5 minute read
E1 Boats
PROJECT DIRECTED BY Malvern Kandemwa
Rodi Basso, Co-Founder, E1
WRITTEN BY Frew Murdoch
Across Coasts and Cities
sustainability angle, comes the UIM E1 World Championship, which holds an exclusive license as the only world electric powerboat series and is sanctioned by the Union Internationale Motonautique to promote electric marine mobility.
E1 CEO Rodi Basso co-founded and launched the championship alongside close friend, Formula E and Extreme E pioneer Alejandro Agag in 2020. Rodi is an entrepreneurial electrical engineer with a passion for the sea and an extensive history in Formula One working with heavyweights Ferrari, Red Bull Racing, and McLaren. Rodi’s main aim for the series is to build an innovative spectacle that promotes water race events while contributing to sustainability and impact reduc-
The UIM E1 World Championship advances electrification at sea level
Sports entertainment has proven to be the ideal vehicle to carry a positive message of change to the masses. Sports like Formula E and Extreme E have laid the track for the partnership between motorsports and electrification; both exciting and inspiring fans across the globe. Following suit, but with a different
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tion. He believes the new style of vehicle design coupled with the sea environment will provide a unique sporting point for the series.
“We are building a race platform, but we know that we are much more than that. We focus our attention on building an exciting race format; a two-day event where the first one [day] is more dedicated to free practices and testing. The second one is the city event where we see the exciting sporting side based on qualifying and the race. The difference will be made by the capabilities of the pilots to sail the new vessels, which are half boat and half aircraft or aerospace vehicle. It is a new driving style and technique. There will be some settings that the pilot will have to tune depending on the driving style and the water conditions. And, on top of this, the battery management is something completely new to the marine industry,” explained Rodi.
We are building a race platform, but we know that we are much more than that... It is a new driving style and technique.
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More than a race platform
E1’s unique sporting point and capacity to, as Rodi puts it, “be much more than a race platform”, results from three primary focal points of investment. The first refers to city ambassadorship. The E1 World Championship serves as an advocate for city brands, ensuring their media products promote the cities involved in the championship throughout the season. The series seeks three common characteristics when scouting for race locations. Cities should have an “iconic status”, like Monaco and Venice (which are already being explored as potential race venues). They also look for locations that showcase sensitivity to sustainability and an affinity for innovation. “The other important pillar is technology in the form of cross-fertilization. In my proposal to
ation Feature
Innovatio
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Alejandro, I presented it as the meeting point of powerboating, motorsport, and high-end automotive. This latter part is where we are taking all our lessons learned in terms of electronics, controls, and electric propulsion. Infrastructure for charging is important. One of our initial pillars, from the very beginning, is to offer the local authorities charging infrastructure in the places where we will race, even when we leave the location. Then, the people can start thinking of buying an electric leisure boat and we attack straight away the automotive paradigm of the lack of infrastructure.
“This last example offers me the chance to speak about the third pillar, sustainability. We are incredibly focused and authentically keen on driving longer-lasting, large-scale projects about sustainability. We are partnering with one of the most important marine biologists in the world who will be our chief scientist officer. We will look for local sponsors and partners who want to help us in delivering this project with local forces and local people. They will be trained, educated, and will execute the work. It is more an ESG view of not only providing positive impact to the local communities but also delivering with action and a sustainability plan,” asserted Rodi.
E1’s RB.01 vessel performing a demonstration
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Technology and the future
The greatest challenge for the organizers of the E1 World Championship was delivering the electric watercraft prototype in record time. In just eight months, Rodi’s team and partners engineered and manufactured something that has never been seen before. Advanced hydrofoil technology allows this watercraft, the RaceBird, to hover above the sea while minimizing drag and optimizing energy efficiency. The vessel was co-created by SeaBird Technologies founder Sophi Horne, alongside Brunello Acampora, Founder & CEO of Victory Marine, the official RaceBird engineering and manufacturing supplier of the E1 World Championship. Inspired by the image of seabirds hovering above the waves, the RaceBird is a fusion of picture-perfect nature, sleek aesthetics, and cutting-edge technology. Having benefited from cross-fertilization between automotive and watercraft electrification, Rodi hopes to change the lay of the land in the future:
“My vision with the next generation of the boat is that instead of learning from automotive and motorsport and bringing it into the marine industry, I want to get the marine industry to the level that is going for automotive, air mobility, and every sort of vehicle that is using electric propulsion.
“I want to make sure to deliver a new, exciting sport. I believe that, like every organization on the planet, you cannot design a new venture without including a contribution to the world. It has to be delivered authentically and needs to contribute to and improve the condition of human beings. If I can see thousands of people showing up on the shore in beautiful cities like Miami and Monaco and if we can offer these people some hours of enjoyment, I would be happy. But, if we can offer to all the rest of the citizens better conditions of their coastal area and the technology to allow their mayors and politicians to change gear and go to a different level… Well, that will be the day that we will have hit the target and I will be an even happier person and entrepreneur,” ended Rodi.
www.e1series.com
Innovation Feature
E1’s RB.01 vessel demonstration
