X Shore AB is planning to sell a new electric boat at a similar price to traditional vessels, a move that could significantly broaden sales beyond the wealthy, the startup’s chief executive said.
(Bloomberg) — X Shore AB is planning to sell a new electric boat at a similar price to traditional vessels, a move that could significantly broaden sales beyond the wealthy, the startup’s chief executive said.
The X Shore 1 starts at $99,000 before tax, a fraction of the price of other electric boats, including X Shore’s Eelex 8000, which starts at $329,000, Stockholm-based CEO and founder Jenny Keisu said in an interview.
“We could easily continue to sell 40 boats per year to very wealthy individuals,” Keisu said.
“But if you want to see real impact, you need to replace traditional boats, and for that to happen the electric boats must become cheaper.”
X Shore is one of several companies pushing the boat industry to start replacing combustion-engine leisure boats with battery-powered vessels.
Keisu likened the launch of the X Shore 1 to a possible “Tesla moment” for electric boats.
“When Tesla launched its Model 3, and brought down the price of an electric car on par with that of a regular one, it pivoted the entire industry,” she said.
Keisu, who previously worked for private equity firm Nordic Capital and founded Summa Equity, one of Europe’s largest impact funds, said she aims to produce a net-zero emissions boat by 2030.
The comparatively long lifespan of a boat means it will take longer to replace the existing combustion-engine fleet than it will for cars.
“If you show competitors that something is possible, they have no alternative,” she said.
To quickly ramp up production of the new model, X Shore will need to raise additional capital, Keisu said.
The last round of fundraising in April added $50 million from investors including Peter Carlsson, founder and CEO of Swedish battery developer Northvolt AB.
X Shore also needs to make significant investments to secure access to components amid the global supply-chain problems.
Keisu said it’s likely that X Shore will need to raise more capital within one year.
She added that should “the board come to the conclusion that we should go public, and the market is open for it, we could move very quickly.”
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