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Solar-Powered Speedboat Goes on Sale in Netherlands
Thursday, May 29, 2008
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Czeers Solarboats B.V.
A full view of the Czeers Mk 1 solar-powered speedboat.
A full view of the Czeers Mk 1 solar-powered speedboat.
It'd make Sonny Crockett from "Miami Vice" proud — in a totally "green" way.
Dutch researchers at the Technical University of Delft have developed what they say is the world's first solar-powered speedboat, and it's got all the luxurious trimmings one would expect.
According to maritime engineers Nils Beers and David Czap, the idea for the Czeers (a combination of their last names, and pronounced "Cheers") Mk I began as a sketch on the back of a beer coaster at a local pub.
• Click here to see the solar-powered speedboat in action.
They covered the craft, made from black carbon fiber, with 150 square feet of solar cells to power it at up to 35 mph.
After lots of work, they unveiled the 33-foot Mk I at the Millionaire Fair in Amsterdam in December, and this month they're inviting prospective buyers to take it out for a spin.
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The price? Seven hundred thousand euro, or about $1.1 million at today's exchange rate.
"Statistically speaking, there are only four private buyers for this boat in the whole of Holland," says Beers.
So they're trying to market it to wealthier prospective customers in the Middle East — where there's no shortage of sunshine to keep the boat powered up all year round.
• Click here for the Czeers Web site, and here for a brief report from the Technical University of Delft.
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