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The Finnish electric vehicles brand Skand has developed a prototype for a new type of electric boat. The goal is to launch the boat on the market during 2020. The boat was designed by a boat designer Sven Ståhle, who has become known for, among other things, the Buster Magnum and Buster XL, as well as the Silver Boats and Terhi 400.

Versatility and comfort have been the starting points for the design of the boat. In addition to private use, the boat will be ideal for rental or shared use, as a water taxi or even as a city boat as part of public transport.

The third year students of the Aalto University Department of Design designed the interior for the electric boat on the Design Project course. The project was carried out early this year in close cooperation with Skand's representatives.

Design based on user needs

Altogether seven groups of two students each implemented a different concept to serve a specific group of users. At the beginning of the project, students carried out an in-depth research: potential user groups were surveyed through questionnaires and user interviews.

‘It is very important that the design is based on the real wishes and requirements of the users. The professionalism of the designer is to keep these things clear in mind, and to use their own insight as to how the requirements can best be implemented in practice’, says Simo Puintila, lecturer and industrial designer.

Throughout the project, students had the opportunity to work on the first prototype of an existing boat, which made it easier to understand the operating situations and to take real space and dimensions into account in design.

‘Aalto University has good studio capabilities as well as the capacity to carry out projects of this scale. We can be sure at Skand that the design is based on real needs and dimensions’, says Anssi Helminen, who coordinates cooperation at Skand.

‘The work that students do is really helpful for us in implementing the boat interior into practice as well as in deciding what kind of user groups the boat will be aimed at’, says Jouka Dehm, project manager at Skand, who is also an internationally renowned boat designer.

The electric boat project has already attracted a great deal of interest from boat sharing and rental companies Bout and Skipper. The needs and ideas of the service providers have been taken into consideration when designing the interior of the boat. In the students' plans, special attention was also paid to accessibility, as the boat also has the potential to operate as an urban boat in Espoo, Helsinki or Tampere, for example.

For more information:

Simo Puintila, lecturer, Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, simo.puintila@aalto.fi, tel. +358 50 517 5036

Anssi Helminen, cooperation coordinator, Skand, anssi.helminen@skand.fi, tel. +358 45 321 3622

Jouka Dehm, project manager, Skand, jouka.dehm@skand.fi, tel. +358 50 410 2801