The $350,000 Arc One has a 200kWh battery pack that can power the boat for as long as five hours of charge.
Arc, a company with the backing of celebrities for its idea to create electronic boats by utilizing technology developed by the ex- SpaceX engineering team, secured $30 million from a recent financing round that was led by an ex-Tesla executive who will help bring its watercraft of high-end design into production by the beginning of 2022.
The company based in Los Angeles stated that Greg Reichow of Eclipse Ventures, Tesla’s vice-president of production and production, was the Series A funding round leader. He will also join the board of Arc. Arc has raised around $37 million since it was founded this year. The previous investors, including Will Smith’s Dreamers VC, Kevin Durant, Rich Kleiman’s Thirty-Five Ventures, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Combs Enterprises, and Andreessen Horowitz Lowercarbon Capital and Abstract Ventures-joined the most recent round.
The company was founded in 2000 with CEO Mitch Lee and CTO Ryan Cook, an ex- SpaceX engineer. The company is currently waiting for orders for its initial model that is 300,000 Arc One. The company plans to start shipping the boats that measure 24 feet to customers this spring and will be fitted with 200-kWh of battery packs to provide power for up to 5 hours in the water. Arc does not say the number of boats it intends to offer next year or offer details about plans for more affordable models.
“Electric vessels make a lot of sense. They’re a lot more reliable, less expensive as well as easier to maintain. They’re quieter and faster and, of course, more sustainable,” said Lee. “The most difficult thing is making an electric vessel that can be competitive with gas boats in terms of performance and cost, and more important, producing them in a large size. Greg and Eclipse’s team Eclipse have plenty of experience in making the shift from R&D to high-quality products and can assist us in doing exactly that.”
Arc One Arc One has an aluminum shell and an electrical power unit that produces 475 horsepower.
The news came a day before General Motors said it bought an interest of 25% of Pure Watercraft, a competing maker of electric boats located in Seattle. The automaker paid for its stake through 150 million in cash, and the company also has a deal for payment-in-kind that allows Pure Watercraft access to parts and production support as per Reuters.
The lithium-ion battery has 475 horsepower, and the top speed is 40 mph. The aluminum boat can hold more than ten passengers. U.S. sales of recreational vessels increased 13% to 320,000 units in 2020 in the estimation of the National Marine Manufacturers Association. The sales of different powerboat segments increased between the 8% and 22% range.
In his time at Tesla, Reichow was the head of his electric vehicle maker’s production and supply chain operations for vehicles until the end of July. Arc has said that it will rely on his knowledge to aid in ramping the production capacity of Arc One boats.
Its “iteration speed, determination, and capability to harness the latest innovations in electric vehicles that are that are driven by the auto industry have shown me that this is the team that can fulfill the dream of electrifying all watercraft,” Reichow stated. “I look forward to partnering with them and applying my experiences from Tesla to help accelerate Arc’s production ramp over the coming year.”
Arc’s famous backers are the actor Will Smith, NBA star Kevin Durant and hip-hop star Sean “Diddy” Combs.
