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A team of students from The University of Western Australia has built Australia’s first electric personal watercraft, commonly referred to as a jet ski.

The UWA’S Renewable Energy Vehicle Project (REV) prototype is much quieter than a petrol-powered jet ski and produces no emissions.

REV Director Professor Thomas Braunl said the innovation combined the fun of riding a jet ski with the environmental friendliness of an electric vehicle.

“We eliminated the two negative aspects of petrol-powered models: excessive noise and heavy pollution of water and air,” Professor Braunl said.

“We have worked for more than two years on this project, and the major challenge was to make everything water-tight and safe; from batteries, to switches and motor controllers.”

The electric watercraft could become very popular with eco-tourism operators and could be used in lakes around the world where petrol-powered boats are banned.

The prototype carries around eight kilowatt-hours of energy in lithium-ion batteries, which gives it a drive time of around 30 minutes. More batteries can be fitted, and a future DC charging system could bring the recharging time down to around seven minutes.

The water-cooled three-phase motor was exclusively designed and built by Perth company Submersible Motor Engineering, while Engineering support was provided by Perth’s Total Marine Technology.

REV also greatly appreciates the donations from the Australian Medical Association and electronic firm Altronics.

Media references

David Stacey (UWA Media and PR Manager)                (+61 8) 6488 3229 / (+61 4) 32 637 716

Professor Thomas Braunl (UWA REV Director)     (+61 8) 6488 1763 / (+61 4) 02 017 315

Michael Stott (UWA student)                               (+61 4) 22 490 173

Joshua Knight (UWA student)                              (+61 4) 24 930 550