This Flying Electric Ferry Will Cut Travel Time In Half For Stockholm Commuters

Candela’s electric hydrofoil ferries uses up to 80% less electricity than traditional diesel vessels.

Beginning this fall, commuters in Stockholm will have a new public transportation option when traveling between City Hall and the suburb of Ekerö: an electric hydrofoil ferry that flies above the water—and uses up to 80% less energy than traditional diesel ferries.

The ferry is from Candela, a Swedish company that first launched a prototype of an electric hydrofoil vessel in 2016. Because of the limits of battery technology, boats have been difficult to electrify. Lithium-ion batteries are less energy dense than diesel or gasoline, so replacing all the fuel a vessel needs would require batteries too big and heavy for it to carry. That’s where hydrofoil technology comes in: like wings underneath a boat, hydrofoils lift a vessel out of the water so that it essentially flies along its surface, reducing both drag and the amount of energy it needs.