X Shore looks to shake up the boating industry with its futuristic, ecologically friendly – and yes, sporty – Eelex 8000 tender...
It’s no secret that we are currently witnessing some fundamental transformations in the way we view and we treat our natural environment, and how we use our leisure time. And perhaps no boat builder better understands exactly how fast the world is changing than Sweden’s X Shore. The new company has designs on transforming the game by upending how boats are bought and serviced and by shattering performance expectations for an electrically powered vessel.
The design inspiration for X Shore’s first model, the Eelex 8000 – an 8 metre build that debuted stateside at the 2021 Palm Beach International Boat Show in March – comes from the natural world – specifically, the Amazonian electric eel. With its broad “head” and sleek “body,” the physical resemblance is certainly there, assuming you go in with the right mindset and also make sure to squint.
Of course, where the boat most resembles a shock-inducing fish is in its powerplant. The 8000 has a 225kW Brusa electric motor and twin liquid-cooled lithium-ion Kreisel batteries that can charge in either a five-to-eight-hour span, or in under two hours with a supercharger.
Electric engines on boats are not exactly revolutionary at this point in the game, but what is groundbreaking about the X Shore is the oomph this particular engine provides. The build team focused on giving this boat the torque to compete with traditional combustion engines and the result is an electric boat that can top out at an outstanding 35 knots. I know this for a fact, because I saw her do it on the Intracoastal Waterway just beyond the Palm Beach show. But while I was impressed with the top end, any lover of high-performance boats knows that high speed is nothing without the thrill that comes from powerful acceleration. Happily, the X Shore accelerates with gratifying verve, and it does so in nearly complete silence. Sailors will always talk about how their boats connect them to the sea better than powerboats, because all you hear is the wind whistling by and the water sloshing against your hull. Well, I do believe if they tried wheeling this boat at 35 knots, they just might be converted to the other side.
Jenny Keisu, CEO of X Shore, says the quietness is all part of the company’s ethos. “One of the key things about X Shore is that we don’t want to harm the environment, we want as little pollution as possible, and that includes noise pollution. Our boats are so quiet that they make excellent dive boats, as the engines don’t scare off marine life.”
Another of X Shore’s environmental tenets is to build with materials that are environmentally friendly. To that end, the company uses cork where most builders use teak, and in particular in the gunwales, and on the sole and steps.
“We use cork instead of teak for sustainability, and it’s also a much nicer material. If you spill red wine on it, it doesn’t stain. Additionally, teak gets hot in the Florida sun and cold in Scandinavia. Cork does neither. And it doesn’t get slippery,” Keisu says.
X Shore also takes great pains to use recycled plastic “in all the places on the boat that you see plastic,” Keisu says. “We use PET [polyethylene terephthalate, an easily recycled plastic] instead of divinycell, which helps us make the manufacturing of these boats even more sustainable.”
But propulsion and materials are not the only areas where X Shore is looking to revolutionize how boating gets done. The builder is, at its core, very tech forward. To that end, the 8000 has a raft of other interesting features. For one, it’s never going to grow legs and walk away. “The boat is connected to our main servers in Sweden, so it’s impossible to steal. We can turn it off and on if you want us to,” Keisu explains.
That same system helps to seamlessly iron out any bugs in the vessel’s electronics. “The boat’s constantly connected,” Keisu says, “so if there is an update that needs to be made, we can just push it out. And the same applies to optional features of the owner’s choice.”
One of those features that is still in development is autodocking for a release “in the near future.” Think of it as the first step toward autonomous driving. “We have customers that tell us docking is one of the biggest hassles of having a boat,” Keisu says. “You come to the marina and you have tonnes of people on shore with drinks in hand, watching and hoping you fail,” she continues with a laugh. “We can make it better!”
In a final nod to the future of boating, Keisu says that X Shore boats will be available to buy online – and with a base price of about $329,000, that’s a tempting “add to cart” shopping moment for any passionate boater.
It’s an ambitious step for a new company with a bright future, but it’s one that Keisu believes is a natural progression for the industry. “A year ago people heard of our plans, and they said ‘No, that’s impossible.’ But now we have an electric craft with a great user experience, great performance, and we are producing it at scale. And soon, we will be all over the world.”
First published in the November 2021 edition of BOAT International US. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.
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