Iguana Yachts enables electric land propulsion for the first time ever on amphibious boats

The time is ripe for the electric drive: This could be the first true hybrid boat using both electric and thermic engines alternatively on land and sea.

How can you discover new land if you never leave home? Iguana Yachts experiences

While more and more people worldwide are moving to boating, better air and water quality, lower noise and restricted construction zones have become important keywords. Construction of heavy infrastructure like pontoons are more and more restricted and chemicals, bottom paint and oil spills are heavily controlled. More than ever, in the future, reaching the lowest possible emissions and noise will be a major concern.

Iguana Yachts has already impressed the boating sector with the most advanced amphibious boat ever made. With the development of the electric drive, the leadership of Iguana Yachts was taken to a new level.

E-Iguana 29 from the world’s most innovative boat manufacturer is the first electric amphibious boat with an admissible total weight of up to 4,5 tones. Iguanas extended their low environmental impact with zero local emissions and hardly an audible whisper. The boat has a range of 110 minutes and a charging time of 6 hours. 8 seconds for the landing gear to fold or deploy. Couldn’t be faster.

“Costs, performance and charging times are improving so rapidly that now the time is ripe for the electric drive. Our E-Iguana 29 has already been undergoing intensive internal and customer trials since 2015, we now have an extremely reliable solution,” says Florent de Labarre, Chief Engineer at Iguana Yachts.

Until now, the use of electric drive systems in boats seemed to be unimaginable or unsafe. The technology has now become much more mature and major improvements have impacted the battery cells in particular. With the unique Active Thermal Management (ATM) the battery cells feature a patented casing that is constantly flushed with liquid. This means that combined with a heat pump, the battery can be heated or cooled very efficiently increasing significantly range, environment of use and service life.

Innovative technology. Iguana Yachts enables electric land propulsion for the first time ever on amphibious boats.

Technically, the E-Iguana 29 is based on heavy-duty electric motors that use efficient three-phase drives with a power output of 22 kW. These extremely durable motors are especially suitable for the most rugged environments.

“Using Electric drive in our delicate environment is an important step forward. With a ground pressure per square centimeter equivalent to a human, and no chemical thrown in the waters, Iguanas are already very low impact boats. With this new technology we push a new approach to boating one step further serving our planet for many years. And who knows? This could be the first true hybrid boat using both electric and thermic engines alternatively on land and sea. We are very proud of this new achievement and look forward to have our clients experience our very unique Iguanas,” said Antoine BRUGIDOU, Iguana Yachts CEO.