New Boat: X Shore 1
Fast and powerful and affordable, X Shore ups the electric ante—again.
Fast and powerful and affordable, X Shore ups the electric ante—again.
In September 2022, Sweden’s X Shore boats unveiled what it hopes will be a game-changing entry into the electric market. It’s a 21 foot, 30-knot speedster called the X Shore 1. The boat takes concepts from X Shore’s 26-Foot, $329,000 Eelex 8000 and downsizes it. The result is a 50 nm range mini-daycruiser that will sell for right around $100,000 in the states. Considering the radically lower price of electric propulsion in terms of both energy/fuel costs and maintenance, the X Shore 1 could be the first single-manufacturer electric build to reach mainstream boating.
Shortly after the boat’s reveal, X Shore CEO Jenny Keisu told me that she has been surprised at the level of interest the X Shore 1 has already generated in the states, particularly in places like Michigan and California (think Lake Tahoe and Tesla-happy Southern California—where internal combustion motors are facing increasing regulation). “Quite often lakes are also freshwater reserves,” said Keisu. “Traditional internal combustion boaters, what you see is that some are actually emitting diesel, gasoline, even unburned, straight into the water. So already you see Michigan telling people, that if you want to put new boats in certain lakes, it needs to be electric. You can see that’s where we are heading.”
So, what will you get for that $100,000? Quite a bit actually. First off, swathed in soothing gray and brown earth tones, the boat is light. Laden with a single 63 kWh, 400V Kreisel lithium battery bank and a 125 kW (170-hp) motor, she weighs in around 3400 pounds. Top speed is a respectable, if not eye-watering, 30 knots with a 10-15 nm range, and the boat’s all-important cruising range at roughly 5 knots is an impressive 50 nm. But she’ll still travel 20 nm at 20 knots. For a little perspective, and to demonstrate the difference in drag of water vs air, a fully charged Chevy Bolt, with nearly identical weight and battery capacity to the X Shore 1, can travel 259 miles. The X Shore 1 can be charged at marina dedicated fast chargers, dockside with 240V 30-amp plug-in stations, or right in your driveway on a trailer. On a fast charger, she’ll reach 80 percent in 50 minutes or she’ll reach a decent to full charge overnight on a home or marina 240V outlet.
The X Shore 1 is built at her Nyköping, Sweden factory from a combination of carbon fiber for elements like her roof and watersports attachment points, while the hull is fiberglass inlaid with cork. No styrene is used in her construction and, Keisu said, plastics are avoided wherever possible. For further sustainability and weight savings, non-skid cork is also used across her fore and aft decks.
Hull-wise, the X Shore 1 was intentionally designed to not look all that different from a modern day cruiser (importantly too for both price and delivery speed, Keisu added that the boat is designed to fit inside of a standard shipping container). There’s a fairly high freeboard to accommodate her overnight cabin and that freeboard steps down just aft of the A-pillar to create a seating area for socializing amidships. The open transom makes for easy embark/disembarking and should serve to amplify the sense of gurgling quiet when she’s underway.
Keisu is particularly proud of the software that drives an MFD-driven infotainment system that controls the lights, sound, route planning, weather forecasting, fish-finding and propulsion. Like the Eelex 8000, the software was designed in-house and measures–and uploads–150 data points per second. And those data points are always connected via the X Shore app. “You can use your smartwatch (Keisu uses a Garmin watch, but others work too) as a remote key or for man overboard detection and to stop remotely,” she said. “We also have the possibility to stay out for the night since we have a small cabin in the front. And we set aside separate space for a Porta Potti or coolers. It’s also possible to get a boat camper (thanks to a stern soft enclosure) so you can actually fully enclose the boat if you want to.”
“With the X Shore 1 we’re finally down to, sort of, the regular segment,” Keisu said. “I mean, if you want to buy a new boat, you can now actually just as easily buy a fully electric one. And you have way less cost when you’re driving the boat—a huge difference in terms of savings on maintenance and service and lower fuel costs. You can just drive our boats for a fraction of the cost of an internal combustion engine boat. You’ll have between a 15 and 20 percent total cost per ownership savings with this boat over five years—a savings of $2,000 per year, $85 per trip and around $20 per hour. And then on top of that, with our infotainment system, you get the much better experience when you’re out on the water. You have all of that.”
X Shore 1 Specifications:
LOA: 21’3″
Beam: 7’4″
Draft: 2’2″
Displ.: 3400 lbs.
Power: 125kW (170hp)
Battery: 63kWh
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This article originally appeared in the December 2022 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.
Source: https://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/boats/x-shore-1-boat-review
