I got wet driving an Arc Sport electric boat

I haven’t been there The cost of CES 2025 with the intention of being drenched in the cold January water of Lake Mead. But when I found out that the Los Angeles Arc boat launch had brought a sports boat to Las Vegas, I thought it was worth taking action. It was.

The Arc Sport was fun to drive, even for a 30-minute cruise on the ocean. It rode like a heavy jet ski – its weight helped keep it stable. I’ve driven many heavy duty electric cars, trucks, and SUVs where the weight feels like a drag. For this reason, I was glad to have a little steering wheel under us.

Like his boats, the Arc has moved as fast as a starter. Arcfounded by former SpaceX engineers, it came out in 2021 backed by Andreessen Horowitz and Chris Sacca’s Lowercarbon Capital. It raised a $30 million Series A a few months later, led by Eclipse Ventures partner and former Tesla CEO Greg Reichow. The startup shipped its first $300,000 Arc One boats in early 2023, he added. $70 million that same yearand began work on the $258,000 Arc Sport.

In keeping with this momentum, Arc delivered its first Sport yacht to a customer at the end of last year. That’s a “period of very rapid development,” founder and CEO Mitch Lee told TechCrunch as we circled Lake Mead. And it was possible because Arc took the time to learn how to build one boat with limited space before moving on to something with more appeal, according to Lee.

“Arc One for us was the (Tesla) Roadster. The first thing was, let’s go build this boat. Let’s do it a little bit, and learn what it’s like to have these boats in the field with customers,” he told TechCrunch in an interview in November. “We have had boats going through storms now. We have had boats set up in 95 degree water. These principles are very important.”

When I arrived, Lee was shivering in the winter near Lake Mead, but still excited to show off the Arc Sport and what it can do. We boarded the boat and hit the water.

It’s an impressive boat before you hit it. The fit and finish of the boat I drove, which was technically a production vehicle, was impressive, especially since CES is not known as a place for polished prototypes.

There are things that may make people wonder, however. There was a Tesla-style windshield with a smart, fluid software that doesn’t scream “legacy maker.” A second screen sits behind the wheel on the helm, showing the speed, battery level, and the view from the front-facing camera.

The Sport is much quieter than a regular gas boat. It is not silent. I could still hear the engine working under our feet; but it was easy to hear Lee, two crew members, and a reporter on board. It was barely audible beyond the wind and the sound of the wake being thrown behind us – a characteristic feature of Arc boats compared to many other early hydrofoil powered boats.

When you combine this with the other lifestyle improvements that the Sport offers over its gas competitors – such as smokeless, dynamic programs that adjust on the air, twin controls that make it easy to turn and park the boat, a. A hard top that comes down to protect from the weather, and the lack of winter is needed – it is understandable why water sports enthusiasts can pay the price of this boat.

Boats are not difficult to drive. The real learning curve comes from knowing how to navigate and act on the water. Running a Game on empty Lake Mead, even in fresh water, was not difficult. Put your hand on the wheel, lift the lock on the crank, and push forward to enjoy 500 horsepower.

A 226 kWh battery pack kept the boat powered, but also helped the short 23-foot frame make quick pivots and wheel turns. This turn was the hardest part of the experience with the wind and chop. Sure enough, we were hit by waves, pouring the icy blue waters of the Colorado River into Lake Mead.

It was worth it, though. Everyone should be very happy.

Returning to port, and tied up, it was hard not to notice the decline of Lake Mead. A powerful combination of seemingly endless drought and human activity has reduced the reservoir to just 27% of its full capacity, according to NASA. On either side I could see where the water line was, a familiar sight to be said like a “swimming ring.”

This has directly affected boaters who use the lake for pleasure – exactly the type of people Lee hopes to sell to. Lake Mead has had to close several boat trips over the past few years, according to the National Park Serviceand expand the rest to reach the lowest point of the lake.

I didn’t ask him if the ocean boom is a threat to the Arc market – that’s a bad idea that I’ll be sure to bring up next time. What I do know is Lee has said that his goal is for every watercraft to convert to electricity. That includes looking beyond sports power, perhaps even to government and security — an idea that seed trader Andreessen Horowitz is very fond of these days.

When I asked Lee about this in November, he expressed concern, but left the door open.

“We cannot afford to be disrupted too quickly, because if we do, we will fail as a company,” he said. “The reason we were able to develop Arc Sport so quickly is because of the work we did on Arc One. I could go down a long list of all the cargo and IP, but the same applies to going commercial, going to public sector, and our ambitions as a business continue. We’re not ready to negotiate. nothing here.”