As I ambled out of the Vier Jahreszeiten hotel in Starnberg, Ger-
many, a young guy stood next to a little BMW i3. His hand was on
the front door handle, there was a broad grin on his face and a big
orange Torqeedo logo embellished the car’s rear door. Torqeedo, of
course, is the upstart German company whose name these days is
synonymous with waterborne E-Mobility around the world.
I jumped into the passenger seat. I’m no stranger to hybrid-electric
vehicles but this was my fi rst fully-electric car. And we were looking
at a long haul, my driver explained. Torqeedo’s manufacturing facili-
ties were located in the hinterlands of Bavaria.
“But don’t worry, sir,” he added, “we shall go quite swift ly.”
As the roadside evergreens began whizzing past, I eased back in
my seat to take stock. Th e day ahead was the centerpiece of Torqee-
do’s “Electric Days” celebration, an annual event featuring a dozen
or so journalists and a veritable fl eet of electric boats. Th e festivities
would begin with a tour of the facilities we were zooming towards.
Th en, aft er returning to Starnberg and lunch at the Munich Yacht
Club on Lake Starnberg, an aft ernoon of sea trials would follow,
some energized by the very same BMW lithium-ion battery cur-
rently juicing the little i3.
“What’s that number?” I asked, pointing at the display within the
instrument cluster. “Our range?”
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