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Many small boats in Amsterdam do not have a fixed berth with a charger, making it difficult to switch to electric boating. The portable Voltogo battery can be charged at home or at waterfront cafes in Amsterdam. The fast-charging network expands boating range, brings new customers to cafes and saves the municipality a major investment in public charging points.
Many small boats in Amsterdam do not have a fixed berth with a charger, making it difficult to switch to electric boating. In 2018, the City of Amsterdam planned to make this mandatory in 2023. Boat owners would then need to carry a battery to their boat, often by bicycle. Existing battery packs were too heavy or did not provide enough range for a day on the water.
As co-founder, Maarten worked on product design and development for production. Using the Lean Startup method, the business model was developed further and extensive user research was conducted for both design and positioning. The work also included attracting startup funding and support.
Voltogo was selected for the Climate KIC sustainable startup accelerator, but the business case ultimately did not work: the technology was still too expensive for the target group. Even so, we developed and tested working prototypes, operated a fast charger at cafe Hannekes Boom and had enough participating cafes to cover all of Amsterdam in terms of battery range.