Low-cost one-seater mini electric jet boat puts big thrills in a tiny package

There’s something oddly endearing about miniature-sized vehicles that can still carry adults. It’s true with electric micro-cars, and apparently, it’s true with micro-boats as well. But don’t take my word for it. You can be the judge with this fun-looking mini electric jet boat!

This little vessel is a perfect candidate for this week’s Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week.

It looks awesome. It’s definitely weird. And you can buy it directly from China. It literally ticks all of the boxes!

It’s rare that you can touch both the bow and stern of your boat at the same time and live to tell about it, but that’s just one perk of such a small vessel like the one we’re checking out today.

This mini electric jet boat is just 1.8 meters (5 feet 11 inches) long, yet it packs in enough power to hit speeds of up to 48 km/h (30 mph).

That’s thanks to a 15 kW (20 hp) electric motor that uses a jetski-like water jet drive. That’s a lot of power in a tiny package, so the motor includes water cooling to ensure that it can run continuously at high speeds.

The motor is mounted in a 35-kilogram (77-pound) hull formed out of ABS plastic.

A removable lithium battery powers the unit and weighs 22 kilograms (48.5 pounds), or nearly as much as the boat itself.

The 3.88 kWh battery pack only lasts 30-50 minutes at peak power, though lower power run time is likely much longer. The battery is also rated for 800 charge cycles, so it should be there for the long haul.

There seems to be a battery compartment just aft of the cockpit, and I’m guessing there’s not much extra room in there for storing much else. I wouldn’t recommend keeping a life jacket in there anyway; you should probably already be wearing it.

There’s no rudder on this mini-boat. Instead, it uses directional thrust from the jet nozzle for quick steering.

There’s something of a swim platform on the fan tail deck, but at around 15 cm (6 inches) wide, in practice, it’s more of a step than anything else.

A pair of stainless steel cleats adorn either side of the bow, and frankly, they look like the nicest pieces of hardware on this boat.

There’s so much to love about this thing. In fact, there’s so much to love about just the image above.

The aesthetic choices for the boat’s colorway are brave, and I love it. The alphabet soup on the side seems to have had some sort of direction or intent, at least originally, before being lost in the application stage. Was it once meant to say “NO RACE”? Or perhaps “RACE ON”?

The “Young ree urfing” seems to tell another story, maybe related to the dangling “S” on the side. But then, what were the rest of the letters meant for? It’s like someone let their toddler play with the refrigerator magnet poem set for too long. What is going on here, people?!

Then there’s my guy wearing that two-hole ski mask like he’s going to knock off a bank on the way home.

This is the mini electric jet boat that keeps on giving! And boy, does it give… just look at how fast these things can fly in the video below!

I’ve saved the best part for last: the price. This little slip costs a mere US $10,000, with shipping from China dubiously listed as another $263 when using “Seller’s Shipping Method 1.” I think there’s a nonzero chance that means the seller’s cousin knows a guy with a truck.

As usual with these Alibaba finds, though, I don’t recommend anyone actually go through with this. Most of my fun and weird Alibaba purchases ended up costing around four times the advertised price after I paid ocean freight, customs charges, broker fees, arrival charges, warehousing, and local trucking, among other surprise charges.

In the meantime, there are plenty of other low-cost electric boats out there for at or under $10,000. Unfortunately, none are quite as cool as this one, but that’s just the way it goes. China gets all the fun things. I guess that’s what happens when you lead the world in EV development and don’t have to play by the rules of conventional boat design.