Rand 25 Spirit first look: Cutting-edge electric boat is reassuringly familiar

Candela may be stealing the electric boat headlines with its futuristic foilers but Rand has quietly put together an extensive range of ICE and battery-powered sportsboats with the Rand 25 Spirit sitting pretty much slap bang in the middle of the eight-boat line-up.

The clever thing about the Rand 25 Spirit is that its handsome shell can be propelled by three different propulsion systems: inboard petrol or diesel, petrol outboard or an electric motor.

The base boat comes with a 200hp Mercury outboard and inboard options include two petrol (250hp/300hp) and a 300hp diesel.

In this guise the Rand 25 Spirit looks to be a handsome and intelligently designed day boat with plenty of kerb appeal, but it’s the fully electric boat that really moves the dial.

You can have it with a 105kW motor and 47kWh battery pack or 180kW motor and 86kWh battery pack, the latter capable of 40 knots flat out and a fast cruising range of 28 miles.

That doesn’t sound like an enormous amount of range but if you think about the sort of distances a 25ft day boat would typically cover in a trip it will likely do the trick for most people and if you throttle back to single-figure speeds that range jumps to over 100 miles.

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The key thing about the electric Rand 25 Spirit is that the rest of the boat is familiar, it’s not wacky or overtly futuristic; it’s a pretty day boat with a flexible cockpit and the option of electric power.

These less outlandish electric boats are going to be vital in the segue away from internal combustion, and Rand is at the forefront.

Rand 25 Spirit specification

LOA: 24ft 6in (7.5m)
Beam: 8ft 5in (2.6m)
Engine: 250-300hp petrol or 105-180kW electric
Top speed: 40 knots
Starting price: €99,000/€195,000 (ex. VAT), depending on propulsion

This article Rand 25 Spirit first look: Cutting-edge electric boat is reassuringly familiar appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Source: https://www.mby.com/news/rand-25-spirit-first-look-electric-boat-120476