Hitting the Waves: Behind the Development and Strategy of the New Electric Water-Based Motorsport E1 Series With CEO Rodi Basso

Hitting the waves: Behind the development and strategy of the new electric water-based motorsport E1 Series with CEO Rodi Basso By Heather McLean

Friday, January 26, 2024 - 10:05

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In September 2020, the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) E1 World Electric Powerboat Series was announced. Set to be a global series based on seas and lakes with the goal of driving forward the electric revolution in the marine environment, the E1 Series is now ready to hit the waves with its inaugural event in February.

The UIM E1 World Electric Powerboat Series is the brainchild of Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, the founder of Formula E and Extreme E now co-founder and chairman of E1 Series, Formula E chair and Extreme E chair and CEO Rodi Basso, former director of motorsport at McLaren - now co-founder and CEO at E1 Series and Dr Raffaele Chiulli President of the UIM.

Here we talk to Basso about the evolution, development and now launch of this exciting water-based motorsport that will be hitting our screens with the first race of the championship which is taking place in Jeddah on 2 to 3 February 2024.

The background to the creation of the E1 Series began in 2016 when McLaren won the FIA tender for developing the battery that would eventually allow Formula E cars to not need to swap out for a fresh battery during a race.

Basso was leading McLaren Technologies as a managing director at the time. With his team of 300 engineers plus the collaboration of Lucid Air, he worked on the development of the battery. This is where he met Alejandro Agag for the first time.

Fast forwarding, in 2018 we delivered the battery in Riyadh for the first race of [Formula E's] Generation 2. Everything was fine, and the battery performed fantastically for the following four to five years.

After this time I decided to take a sabbatical, because after being backed by incredible brands like NASA, Ferrari, McLaren and so on, I [wanted to] build a new brand and a new project from ground zero. I didn't have any idea, to be honest, in terms of what to do next, but in agreement with my wife I decided to take this sabbatical.

This was now at the beginning of the global pandemic. Basso met up with Agag again as both were in London, and while jogging together to stay fit during COVID they discussed ideas and projects. One stood out, remembers Basso. This was SeaBird Technologies, the brainchild of Norwegian yacht designer, Sophi Horne, who was to become the designer of the E1 racing foil, RaceBird.

SeaBird is capable of reaching speeds of 50 knots (93 kph or 58 mph). Its peak power output is 150 kW (which is equivalent to 200 bhp), with a battery capacity of 35kWh (requiring two full charges per race event).

Says Basso: Alejandro told me that he had invested in a start up funded by Sophi Horne, our designer [of RaceBird], to develop commercial boats based on foil and electric propulsion. Because of my background I'm an aerospace engineer that has been involved in motorsport and electrification for many years he was asking for support and for some guidance for this start up, because there was no engineer at that moment. It was the very beginning.

In 24 hours, I went back home, I put together a deck which was 80% of the base of the investor deck that we presented to our investors afterwards with the idea of building a new championship based on a racing version of those boats, and of course on water. By doing so, we will have helped SeaBird [Technologies] in increasing experience, build a foundation, and market themselves in order to raise funds and continue their own life.

That occurred in May 2020. In the September, the pair were at the Monaco Yacht Club where they were able to announce the 25 year-long exclusive licence that they had been awarded by the UIM for developing and promoting electric power boat championships worldwide. So we are the only one who can do this, whatever the technology, existing or not existing, which is a strong position.

SeaBird Technologies, the brainchild of Norwegian yacht designer, Sophi Horne, is the designer of the E1 racing foil, RaceBird

Passion for the sea

The reason Basso was drawn to this project comes from his love of the sea on one side, and his vision to create a new future for vehicles whether they be on water or land. There is an element of passion, he explains. I come from a seaside place in Naples in Italy. I always loved sailing. After so many years in motorsport, I wanted to be in nicer places and also contribute to a project with a positive impact on the coastal area so that the future generation can enjoy this. But I have to say, this is a romantic element; there is also a business rationale behind this, because I have presented to Alejandro the huge opportunity behind a gap in the marine industry around electrification.

The boat is zero emissions. It's full electric. The infrastructure to charge the boat at present is based on biofuel, and we have a local battery storage, and then we charge the battery. From the beginning [from our first event] we consulted in order to be ISO certified 20121 in order to be an event at zero impact

With my expertise of electronic and electric systems, we have accelerated he marine industry by at least 15 to 20 years by implementing the state-of-the-art of what's available in motorsport and supercars into a boat. So it's not innovation at its peak. It's innovation of cross-fertilisation with the vision that in the next generation boats, we want to be the driver, and we want to partner with a technology provider who wants to really drive the change and propose a new solution in order to revolutionise all mobility on water, on the road, and wherever.

The combination of Basso and Agag is great match for the E1 Series. Basso explains: Alejandro is a sport marketi

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