You know about electric cars. Now Sydney Harbour is about to be carpeted with electric boats

The future of Sydney Harbour could be noise-free, pollution-free and wake-free if electric boats are embraced – but there’s a catch.

Electric boats are quieter, smoother and cheaper to run and service than boats petrol or diesel engines. With no risk of fuel spill and zero emissions, they’re cleaner to run, too.

However, the industry is in its infancy, and there’s a trade-off between passenger capacity and battery size, with most electric boats only able to run for a few hours without recharging. Electric engines also come at a higher price point than their fuel counterparts.

Warren Bingham is in the market for an electric boat.

Despite the cost, industry experts say demand for electric boats is surging. Allied Market Research predicts the market will reach nearly $25 billion by 2030.

This month, marine charging network company Seavolt installed the country’s first fast charging station at The Quays Marina in Pittwater, with plans to install a dozen more fast chargers across the east coast.

Seavolt chief executive officer Chris Cudlipp said the stations can fully recharge a boat’s battery in one hour.

“Chargers up and down the coast will give anybody who buys an electric boat the ability to go wherever they want whenever they want with no range anxiety,” he said.

Cudlipp said electric boats appealed to a new generation who refuse to “pollute for pleasure,” with more charging stations to be added as the electric boat fleet grows.

The electricity costs about half as much as fuel from a marina, at around one dollar per kilowatt-hour, compared to around $2.60 per litre of diesel fuel.

Boat Industry Association general manager Neil Patchett said interest in electric propulsion was increasing “exponentially”, but said the boats were better suited to some uses than others.

“The problem is battery density. To do a complete day out at a typical speed on a family runabout, the battery required would be so large it would consume a significant area of the vessel’s carrying capacity,” he said.

“They aren’t the silver bullet for boating as an alternative propulsion system, but they’re attractive for high use, high turnover use, such as hire and drive arrangements,” he said.

Prospective buyer Warren Bingham believes the industry will develop quickly with easy access to fast chargers. He’s been keen to buy electric since he sold his 23-foot (seven-metre) internal combustion engine boat 18 months ago.

He’s been eyeing a C-8 Candela, a luxury electric hydrofoil boat where the engine and propeller sit on a wing underneath, lifting the body out of the water. It’s lightweight, meaning it can quickly reach the speed needed to sit on a flat plane.

“It’s the sort of experience that’s unique and changes the definition of boating. I hope to get out on it at least once a week,” he said. But it’s not cheap: the luxury boat retails for about $750,000.

Peter Hrones, the chief executive of electric boat supplier Carbon Yacht, said most electric boat buyers like Bingham were avid electric and solar users.

“Mostly people that turn up to the showroom are driving an electric car, they have solar at their house or boat shed so they won’t buy combustion fuel,” he said.

“People have been waiting for these electric boats.”

Get to the heart of what’s happening with climate change and the environment. Sign up for our fortnightly Environment newsletter.