// MARKET TRENDS
Powering PWCs in the future
Another space that both companies are investing in is sustainable power solutions. Electrification on the water is challenging given weight, range, and cost, so research is going into hydrogen power and sustainable fuels as well.
“ Every company in every sector of transportation at this point is rethinking their electrification strategy,” Heintz said.“ We’ re starting to understand more and more about what’ s possible with just the sheer engineering mathematics behind electrifying certain vehicles. The global trends around adoption of certain vehicles and what that actually requires in terms of infrastructure and usage has been a shifting landscape.”
While Can-Am released an electric ATV at Club BRP in August, that doesn’ t mean an electric PWC is the next product release for the company.“ When it makes sense and we can offer a product that will meet and exceed owner expectations, we will electrify our products,” Heintz said.“ We don’ t want to bring out products just because we can electrify them. They need to offer an experience that we deem acceptable and that will satisfy our customers.”
He referenced the NMMA and ICOMIA sustainability study.“ One of the big takeaways from that study was that electrification is not necessarily the right choice for on-water products,” he continued.“ Whether it be hybrid or sustainable fuels or hydrogen, we have to look at all of it. And our intention is to find the right recipe that meets our customers’ expectations on usage, autonomy, and price.”
The Yamaha Marine Business Unit has a number of active electrification initiatives, and while the company is studying how electric power might be used in the PWC segment, Yamaha is also looking at all possibilities.
“ Down the road, we’ re looking at any option,” Seti said.“ I don’ t think we’ re married to anything at this point, and I don’ t think there’ s one solution that is really evident [ for ] personal watercraft in the short term.” Electric technology is not advanced enough to power the PWC segment today, according to Seti, and it may never be.
He shared that the sustainable solutions used in the future will be determined by customer expectations, also referencing sustainable fuels and hydrogen power as possibilities.“ We’ re always doing research to understand what our customers want and then delivering based on those needs,” he said.
For 2026, more Sea-Doo PWC models will feature a 10.25-inch touchscreen display, offering access to driving stats, a compass, navigation, music and more.
The Yamaha CrossWave WaveRunner will be available in the Spring and the company will announce pricing then.
www. boatingindustry. com september / october 2025
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