Hyatt Regency’s Electric Shuttle “Plug N’ Play” Runs on About $1.50 of Electricity

The Hyatt Regency on Goat Island in Newport, R.I., has embraced a green approach to guest transportation. Last July the hotel purchased a 24-foot Endeavour Electric launch to shuttle guests to and from downtown at no charge during the summer tourist season. The boat, nicknamed Plug N’ Play, was built by Endeavour Green, a small independent company in Florida.

General manager John Karchner says they discovered the company through Ted Arps, senior vice president of the Davidson Hotel Company, and after a test drive in St. Petersburg they were impressed by how quiet the craft was.

Karchner reports that it costs roughly $1.50 in electricity to recharge the boat each night after daily runs. The launch carries up to 12 passengers, including the operator, and cruises at speeds up to 8 knots. It’s powered by a 13-horsepower D&D 48-volt DC motor driven by sixteen Trojan T-105 Plus 6-volt batteries, with charging distributed through two 25-amp onboard battery chargers.

The shuttle runs from the hotel dock to Bowen’s Wharf, dropping passengers in the heart of town. The round trip takes about 25 minutes, and during a typical operating day the crew makes approximately 28 to 32 runs. Karchner notes they have never drained the batteries as long as the boat is plugged in overnight.

Captain Richard Proulx, who pilots the shuttle, describes the experience as unexpectedly serene. “People often ask if something’s wrong because you don’t hear the engine when we push off the dock,” he says. Beyond a slight hesitation when starting, he finds the boat handles much like a conventional gas-powered vessel.

Guests and crew appreciate the near-silent, smell-free ride. “It’s almost like sailing,” Karchner adds, “and upkeep is minimal. We store the boat at the hotel and only add distilled water to the batteries about every two months. We’ve had her for more than a year with no problems.”

Given the positive response, the Hyatt has contracted for two additional Electric models to be built and delivered by May. Those boats will be used in a rental program so hotel guests can take a launch around the harbor for a day, says Nancy Frainetti, co-owner of Endeavour Green.

Frainetti, who grew up in the Pittsburgh area, traces her interest in boating back to family vacations on a man-made lake near Canonsburg. After studying horticulture at Penn State, her career path took a different turn, eventually leading her and partner Jeff Stringfield into boatbuilding. In 2006 a private investor helped form Vision Boatworks, but production stalled in late 2008 when that investor withdrew. In early 2009 they teamed up with Endeavour Catamaran Corporation in Clearwater, Fla., which added the electric launch project to its operations.

Endeavour Green offers the base electric vessel starting at $41,900, with prices rising to roughly $80,000 depending on options. Buyers can choose a fully electric configuration or a hybrid that includes a 3.5-kW diesel Mastervolt generator. Additional options include manual or electric marine heads, a macerator pump, recessed bow running lights, marine carpeting and a bow thruster.

To demonstrate the boat’s capabilities, Frainetti and Stringfield completed a 280.7-mile trip on a hybrid model last June, cruising inland waters from Tampa Bay to the Atlantic. They reported running costs during that trip of about $1.75 in electricity and $1.94 in diesel per day for the hybrid setup.

“It proved what the boat could do,” Frainetti says. “People can use it for day cruising or for longer trips; it handled very well.”

For information, visit endeavourgreen.com.

This article originally appeared in the New England Home Waters section of the January 2010 issue.