Skiers and snowboarders will be able to hit the slopes faster in Lake Tahoe as Candela and FlyTahoe are announcing plans to introduce the first U.S. based Candela P-12. It's a groundbreaking foiling electric ferry.
With Lake Tahoe attracting over 15 million tourists year-round, road congestion is becoming a bigger problem. But with a new travel option being added next year, this could help decrease traffic all while keeping Tahoe blue.
Since launching in 2019, Candela has been manufacturing over 100 vessels to clients around the world, leading electric boat sales in the U.S.
Now they're taking them to Lake Tahoe in partnership with FlyTahoe.
"It's the coolest thing," said Ryan Meinzer, Founder/CEO of FlyTahoe. "It flies above the water which means that it's about 10x more efficient than typical boats which enables it to be pretty darn fast as well."
The vessel can seat up to 30 passengers and accommodate equipment such as skis, snowboards, and bikes. Traveling across the lake in 30 minutes with no disruption to the environment.
"There's no gas, there's no CO2 emissions of course, no nitroxide emissions," says Meinzer.
As a local who's been struggling with road congestion in the last 15 years, Meinzer says this new form of transportation will cut the travel time in half and hopefully decrease the daily 20,000 car trips along the same route, helping tourists and locals alike all year long regardless of weather conditions, especially since the lake never freezes.
He explains, "We are able to even withstand waves that are even over 4 feet, so that is why we are promising a very smooth ride for everyone."
However, one of the biggest challenges FlyTahoe is facing with their infrastructure is charging.
Meinzer says they have one super charger located in North Tahoe right now and are working on installing in other locations.
"We aim to super charge the entire lake, right? As many locations as possible to enable us to be able to charge, 'always be charging' A, B, C. That's one of those things in this business and we want to be able to charge around the entire lake."
Meinzer says they're already in contact with most of the marinas around the lake for drop-off and pick-up spots. But if you're a business that would like to become an additional drop spot you can reach out by clicking here.
