Aug 21, 2023

Nominations are now being accepted for the fourth annual Gustave Trouvé Awards for Excellence in Electric Boats and Boating, the international electric boat awards started in 2020 by electric boat news website Plugboats.com. Judging to be done by International Panel, Past Gussies Winners and Public.

Awards will be presented in 9 categories and sub categories:

Electric Boats Up To 8 metres / 26 feet:
Two Sub-Categories: Boats in Serial Production and Boats In Development
Electric Boats Over 8m / 26 ft:
Two Sub-Categories: Boats in Serial Production and Boats In Development
Commercial Passenger Electric Boats:
Two Sub-Categories: Boats in Operation and Boats In Development
Electric Sailboats
Customized / Refitted / DIY Electric Boats
Electric Work Boats.

Nominations are open to anyone. Members of the public as well as manufacturers and others in the marine industry are welcome to nominate an electric boat and can find the qualifying criteria on the Plugboats website: https://plugboats.com/gussies-electric-boat-awards-rules-2023/

The awards were created to recognize the inventors, designers, manufacturers, entrepreneurs and visionaries who are making advances every day to develop clean, quiet, zero emission technologies and designs to reduce reliance on fossil fuel for marine propulsion.

They are named to honour Gustave Trouvé, a prolific French inventor with over 75 patents – among them the world’s first outboard boat motor, which he devised so that he could detach the motor from his prototype electric boat ‘Le Teléphone’ and take it home for further work in his Paris apartment.

‘The Gussies’, as the awards are known in the electric boat world, are the only international boating awards to focus exclusively on electric boats and boating. In a graphic demonstration of the growth of the segment, there were 50 boats nominated from 19 countries in 2020, 105 boats from 24 countries in 2021 and 126 in 2022. It is expected that there will be even more this year.

There is also representation from around the world that demonstrate the global move to electric. The 20 Gussies Winners thus far represent 15 different countries: Austria, Bangladesh, Brazil, France, India, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and USA.

Winners are selected through a combination of online public voting and weighted voting by an international panel of industry experts. The panel will select finalists from the submitted nominations and public voting will follow.

The International Panel is made up of delegates from electric boat associations around the world, other industry experts and all of the past Gussies winning companies. The panel’s choices will be weighted at 75% of the final decision and the public votes at 25%.

“It is remarkable to see the growth of electric boats since the first Gussies in 2020 and the number of designers and manufacturers that are advancing the technology and accessibility of e-boating literally everywhere around the world.” said Jeff Butler, Editor/Publisher of Plugboats and Founder of The Gussies.

“It’s also great to see the competitive camaraderie within the industry. I know the past winners are excited to be on the panel not only as judges, but in the role of rewarding excellence as everyone pushes themselves and others to promote zero emission boating and literally help change the world.”

There are six new 2022 winners on the Panel for this year: Candela, Echandia, Faroboats, Kochi Metro Water Taxi, MobyFly and Wildtech. They join these previous winners (some of whom also won in 2022): Cantiere Ernesto Riva, ecomarine, Freepower Solar Boat, Lamarca Engenharia, Maid of the Mist, ABB, Navalt, Silent-Yachts, Swiss Sustainable Yachts, Sunreef Yachts, ZEN Yachts and Zodiac Nautic.

The electric boat associations of the UK, France, USA, Greece, Switzerland and Canada are joined by Venice 2028, Germany’s Friends of the Finow Canal, the Foiling Awards and the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge.

While M. Trouvé’s invention predates the 1887 patent of the internal combustion engine, and electric boats have been available since the first years of the 20th century, it is not until recently that they have begun to enter the mainstream. As they follow in the footsteps (or tire treads) of the electric vehicle industry, the global electric boat market is forecast to reach 15-16 billion USD by 2023. (see ‘About the electric boat market’ below)

September 4, 2023 at midnight EST: Nominations close
September 11, 2023: Finalists for public voting announced and public voting begins
October 15, 2023: Announcement of 2023 Winners

For more information please contact:
Jeff Butler
Editor/Publisher Plugboats
jeff@plugboats.com