Our Story

From Classroom to Commercial Enterprise

The inspiration for Volt Boats came to co-founder Dick Brass around 2001. Paddling in Alaska, he and his wife were caught in an unexpected current. Anyone who knows currents in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest knows this story could have ended badly. Fortunately, Dick and his wife were towed back to their home base by a friend with an outboard. Thus began numerous conversations between Dick and co-founder Will Poole about the practical application of electric power to personal watercraft. Inspired by the safety aspect, they were also intrigued by the idea of a battery-powered watercraft that would preserve the quiet, peaceful qualities of kayak paddling, but have no negative impact on the environment.

Fast-forward to 2006. Dick and Will commissioned a team of six seniors at Harvey Mudd College, a premier math, science, and engineering college just outside Los Angeles, to investigate the feasibility of creating a hybrid human- and electric-powered kayak. Co-founder Ryan Ellis led that team of students, and by spring 2007, they demonstrated that the latest-generation motor, battery, and control technology could efficiently drive a one- or two-person boat. So a company was born, with Ryan starting as CEO when he graduated. Ryan, Dick, and Will recruited experts in hull design, volume manufacturing, micro-controller electronics, battery control, and other areas to create the core Volt Boats team. The team performed further customer-needs analysis, built an Integrated Design System, developed multiple prototypes, filed patents, and then perfected and prepared the Volt Boats K1 for mass manufacturing and entry into the US market.

Our efforts will not stop with the K1 design. We plan to create a series of products using the Integrated Design System approach. With the modularity of the Power Pod and Intelligent Controller designs and our flexible Smart Battery System, we will be able to create new hulls and even new types of boats optimized for specific needs, all at a remarkably low cost that we will pass on to our customers.