Electric ferries are becoming the next big environmental trend

With the green energy trend of electric vehicles plateauing, one form of transportation is taking hold: electric ferries. While this industry has been on the uptick for a while, there are now cities throughout the globe that are using battery-powered vessels to shuttle passengers.

The concept of an electric vehicle is not new, but there are certain companies innovating within the electric ferry space. This includes one city in Sweden where the ferries are not only electric — they also fly.

Where are these ferries used?

Many cities are implementing electric ferries, given that "destinations the world over are clamoring for cleaner forms of energy," said Condé Nast Traveler. Locations using electric ferries include Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai. Stockholm recently unveiled a fleet of electric ferries made by the company Candela that "rises above the waves on a set of underwater wings known as hydrofoils," said The Washington Post, allowing the ship to "travel faster than the diesel ferries that ply Stockholm's waterways while using much less energy." Sydney also announced that its ferry fleet will be all "locally built electric or hydrogen ferries by 2035," according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

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American cities using electric ferries include San Francisco and Seattle, and the same company that built Stockholm's flying electric ferries plans to "launch a 30-passenger ferry" in Lake Tahoe, said the Reno Gazette-Journal, with service to "begin by late 2025 or early 2026." And in 2023, New York officials "introduced New York City's first public, hybrid-electric ferry," which was "equipped with a hybrid propulsion system that will reduce air pollution," according to a press release. These ferries went into commission in 2024.

Why are they booming now?

It's in large part due to the transportation sector's strain on the environment. Transportation "accounts for about a quarter of annual global greenhouse gas emissions; ships alone are responsible for nearly 3% of that, or about a billion metric tons of CO2 each year," said Condé Nast Traveler. Beyond this, putting more ferries into service "can help ease congestion on roads and existing public transit routes, while making transit cleaner, faster or more direct." Electric ferries "won't solve everything, but for short journeys they can significantly cut emissions and improve local air quality," Valentin Simon, a data analyst for the European nonprofit Transport & Environment, told the Post.

Electric ferries are a "zero-emission option for commuters who may instead have to take a car across a bridge in gridlocked traffic," Elise Sturrup, a marine researcher at the nonprofit International Council on Clean Transportation, said to Condé Nast Traveler. Electric ferries are also getting bigger and more fuel-efficient: The world's soon-to-be-largest electric ferry is currently being built in Tasmania. It will hold 2,100 people and will "carry passengers across the Río de la Plata, between Argentina's capital Buenos Aires and Uruguay," said ABC. The ferry will reportedly save 41,386 tons of carbon dioxide, the "equivalent of taking around 8,750 [gasoline] cars off the road."

Still, most of the cities using electric ferries were previously using traditional ferries, and "examples of cities introducing a ferry service where there previously was none are relatively rare," said Forbes. But "cities with extensive waterways, such as Stockholm, need to start viewing water as something that connects the city rather than divides it," Michaela Haga, chair of the Maritime Public Transport Committee in Region Stockholm, told Forbes. Through "innovation and collaboration with the private sector, public transport can be made both faster and more climate-friendly."