Could Self-Driving Electric Boats Reduce C02 Emissions?

Electric cars are driving on roads and now electric hydrofoil boats have taken to the seas.

Companies are hoping their electric hover-boats will one day replace the gas-guzzling water taxis seen in many coastal cities. That would reduce C02 emissions.

The CEO of Navier, a company manufacturing electric boats, explained some of the benefits to CBS News.

"It's like ten times cheaper than using a gas boat,” Sampriti Bhattacharyya, CEO, Navier told CBS News. “So you can use it as a scalable waterborne transportation. It unlocks a potential, a new form of transportation that was never possible before.”

The hydrofoil boats don’t float the same way traditional watercraft do.

“Not only is it electric, you're gliding above the water, so there is no seasickness. You don't feel the waves. It's like you're on a jet plane,” Bhattacharyya said.

Just like electric cars, one of the drawbacks of a hydrofoil boat is a limited range because they do need to be charged.

“Just the amount of energy that it takes to move a boat through the water and to propel the boat through water requires a lot of batteries,” Jeff Wasil of National Marine Manufacturers Association said. “As you add more batteries, you add costs. And it gets worse the larger the boat gets."

Prices currently start around $400,000.

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