[3] The first electric sailboat to complete a round-the-world tour (including a transit of the Panama Canal) using only green technologies is EcoSailingProject.

[4] An early electric boat was developed by the German inventor Moritz von Jacobi in 1839 in St Petersburg, Russia.

[7] The batteries and electric equipment were hidden from view beneath the seating area, increasing the space available for the accommodation of passengers.

[6] Moritz Immisch established his company in 1882 in partnership with William Keppel, 7th Earl of Albemarle, specializing in the application of electric motors to transportation.

After 12 months of experimental work starting in 1888 with a randan skiff, the firm commissioned the construction of hulls which they equipped with electrical apparatus.

An 1893 pleasure map of the Thames shows eight "charging stations for electric launches" between Kew (Strand-on-the-Green) and Reading (Caversham).

Grand ships were constructed of teak or mahogany and furnished luxuriously, with stained glass windows, silk curtains and velvet cushions.

William Sargeant was commissioned by Immisch's company to build the Mary Gordon in 1898 for Leeds City Council for use on the Roundhay Park Lake – the boat still survives and is currently being restored.

In the 1893 Chicago World Fair 55 launches developed from Anthony Reckenzaun's work carried more than a million passengers.

[10][11] Electric boats had an early period of popularity between around 1890 and 1920, before the emergence of the internal combustion engine drove them out of most applications.

Instead the Bayerische Seenschifffahrt company and its predecessors have operated a fleet of electric launches to provide a public passenger service on the lake.

The advantages include being able to run the fuel engines at an optimal speed at all times and being able to mount the electric motor in a pod which may be rotated by 360° for increased manoeuvrability.

This approach has the potential to allow ships and ferries with tight schedules to be electrified as charging can be done in port with no time limitations.

versus slow charging (LFP) is decided by economic analysis considering Capital expenditure (CAPEX), Operating expense (OPEX), Total cost of Ownership (TCO).

Other factors that affect range include sea-state, currents, windage and any charge that can be reclaimed while under way, for example by solar panels in full sun.

In case of a single overhead wire the electrical circuit has to be closed by the water itself, giving rise to a larger resistance and corrosion of the electrodes.

The benefits to the global environment that are achieved by the use of electric propulsion are manifested during the working life of the boat, which can be many years.

A 2016 life-cycle study in Norway states that electric ferries and hybrid offshore supply ships compensate for the environmental effects of producing lithium-ion batteries in less than 2 months.

Campbell asserts that the lack of pollution from an electric boat "reeks of nimbyism" as "the discharge is all in someone else's back yard" and that the provision of re-charging points may involve digging up miles of habitat.

Desmond responds that while there is no doubt that rechargeable batteries derive their energy from power stations (when not charged on board by solar and wind generation), noisier internal-combustion-engined boats obtain their fuel from even further away and that, once installed a power cable is less environmentally disruptive than a petrol station.

Campbell mentions "all manner of noxious chemicals ... involved in battery manufacture", but Rutter describes them as being "lead and sulphuric acid with a few extra trace metals in a modest plastic box" with a potential lifetime of 10–12 years.

The article mentions 25% and 30% discounts being offered to electric boaters by the UK Environment Agency and the Broads Authority and that battery powered vehicles have 3⁄5 the carbon footprint of their petrol equivalents.

[46] In 2010, the Tûranor PlanetSolar, a 35-metre long, 26-metre wide catamaran yacht powered by 537 square metres of solar panels, was unveiled.

On 4 May 2012 it completed a 60,023 kilometres (37,297 mi) circumnavigation of the Earth in Monaco after 585 days and visiting 28 different countries, without using any fossil fuel.

[48][49][50] The Monaco yacht company Wally has announced a "gigayacht" designed for billionaires torn between buying a mansion and a superyacht.

[51] The Why 58 x 38 is designed to have an autonomous cruising range of 12,000 miles at 12 knots by means of 900m2 of solar panels which generate 150 kW to assist the diesel–electric motors and optional Skysails.