C-8

The benchmark for range at speed

The C-8's claim to be the most efficient serially produced electric boat is supported by its own numbers rather than by rhetoric: 57 nm from a 69 kWh pack on a 1,700 kg carbon hull is a figure no conventional planing hull of this size comes near, because foiling removes most of the drag that drains the battery. For anyone whose use case is genuinely covering distance — archipelago commuting, island-hopping, Swiss and Italian lakes, the Côte d'Azur — this is currently the only electric day boat that answers the question honestly.

What you give up, and what you pay

€330,000 for 8.5 m is a great deal of money. A conventional day boat at that price would be half as long again, with proper accommodation; the C-8 carries eight, and comfort aboard is secondary to efficiency. Foils also bring complexity: they need water depth, they are a service item, and the expertise to maintain them sits largely with Candela itself. Factor that into a ten-year ownership view.

The advertised 10–80% charge in under 45 minutes is real but depends on DC fast charging, which remains scarce in European marinas — without it you are on a slow overnight fill. Cheaper conventional-hull electrics such as Frauscher or Marian exist, but their range collapses with speed in a way the C-8's does not.