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Everyone argues about electric cars — meanwhile, electric boats quietly solve problems the auto industry hasn’t touched.
In this episode, we sit down with Mitch Lee, co-founder and CEO of Arc Boats, a company reshaping an industry most people assumed would be the last to electrify. Gas boats are famously loud, maintenance-heavy, unreliable, and inconvenient. Arc attacks all of that at once, building fully electric wake boats and center consoles that are quiet, clean, far more reliable and — shockingly — cost-competitive with gas models today. Mitch breaks down why water is actually the perfect environment for electrification, how automotive EV supply chains gave Arc a massive head start, and why most boat owners will never go back once they drive electric.
But Arc’s ambitions go far beyond weekend recreation. The company recently announced a $160M commercial contract to electrify ship-assist tugboats, a move driven by uptime, operating cost, and the staggering inefficiency of combustion marine fleets. With a background that blends engineering, software and lifelong boating, Mitch explains why electrification solves the core pain points of marine ownership and why adoption is accelerating faster than anyone expected. If you’ve ever heard “the best boat is your friend’s boat,” this episode will make you rethink that entirely.
0:00 Intro
0:40 Why Electric Boats Make More Sense Than Electric Cars
1:23 Fixing the Worst Parts of Boating
1:43 The Most Obvious Idea No One Executed — Until Now
2:29 From Wake Boats to Tugboats: Arc’s Massive Leap Forward
2:48 The Real Reason People Switch to Electric on the Water
3:47 When Maintenance Costs More Than the Boat
4:25 The Founder Who Grew Up on the Water
5:05 The Battery Question Everyone Asks (And Why It’s a Non-Issue)
5:52 Turning Non-Boaters Into Boaters
6:16 How Arc Achieved Cost Parity With Gas
6:56 Why Commercial Fleets Are Moving Even Faster
7:09 The Future of Electric Boating
Connect with Mitch Lee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchjlee/
Learn more about Arc Boats: https://arcboats.com/
Our coverage of Automobility LA is brought to you by our friends at Cars Commerce: https://www.carscommerce.inc/
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