Vessev's electric hydrofoil ferry aims to ease NYC transit

Vessev co-founder and CEO Eric Laakmann gave a blunt answer when asked when his company’s electric ferry would start flying, as the boat pulled away from a Brooklyn marina: “We already are.” The brief ride on the VS-9 across the East River toward Governors Island in New York didn’t feel like flying — it felt closer to riding in a sports car — but it showcased the hydrofoil’s defining trick: lifting the hull clear of the water.

Traditional boats around 30 feet long start to bounce and slap the water as they gain speed. On a hydrofoil, that is when the foils take over. On the surface, the VS-9 looks like an ordinary catamaran, but underneath the hull are two wing-like structures that lift the boat as they slice through the water, while computer-controlled underwater flaps keep the ride smooth and stable. Most of the lifting is done by the front foil, with about 20% handled by the rear, which also houses the electric motor that Vessev builds in-house.

Vessev’s CEO said keeping production in-house helps control costs, reasoning that since the company will eventually have to bring manufacturing in-house anyway, it may as well start early in development. The one component Vessev doesn’t build itself is the battery, which Laakmann said has already been commoditized. By lifting the hull clear of the water, hydrofoils operate more efficiently than conventional boats — a difference that matters especially for electric vessels, where every kilowatt-hour counts.

Shipbuilders have experimented with hydrofoils for well over a century because of their lower drag and smoother ride, but the design has limits. The VS-9 can only ride smoothly on its foils in waters it can clear — about two and a half feet, or 0.75 meters. Past that, waves start hitting the hull, breaking the smooth ride and sapping efficiency. That makes hydrofoils a poor fit for the open ocean, but a good one for lakes, rivers, and bays.

Vessev, which raised a $19 million Series A in August, is targeting transit operations first. Laakmann thinks pairing electric propulsion with hydrofoils can lower the cost of running smaller vessels and make them comfortable enough to augment urban mass transit. New York City, for instance, could use them to move people to Brooklyn or Queens without building much new infrastructure. Hotels and tour operators are also an early target market, and public demonstrations like the one TechCrunch attended have drawn wealthy individuals looking for another toy, according to Laakmann.

The VS-9 that TechCrunch rode is currently one of a kind, but Laakmann said Vessev plans to build more. Eventually, the company might shift toward producing electric hydrofoil kits that let other boatbuilders design their own vessels around the technology.

Why it matters

If Vessev can prove the economics of electric hydrofoils at scale, cities with waterways but little appetite for new infrastructure could get a cheaper way to expand transit — and legacy boatbuilders could eventually license the underlying hydrofoil kit rather than compete with it.