Lake Tahoe to Make Waves With First Flying Electric Ferry in US

Getting from one end of Lake Tahoe to another could soon become easier, as the first electric hydrofoil ferry in the United States is expected to debut at the popular tourist destination. The “flying” ferry, which uses computer controlled hydrofoil wings to lift its hull above the water, is a joint venture of Swedish tech company Candela and U.S.

operator FlyTahoe. A similar launch took place in Stockholm last month. The Candela P-12 ferry will make the north-south trip across the lake in just 30 minutes, saving passengers a drive around the lake that typically takes about three hours.



Millions make the drive around Lake Tahoe each year—admiring its beauty while at the same time polluting it, said Ryan Meinzer, founder and CEO of FlyTahoe. “This road sediment isn’t just causing damage to lungs and the air, but it’s also ending up [in] the lake,“ he told The Epoch Times. ”Essentially, Lake Tahoe is a large watershed, and in fact, this is one of the largest contributors to the degradation of the clarity of the famous blue cobalt lake that we love.

” There were over 15 million visitors to Tahoe last year, and about 20,000 trips a day between the north and south of the lake, Meinzer said. “This is why FlyTahoe has decided to focus its primary efforts on that particular route.” In an announcement on Nov.

21, Candela said the hydrofoil ferry is the world’s fastest electric vessel at 25 knots, or about 30 miles an hour, with a range of about 40 nautical miles..