Electric personal watercraft are a special kind of fun, and the Valo Hyperfoil wants to be the new “ultra-performance” watercraft.
Most of your high-end personal watercraft can get up to 300 hp or more, while the Valo Hyperfoil from Boundary Layer Technologies will run at just 80 kW and hit only 108 hp. But on the super-cool side, this two-seat PWC can rise out of the water on extendable hydrofoils, so it doesn’t have to push the entire hull through the water. Instead, it can rise two feet above the water’s surface in its low-drag hydrofoiling mode and go faster than probably any other electric craft you can currently get your hands on.
The hydrofoiling mode is powered by a five-blade electric propeller on the rear foil wing, With a top speed of 50 knots, it’s allegedly the fastest production electric boat and the fastest production hydrofoiling craft.
At a cruising speed of a moderately face-ripping 40 mph on the open water, you could go for about 68 miles, or 1.7 hours. If you ride this thing like a madperson – which, isn’t that what PWCs are for? – and need to charge up sooner than that, the Valo Hydrofoil can get a 50% charge in one hour or a 95% charge in three hours.
“The first Jetski was on the market 50 years ago this year, and it’s time for a major upgrade,” said Ed Kearney, founder and CEO of Boundary Layer Technologies. “Valo will be fast, agile, and tremendously exhilarating, all while being near silent and leaving zero wake. It will be like flying a stunt plane but on water. We see this as a completely new form of water based mobility.”
Boundary Layer Technologies says that the first prototype should be finished soon and ready for customer test rides. If you fall in love with it, the price tag is expected to be $59,000. Early orders would begin deliveries in mid-2023, and full production versions would be available in 2024.
Valo Hydrofoil Concept Gallery
SOURCE | IMAGES: BOUNDARY LAYER TECHNOLOGIES, VIA NEW ATLAS.
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