More and more electric foilboard companies are popping up in social media and want to jump on the train of the electric hydrofoil success story. Some (not all) are making big promises and time will tell if these companies will deliver.
FOIL from Foil Inc.
Foil Inc. from Pensacola in Florida is one of the new players which come with a big claim. Their website says “The Most Advanced eFoil Ever” and the FOIL has a price tag starting at 4,999 USD (6,999 USD for the performance version) which is less than half of what established e-foil manufacturers such as Lift Foils and Fliteboard charge. Another claim is that they will "shake up the world of aquatic power sports “.
These are strong words from an unknown player, so let’s have a look why they are claiming to be most advanced:
- Handmade Carbon fibre board - That’s not new. Other e-foil manufacturers do the same
- Simplicity and responsiveness through eliminating the gear box - Again Lift Foils does this since 2 years
- The largest Lithium Ion battery ever fixed into an electric foil - Mhh, is this a good thing? Looking at the specs below they do not offer any additional range or max speed.
- 7,000 Watts Maverick motor system - This is more than Lift and Flite are offering with 5 kW, but again without no more range or speed? Do they need the large battery for the 7 kW (9.5 horsepower) motor? And why is a larger battery still so cheap?
- All electronics are below the waterline to eliminate water-cooling - Flite also does not need any water-cooling
- Intelligent Bluetooth remote control with high resolution display - This is not a unique feature
- 28 MPH / 45 Km/h top speed - This is nothing new
- Rides on lakes, Rivers and oceans - really?
- 15 -18 miles (14 - 29 km) range - also nothing new
- Charges in 2 hours - Like most of the other boards with the standard charger. The 2 hours here can be only achieved with an optional super charger (additional cost)
- Designed and assembled in the US - Same as Lift
Foil Inc. Is offering 3 setups:
- Standard Range = 4,999 USD
- Long Range = 5,999 USD
- Performance = 6,999 USD
Different colours are available. Black and white come with no extra charge, but blue orange and green cost another 200 USD on top.
Foil Inc. electric foilboard pre-order:
We don't see any reason why this board should be the most advanced foil ever. We hope however that it will become a good affordable electric foil and look forward to test it in spring 2020.
SUPERNOVA electric foilboard
The most aggressive electric foil startup is certainly SUPERNOVA from Paris. They were spamming the Facebook groups with new promises in such an aggressive way that they were banned from different groups. Originally acting under Isabelle Quatre the name was changed Mark Quatre in order to continue the spam. After some push back Mark called the community "stupid people" which is not a very professional attitude.
Some of SUPERNOVA's claims:
- Gyro self balanced
- Only 15 kg weight
- 1 hour riding time
- 3 years warranty
- Made in France
- New LTO (Lithium Titanate Oxyde) battery
- Race model with 11 kW and top speed of 60 km/h
- 3,800 EUR
That's said, Supernova brings up some interesting ideas. The modular boards are supposed to be put apart in it components and shall fit in just one case. You can see in the picture above that it has only a plate on tpp of 2 small hulls, so the volume would be extremely low. It has 2 foot straps as it is planned to be an aggressive race board.
The aggressive Facebook outreach was not the best start, but let's hope that MarK can make some of his promises true and bring some innovation into the electric foilboard market.
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