Think of Venice, and what comes immediately to mind is a serenely romantic city steeped in history and an unequaled waterborne heritage that has given rise to one of the most revered destinations amongst film-makers, artistic creatives and Grand Tourers alike. From the opportunity to savour an afternoon coffee among tables once frequented by the likes of Casanova, Lord Byron, Ernest Hemingway, Martin Scorcese, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood and Salma Hayek to name but a few at Caffe Florian (provided one can secure a spot, of course), to the truly iconic timber water taxis that trawl her canals while having played host to the beginning of many a successful love story, there is quite simply no other place on Earth like her.
Now Repower has brought a groundbreaking new dimension to that heritage with the premiere of Lucietta, the first fully electric Venetian water taxi at the Salone Nautico di Venezia’s sixth edition. Swiss Group collaborated with Nauta Yachts for the innovative vessel’s design, while its artisanal construction was executed by Cantiere Serenella of Murano. Striking an ideal balance between tradition & innovative advancement, Lucietta represents a new paradigm for electric Venetian urban mobility, while making sustainable strides towards safeguarding the city’s vital future.
Her contemporary design reinterprets the Venetian water taxi’s historic charm, having been conceived with the inputs of several Venetian taxi drivers who helped define the essential specifications for a vessel optimized for traversing the lagoon while also being at home in other environments. She will undoubtedly be a star of attraction at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival of which Repower has been a long-standing partner in promoting the culture of “soft mobility”, scheduled to take place at La Biennale di Venezia from August 27th until September 6th 2025.
Deeply rooted in Venice’s richly artistic history and traditions, the boat’s modern design builds upon the legacy of Repower’s second electric boat Repowere, which had the privilege of receiving an Honorable Mention at the 2020 Compasso d’Oro Award. It sets innovation benchmarks within the sector by incorporating cutting-edge materials in its construction, including carbon fiber for the hull and recycled glass from La Serenissima’s renowned Murano glassworks. The latter is the result of Murano-based startup Rehub having discovered a method to recycle & utilize this glass for the new vessel, having won the 2023 Repower Special Award for Innovation.
Compact dimensions (9.30 meters long, 2,25 meters wide, and 2.10 meters high) enable Lucietta to agilely navigate Venice’s canals while fully respecting the city’s structural constraints. Its architecture features greater onboard space & a passenger capacity of up to 14 people,while incorporating the latest electric technology: propulsion is provided by a 200 kW fully electric motor powered by a 180 kWh battery pack. With this, Lucietta can achieve a 30 knot top speed in absolutely serene silence, while producing no vibrations or harmful emissions. Significantly, it can even cover an entire workday without the need to recharge, when operating within the lagoon’s regulated speeds of 7-20 km/h.
The Lucietta project is a significant electric boating milestone for Repower, reaffirming the Group’s commitment to promoting sustainability within the tourism sector which has become increasingly sensitive to the factors of energy efficiency and e-mobility. Sustainability is poised to be one of industry’s key growth drivers into the near future. It fits neatly into the Group’s objective of uniting environmental protection, economic development with local benefits, social inclusion for regional communities, and intergenerational sustainability; these are all key driving forces for safeguarding Venice’s cultural heritage into the future.
Fabio Bocchiola, CEO of Repower Italia said, “Electric boating represents a crucial part of the revolution that has been underway for years in the sustainable mobility and tourism sector. This revolution is progressing at varying speeds, partly due to an evolving geopolitical landscape that has pushed many countries to adopt new policies and rethink their overall energy transition strategies. However, as already described in our White Paper on sustainable mobility, the European Union has outlined an ambitious path to reduce emissions in the electric boating sector—a market that is projected to reach a global business volume of approximately 13 billion dollars by 2030. In this context, I can proudly say that Repower has been a pioneer in urban electric boating. I want to thank our partners, Nauta Yachts and Cantiere Serenella, for their invaluable contribution to the creation of this new project.”
Marcello Bertoldi, Repower nautical partner and CEO of Bertoldi Boats added, “Already in 2018, we chose the Venice Boat Show of Sustainability to present Repowere, designed for both open and closed waters. Thanks to this experience, the Lucietta project was born, a boat that represents a new chapter in the history of lagoon taxi boats, balancing historical identity and sustainable innovation. Lucietta is not simply an ‘excellence of the lagoon’s know-how’ but also a contribution to the debate on public transport in Venice, a solution capable of integrating with fast-charge tools for cars and offering performances and ranges equal to those of the endothermic boats that currently work in the Venetian waters.”
Massimo Gino of Nauta Yachts concluded, “The dimensions of Venice’s water taxis are dictated by the city itself—its canals, bridges, and moorings. Therefore, construction height, maximum width, and length must adhere to very precise constraints. Starting from a meticulous study of the original drawings of old taxis and interviews with taxi drivers, we defined the essential upgrades to design the electric taxi for the new millennium. Repower’s Lucietta represents a modern reinterpretation of the Venetian taxi, featuring stylistic elements that evoke the appeal of electric vehicles, making its sustainable core immediately recognizable.”
