Electric boat startup Arc expands lineup with new plug-in sports boat

Arc is ready to make a splash with its latest electric boat model: a wake sports boat appropriately called the Arc Sport.

With 226kWh of battery capacity and a 570-horsepower motor, Arc claims that the Arc Sport will have “more than double the torque of most premium wake boats.” The new model is aimed at the growing wake sports segment, which has been called the fastest-growing water sports category in the world.

That means that it’s also leading to a profound impact on the environment, especially around lakes, where most wake sports boats are used. And while the Arc Sport will be unique in its lack of carbon emissions, it will still have an impact on aquatic life. Wake boats have been known to disturb sediment at the bottom of lakes, which can disrupt plant life.

Arc’s new boat won’t come cheap, either. The Arc Sport starts at $258,000, meaning it will be aimed at customers with more money to spend on luxury items than average. Still, the company says the Arc Sport is its shot at modernizing the $4 billion sports boat market, which still relies on what it calls “outdated technology.”

By comparison, Arc says its new wake sports boat is a technological marvel, running on software developed in-house by the company’s team of engineers. Over-the-air software updates will be offered to ensure that the Arc Sport’s operating system never goes obsolete.

“Unlike gas boats that start depreciating the day they’re built, the Arc Sport gets more intelligent — and more performant — over time,” the company said. “No other boat on the water today is capable of this.”

The Arc Sport is 23 feet long and can carry a maximum of 23 passengers. The company didn’t list its top speed, but the flagship Arc One boat is limited to 40mph. (How hard a limit that is is debatable. One reviewer wrote about speeding beyond 40mph in the Arc One.)

Wake sports are all about, well, the wake. And Arc says it takes its wave-making capabilities very seriously. The Arc Sport is built with “enough battery, ballast, and wake shaping technology” to make its waves truly exceptional, the company claims.

With the press of a button, the auto-retract hardtop tower provides an easily adjustable tow point and comfortable ride through chop, rain, or wind. A large entertainment screen allows riders to conveniently blast music through JL Audio speakers and view their journey through video recaps and stats. And, once back at the marina, the bow and stern thrusters make it easy to dock the boat. At every step of the journey, the Arc Sport provides an exciting upgrade to the world of wake boating.

In addition to raising money from notable investors like Will Smith, Kevin Durant, and Sean “Diddy” Combs, Arc also has institutional support from VC funds like Eclipse Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Lowercarbon Capital, Menlo Ventures, and Abstract Ventures. The company has raised over $110 billion over the course of two rounds of funding and currently counts over 100 people as its workforce, including veterans from Tesla, Rivian, SpaceX, Lyft, and marine staples like Brunswick and MarineMax.

The Arc One is currently sold out, but the Arc Sport goes on sale today. Deliveries are expected to start later this year.