Performance boat specialist Persico is set to launch its first all-electric superboat, called the Persico Zagato 100.2
Designed in collaboration with iconic automotive design house Zagato, the 26ft stunner is built around a revolutionary new steerable electric waterjet pod from Italian start-up Sealence.
The 100.2 part of the name celebrates Zagato’s second century in business, the new electric boat features a reverse bow, wraparound windshield, aft sunpad, rear bench-sofa and two front pilot seats, plus cuddy space beneath the foredeck.
However, it’s the ultra-efficient electric drivetrain that is likely to cause the biggest stir. The single 205kW Sealence DeepSpeed 420 steerable azipod is said to give the new boat a top speed of 43 knots and a cruising speed of around 24 knots, at which the range should be almost 50nm.
Shaped like the jet engine of an aeroplane, it is designed to suck water in at the front end and blast it out of the back to propel the boat.
However, whereas most jet boats feature a unit that’s mounted inside the boat, requiring water to be diverted up into the hull, pressurised by a shaft-driven turbine and pushed back out through a tunnel in the transom, this one is mounted under the boat so that water feeds straight into the housing; the faster the boat goes, the more water is funnelled into the jet.
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The turbine’s blades are mounted on a rotating rim driven by a brushless electric motor, further enhancing its efficiency. The pod itself tilts up and down like a conventional sterndrive, which varies the draft from 1ft 10in to 2ft 3in (0.56-0.69m). It also swivels from side to side to steer and even spins right round when necessary to enable reverse-thrust.
The first Persico Zagato 100.2 is under construction at Persico’s facility in Nembro, near Bergamo, with the launch expected later this year. Zagato is best known for its lightweight limited edition versions of classic supercars from the likes of Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo.
True to form, production of the Persico Zagato 100.2 will be limited to just nine models. The price has not yet been announced.
Supercar stylist Zagato has worked its magic on this new Persico electric superboat
