Swedish Start-Up Company is Connecting Africa and Europe and Crossing the Baltic Sea in a New Way

Swedish start-up Candela reckons that it has developed the perfect all-electric Med ferry. The Swedish company Candela is connecting Africa and Europe as well as crossing the Baltic Sea in a new way.

The company’s ultimate purpose is to speed up the transition to fossil fuel-free lakes and oceans. A traditional 7.5 m petrol boat consumes about 15 times more fuel than a family car, leaving a heavy footprint on our planet. Multiply that number by the number of ships and boats in seas worldwide, and it’s easy to see that the concept of traditional combustion engine boats is not sustainable.

The company set a world record by driving a hydrofoiling Candela C-8 between Stockholm and the Finnish autonomous region of Åland, marking the first time an electric boat has crossed the Baltic Sea. They even returned the same day – at 95% lower costs than a fossil-fuel-powered boat.

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The company’s Elina is a fully electric hydrofoil that is attempting to set a world record for being the first all-electric vessel to traverse the Mediterranean. The plan is to graze past the Rock of Gibraltar, dock at the Spanish city of Ceuta on the African continent for a quick charge of the boat’s battery in the morning, and then return to the Spanish mainland in the afternoon.

The idea is to rethink efficiency in marine transportation to enhance the performance of electric boats and ships significantly. “The aim is to demonstrate that long-distance electric sea travel is not only possible today, but that foiling electric ships and boats outperform fossil-fueled vessels in every way,” says Gustav Hasselskog, CEO and founder of Candela.

Elina is a C-8 hydrofoil, a nimble and lightweight 28ft (8.5 m) leisure boat built from carbon fibre that comes with battery technology and upholstery designed by car manufacturer Polestar. The boat, which is built and developed by Swedish firm Candela, can reach speeds of 30 knots (55.6km/h) and travel 40 nautical miles (74km) on a single charge. Candela’s crossing of the Med is not just about breaking records; it’s also a charm offensive. This will introduce the technology behind the firm’s larger hydrofoil, the P-12, which can take 30 passengers and is already running a successful commuter service on Stockholm’s waterways.

“At Candela, we care about doing something good for the planet and all its species. Coming from 20 different nations, we share a conviction that kindness combined with deep knowledge in science has revolutionary power,” states the company’s website.

The record trip on the Baltic Sea was made on Thursday, Sep 5, 2024, in the latest version of the leisure boat Candela C-8, equipped with a Polestar battery, and charged by Kempower, starting at 6 a.m. from Stockholm’s Frihamn. After a charging stop in Kapellskär, they reached Mariehamn, the capital and largest town of the Åland Islands, an autonomous region of Finland, at lunchtime, making it the first electric boat to cross the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Finland.

About the company

Candela was founded in 2014 by Gustav Hasselskog. Determined to find ways to make electric boats with both range and speed, he gathered a task force consisting of some of the world’s leading experts within dynamic modelling, hardware design, hydrodynamics, control theory, machine learning, image & signal processing, structural engineering, and electrical machines.

Swedish Start-Up Company is Connecting Africa and Europe and Crossing the Baltic Sea in a New Way, Tor Kjolberg reporting.
All images © Candela.