Groupe Beneteau and Vision Marine Technologies have announced a partnership that will see a Four Winns electric powerboat ready for the North American market in 2023.

The boat is the sporty and prestigious 22’ Four Winns H2 OB, powered by Vision Marine’s E-Motion™ 180E electric propulsion system which delivers 180 horsepower (≈ 135 kW) with a 70kWh lithium battery pack.

The companies announced that the new partnership will also see Vision Marine’s outboard motors on several models across Groupe Beneteau’s brand portfolio, both in North America and Europe.

This is big news for electric boating when one of the world’s largest builders offers electric propulsion on planing powerboats. The Groupe has manufacturing facilities and a global sales network that employ about 7,600 people worldwide, mainly in France, the US, Poland, Italy, Portugal, and China.

They have also been known as an innovative leader throughout their 138 year history. At last year’s Cannes Yachting Festival they introduced electric versions of their Excess 15 sailing catamaran and Beneteau Oceanis 30.1 monohull. They also committed that their Delphia brand of cruising yachts for inland waterways and lakes was committed to building only electrically propelled boats by 2024.

Earlier this year they began delivering on that commitment with the introduction of the Delphia 11, an 11m / 35 ft yacht designed by Tony Castro of Britain with Sedan and FlyLounge versions available that can be configured with a two-person bedroom suite or three-cabin layout.