At CES 2026 in Las Vegas next month, Traverse City, MI-based electric boat startup Voltaic Marine will showcase its AEW24 flagship sports boat, marking the company’s transition from development into a production-intent marine platform. The company will be in the Michigan Mobility Pavilion in the Las Vegas Convention Center North Hall, highlighted as a rising manufacturer in the Midwest. Attendees will get hands-on demos highlighting the design philosophy, systems integration, and onboard technology.

This year’s presence at CES follows one in 2025, when the company unveiled electric boat models, strategic technology partnerships, and off-grid energy solutions. Headlining its presence at the show were the launch of the AEP26 pontoon boat and enhancements to the AEW24. On LinkedIn around that time, Richard Phamdo, Founder and CEO of Voltaic Marine, thanked partners Garmin and Electric Outdoors for helping his company progress the industry to the next generation.

The company said it was collaborating with Garmin to bring enhanced navigation, performance analytics, and user-friendly connectivity to create a smarter, more efficient boating experience. The boat software is also being developed with Garmin to offer intuitive navigation and precise control. It is managed by a sophisticated VCU (vessel control unit) that serves as the central brain of the platform.

The boat maker’s partnership with Electric Outdoors is to introduce self-sustaining docks, boathouses, and entertainment systems that harness solar, wind, and battery technology to offer a completely off-grid energy independence for waterfront properties.

The latest AEW24 blends instant-torque propulsion, a modern user interface, and sleek design meant to offer a unique, clean, quiet, and connected boating experience. It is the first proof of Voltaic’s scalable marine platform capable of powering future consumer, commercial, and defense applications.

“AEW24 represents a real inflection point for us,” said Phamdo. “What we’re showing at CES is a full-scale platform that delivers the performance today while laying the groundwork for where marine technology is headed.”

Voltaic Marine was founded by CEO Phamdo in 2023, bringing together a core team with deep automotive tech backgrounds including CCO Cody Covey, CTO Will Stewart, and CPO/CSCO Jonathan Yin. The company is building a common electric platform that underpins both high-performance recreational boats and modular USVs.

Core platform and AEW24 highlights are the foundational hull design with a patented shape to support advanced propulsion and deliver smooth rides and consistent performance. The boat’s class-leading battery capacity is designed for extended runtime, with cooling integrated into the hull to maintain performance during demanding use. Its smart, integrated platform with intuitive controls, onboard diagnostics, and a modular architecture is built to scale across fleets and future platforms.

The AEW24 is 24 ft (7.3 m) long and has an 8.5-ft (2.6-m) beam and a 2.5-ft (0.76-m) draft. It has an 18-person capacity and an aluminum hull for a towable weight under 10,000 lb (4540 kg).

Voltaic’s robust hulls are designed to scale as platforms with reconfigurable top decks for expanding offerings to customers efficiently. The use of aluminum is a critical element of the design, delivering long-lasting strength and performance.

With an output ranging from 570 to 600 hp (425 to 447 kW) and 1900 to 2200 lb·ft (2580 to 2980 N·m), the boat has a top speed is 40 mph (64 km/h), with a cruising speed of 25 mph (40 km/h).

Its 300-kW·h battery, comprised of a 150-kW·h base pack and a same-capacity range extender, can provide a runtime of up to 8 h on a charge. A fast charge can provide 80% of capacity in about 3 h.

Last month, Voltaic Marine announced it had secured $3 million in an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round to support its mission to advance and reindustrialize the maritime sector across the consumer, commercial, and defense markets.

The round was led by Antler, with participation from South Loop Ventures, Trousdale Ventures, Cobra Capital, Michigan Rise, and the Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund. Crucial support was also given from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Centrepolis Accelerator, Michigan SBDC, and Capital Factory.

“Antler’s Spring cohort received over 4000 applications from around the world,” said Tyler Norwood, General Partner of U.S. Antler. “Less than 0.05% advanced to both residency and investment. Voltaic Marine is part of that exceptional group. Their vision, engineering depth, and career proof in startup execution stood out from day one. We believe they are building a category-defining company in the electrification of marine platforms, and we’re proud to be among their earliest backers.”

The financial boost will accelerate the production launch of the AEW24, which is available for pre-orders, with deliveries expected to begin at the end of 2026. It will also help the company expand pre-orders and dealer programs, as well as strengthen its defense-program development of modular USVs (unmanned surface vehicles) for demonstrations.

“This funding enables us to transition from prototype to pilot production, accelerate defense demonstrations, and expand our manufacturing footprint,” said Phamdo. “We have a modular, scalable architecture that has been designed for mass manufacturing. We apply this stack across a wide variety of products with the performance of a Tesla for consumer boats and manufactured like the F-150 for USVs.”

The company’s patented hull and advanced battery systems are said to deliver twice the performance of existing solutions, combining range, efficiency, and power scalability from 150 to 300 kW·h up to multi-MW·h systems. The technology is designed for manufacturing through automated, onshore production, enabling rapid scaling for both consumer and government applications.

Following the AEW24, the company plans to expand its core platform into additional models, commercial utility vessels, and purpose-built defense variants—all sharing unified hardware and software systems.