Australia Enters Electric Motor Yacht World

Australia will soon have its own contender in the electric motor yacht industry, as Genevo Marine gears up to launch its first model — an 8.2-meter luxury motor yacht known as E8. E8 is capable of comfortably carrying eight or more guests and includes a 400kW electric drive train and 132kWh lithium-ion battery — ensuring high speed thrills without the drone or exhaust fumes associated with traditional petrol engines.

Genevo Marine was founded by Damon Rahmate and Andrew Davey, who boast a combined 30 years of experience in the solar photovoltaic, energy storage, EV charger, and marine industries. Their development of Australia’s first high-powered electric boat was designed by Misha Merzliakov, an award-winning superyacht designer. Dan Williams, a composite boat builder from Mahi Boats at Gold Coast City Marina and Shipyard, will build the vessel. 

After three years of design development, the E8 will employ a proprietary recycled carbon fiber composite hull design, with plans to use recycled carbon fiber materials from a newly planned aerospace carbon fiber recycling plant in Australia for its hull. EV charging space has been ensured by Genevo Marine, as they are rolling out a fast-charging network at strategic marinas around Australia to support their fleet and other electric vessels.

“Genevo Marine will be unique in acting as our own hardware service partner and installer, similar to Tesla’s own Supercharger network, thereby cutting out the requirement for third-party providers and their inherent delays,” Rahmate said.

 The Genevo team expects production to begin in mid-2024, with the first units to be available for inspection and sea trials by year’s end. Pre-orders for the E8 are open now.