar Corp to design a very secure and easy-to-use system. This will change the way boaters do boating," said Xavier Montagne, COO of Vision Marine.