NARWHAL - After the huge electric revolution in the automotive industry, now it is time to expand that revolution into watercraft as well. Imagine being able to cruise without impacting on the natural environment, running your yacht depending on renewable energy resources. Nowadays, this is quite possible, thanks to advanced green solutions allowing for electric propulsion on yachts.
Introduction
Electric yachts are capable of substantially reducing fossil fuel use. Crafts equipped with electric propulsion allow for silent, vibration, and fume-free navigation. Fossil-fuel-free boats rely on energy from the elements, like the sun and wind. The energy is harnessed from the elements thanks to a combination of solar panels and wind generators and stored in the boat’s electric batteries. An electric yacht is also saving a lot of money, by reducing costs of diesel and maintenance expenses.
The Design Story of Narwhal
NARWHAL is a concept electric watercraft that is sustainable and semi-autonomous. It is designed to be silent and it represents sustainable luxury. A journey becomes the destination as the quiet yacht gives a personal opportunity to live in a moment. The main idea was to design an aquatic mobility solution where users can experience the open ocean like a yacht and also a modular part can go down inside the ocean to give the user a new way of experiencing the underwater world without disturbing them.
The NARWHAL is 65 meters long and it has two stories inside. To design this yacht inspirations were drawn from underwater livings’ natural spindle silhouette. The stunning design of NARWHAL offers the user a holistic and harmonious user experience. The minimalist but recognizable style is beautifully sophisticated. The boat uses state-of-the-art technology and thanks to the hydro-dynamically optimized hull, the boat is extremely energy efficient. The shape of the hull helps the boat glide smoothly in the water, creating an amazingly pleasant driving experience.
The Exterior of Narwhal
For the exterior design, from the early stage of development sketches, elegance and minimalism were 2 key goals to achieve. The main body panel of the yacht is very dynamic and uninterrupted so that it seems to be designed in the shape of waves. It has a very sensual and refined presence. Also, window panels are cut with a triangular parametric design which gives the yacht more character. Those parametric glass panels also work as semitransparent solar panels which makes the yacht more sustainable. The long fin-alike structure works as a solid-state wind energy generator as well.
The Interior
Coming to the Interior, The rear open deck lets you enjoy the sea panoramic view, and the top floor’s open glass canopy allows you to experience starry nights like never before. The yacht has a hidden submarine inside it which is also a swimming pool and part of the interior when it is attached to the yacht. It can be deployed from the main ship. The submarine's inspiration was taken from aquatic animals as one can see it has continuous flexible flaps which are driven by multiple electric motors.
The submarine is silent as it is electric and also it is designed to look like just another creature of the ocean. Inside one can float in water and can enjoy the magnificent underwater world through its 360-degree panoramic glass.
About Designer
Subha Kundu is from Kolkata, India. He is a master's student in Transportation design at IAAD Torino. Currently, he is working on a group thesis project under Pininfarina. He did a bachelor's in engineering and then afterwards decided to follow his true passion in life, which is design. You can follow more of his projects on Behance.
