E-boats are the most exciting electric vehicles in the world.

This is part of Airplane Mode, a series on the business—and pleasure—of travel right now. Tom Hesselink, the owner of the North Carolina–based Budsin Electric Boats, thinks one of the reasons is that “the political realm thinks that boats are not a necessity, and that they shouldn’t be funding people’s luxury.” Indeed, stateside boats run purely by solar power are used mostly in races. Though Hesselink told me that his company is small, “with six skilled employees building 15–20 boats per year,” he still gets to boast that he’s “the largest producer of wooden electric boats in the world”—specializing in “social boats” that “fit right in on many lakes, rivers, bays,” can hold up to 10 passengers at once, and are “absolutely quiet and pollution-free.” “The main selling points for my boats have always been the wooden craftsmanship, their quiet nature, the ease of driving, the deep and sturdy hulls, and the affordable battery models,” Hesselink said. In places like North Carolina, a regular outboard boat has to have the water drained out of the motor so it doesn’t freeze and break the castings, and our electric boats don’t need that.” Hesselink acknowledges that his boats are still “niche” models for “high-end clientele”—the type who might hit up an expensive resort, see Budsin boats available for use there, and find themselves in awe of “how relaxing they are.” But he’s “starting to design and market for the eco-tourism industry,” visiting countries like Mexico and the Netherlands to see how they intend to clean up their tourism sectors and figure out how he can break into their markets. On a different scale, the San Francisco–based startup Navier is hoping to crank out e-boats that provide a basis for “small, high-speed, more frequent waterborne transportation” meant for “navigating around congested coastal cities and escaping land traffic by operating from existing marinas.” The company’s N30 model, which utilizes the same hydrofoiling design as the Swedish Candela brand and was released last year, was marketed as the first commercial-scale hydrofoil e-boat product in the U.S.—and the longest-distance e-boat in the country, with the ability to exceed a 75-nautical-mile range.