The Stockholm-based tech firm Candela revolutionized the nautical market and introduces the most efficient and long-lasting boat motor ever made. Candela C-POD is an electric pod drive that will rival a noisy combustion engine that requires expensive maintenance and emits more CO2 per kilometer than most road vehicles.
In boat motors, both electric and fossil fuel, the motor is positioned in a box above the waterline, transferring thrust to the propeller through a complex set of shafts, bearings, and gears. The Candela C-POD doesn’t use any of those gears. Two ultra-compact yet very powerful electric motors are mounted under the water in a torpedo-like socket, directly driving the propellers. Each motor is coupled directly to a propeller.
Candela’s engineers increased the rpm and lower the torque to boost the Candela C-POD’s power density. The best way was to split the thrust needed on two propellers as the maximum rpm is limited by the speed of the propeller tip moving through water. At around 45 m/s propeller speed, the pressure in the flow around the propeller starts to boil and creates noise, damage and inefficiencies. Since the motors under the water, the C-POD’s drive can be directly and efficiently cooled by the flow of seawater.
Since Candela C-POD doesn’t have gears, it is totally quiet. Moreover, with very few moving parts, the boat motor will last several thousand hours without any maintenance.
The Candela P-30 electric shuttle ferry, the Candela P-12 water taxi as well as future leisure boats will be equipped with the Candela C-POD. Developing 50 kW for take-off, a single Candela C-POD has enough thrust to propel Candela’s 28 foot, 12-person water taxi, the Candela P-12, at a speed of 30 knots. For the company’s bigger 30-person shuttle ferry, the Candela P- 30, two Candela C-POD’s will ensure the same speed.