Electric hydrofoil ferries are transforming water transportation by literally lifting boats out of the water to slash commute times and eliminate emissions, according to the BBC. 

The technology raises vessels on underwater rigs (like an airplane wing) to reduce drag by up to 80%. It could revolutionize how people travel across harbors, lakes, and coastal waters. 

Traditional boats tend to consume massive amounts of energy because their hulls create significant drag in the water. Engineer Gustav Hasselskog calculated that an old boat of his consumed around 15 times more fuel per kilometer than his car. 

Hydrofoils solve this problem by lifting the hull completely out of the water. They reduce the energy needed to propel the vessel forward and make battery-powered boats more efficient. 

"Nobody has done anything seriously, really, on electrifying boats," Hasselskog told the news outlet, "so I started to look into what can be done."

According to the BBC, hydrofoils date back to 1869, when Parisian inventor Emmanuel Denis Farcot filed the first patent. Italian inventor Enrico Forlanini built a working hydrofoil in 1906. Alexander Graham Bell later developed hydrofoil technologies that broke world speed records. 

"In the early 1900s, people were experimenting with hydrofoils and they gave the craft some interesting characteristics, like higher speed, low drag," Jakob Kuttenkeuler, professor of naval architecture at Sweden's KTH Royal Institute of Technology, told the BBC.

"In the 1960s there was another boom in interest in hydrofoils. People wanted to go faster," he added. 

Early hydrofoils ran on fossil fuels. They had heavy metal bodies and clunky V-shaped foils. The technology stalled by mid-century due to limitations in materials and energy sources. 

However, recent advances in small batteries, lightweight carbon fiber and titanium materials, and microcomputers running automatic balancing sensors have helped revive the technology. Modern hydrofoils use streamlined single foils to raise hulls fully into the air. 

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In Mumbai, hydrofoil ferries will cut the commute from the city to Navi Mumbai airport from an hour and 45 minutes to just half an hour. Stockholm routes that currently take 55 minutes will shrink to under 30. 

Passengers can also enjoy smoother rides: hydrofoils don't rise and fall with waves like conventional boats. The vessels create very little wake, reducing disruptions to shorelines and other boats. 

"When you suddenly foil, it becomes completely silent. The sound completely changes," said Laura Marimon Giovannetti, senior researcher at Rise, Sweden's state-owned research institute, per the BBC. "If you hear any sound, it's more of a whistle that comes only from the foils themselves being fast in the water."

Hasselskog founded Candela in 2014 and ran Stockholm's first trial of all-electric hydrofoil ferries this past summer. The company has sold 11 ferries to Mumbai, eight to Saudi Arabia, 14 to resorts in the Maldives and Belize, and four to Lake Tahoe in California. 

Candela estimated its ferries would save Stockholm 40% in operating costs and increase passenger capacity by 15% with more frequent departures. Mumbai expects its own first hydrofoil ferry to begin operations next year.

Meanwhile, Kitsap County outside Seattle received $5.2 million in funding to design and build a zero-emission hydrofoil ferry. It'll cut a journey that currently takes hours on a traditional vessel down to just 30 minutes.

"You can go to private operators and convince them, on a financial aspect, that this is the right thing to do," Hasselskog said. "You can save money."

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