The boat was piloted by Candela CEO Gustav Hasselskog, who completed the 24-nautical mile crossing in just over an hour. After recharging in Ceuta, the boat made the return trip the same day.
Read our recent review of the Candela C-8 Hardtop.
What made the journey remarkable wasn’t just the distance, but the fact it was done entirely without fuel. The total energy cost for the round trip was about €16 worth of electricity — far cheaper than the roughly €180 spent by a petrol-powered camera boat that followed alongside. The C-8 used around 40 kilowatt-hours of electricity in total, highlighting just how efficient electric hydrofoil technology can be.
The Candela C-8 is a small, sleek hydrofoiling boat that lifts out of the water on wing-like foils while underway. This reduces drag significantly and helps the boat use up to 80% less energy than a traditional fast boat. Even in the often tricky conditions of the Strait — with its mix of Mediterranean and Atlantic currents, strong winds and waves — the C-8 provided a smooth, stable ride.
Candela says its boats use computer-controlled foils that adjust up to 100 times per second to maintain balance, much like how a modern aircraft’s systems work. Passengers reportedly didn’t notice the waves at all, while the chase boat bounced around in the chop.
The point of the trip wasn’t just to break a record — it was to show what might be possible for future passenger transport. Candela is already running a larger version of the C-8, called the P-12, in Stockholm’s public transport system. The P-12 is a 30-seat electric ferry designed to offer fast, direct services between coastal towns — places that are often left out by bigger diesel-powered ferries.
The Strait of Gibraltar sees more than 3.5 million crossings a year, most of them on large car ferries between major ports. But not everyone lives near a big hub. Candela says its smaller, quieter electric ferries could help connect those communities with cleaner, more flexible transport options.
The Gibraltar crossing was supported by Avangreen, a Spanish clean energy company that’s also involved in building Ceuta’s largest solar power plant. The collaboration was designed to highlight the potential for electric transport in the region — both on land and on water.
Candela has already confirmed that its P-12 ferry will be operating in several locations around the world, including Berlin, Lake Tahoe in the US, and even New Zealand. The company believes electric hydrofoils have a strong future as efficient, low-emission vessels that can complement existing ferry networks.
While the trip between Spain and North Africa may have only taken an hour, it’s a big leap forward for electric boats — and a sign that crossing continents without burning fuel is no longer just a theory.
