By Graham Sheridan, VCC’s Clean Communities Economic Development Director
Recently Virginia Clean Cities hosted an Electric Boat Expo with partners A&N Electric Co-Op and Electrified Marina. A&N is the electric cooperative for Virginia’s Eastern Shore along with Smith Island and Tangier Island. Electrified Marina, based in Norfolk, is America’s only exclusively electric boat dealership. Both are valued VCC stakeholders.
This event began as an impulse – Electrified Marina brought a boat on a trailer to VCC’s Rally in Richmond in April. When I saw the boat I thought – we need to get that in the water. Later in April, I brought the idea to Leo at A&N co-op, and he insisted we do the event on the Eastern Shore. Leo, a devoted sailor, began calling the marinas on the Eastern Shore and pinned down two that would host us for a southern event and northern event on the shore – Oyster Farm Marina in Cape Charles, and Onancock Marina in Onancock. Additionally, a local couple joined with their Ingenity electric boat on a trailer pulled by a Rivian truck.
On the day of the first event, Saturday, September 14th, I got my family up early and made my way out to the Eastern Shore. We were lucky to have great weather, and the Rivian with a fullwith full camping outfit attached was gleaming. We went along on two test rides – one on a larger Ingenity and another on a smaller fantail boat. A member of the Electrified Marina team captained the boat for the ride – you did not get to test driving but you did get the experience of being on the boat. It is amazing the features of these boats – Bluetooth speakers, coolers, speed, and many other bells and whistles.
However, the feature everyone commented on over and over was the quiet – because of not having a combustion engine, electric boats are quiet even at speed. One person said to the Electrified Marina team “you are selling conversation.” This is useful for many commercial applications – fishing, tours, sunset cruises – anywhere the loud engine harms the mood.
Electrified Marina and A&N were both happy with the turnout and want to plan to host another event in the spring, perhaps featuring electric outboard motors as well. This was a great example of the convening power of Virginia Clean Cities, bringing everyone together around an idea to bring it to life.