Siemens Accelerates Electric Boat Development

Electric boat startup Arc Boat Company (Arc) is using the the Siemens Xcelerator software portfolio from Siemens Digital Industries Software to design and manufacture their high-performance, fully electric boats. 
 
Founded in 2021, Arc is a venture-backed startup based in Los Angeles. The company designs and manufactures everything for its electric boats in-house, including battery packs, powertrain systems, thermal control systems and software. The Arc team had experience using Siemens software at other companies, so Siemens Xcelerator was a natural choice to be the company's technology platform, the company said in a press release.  As Ryan Cook, co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO) at Arc explains, “We thought if Siemens Xcelerator is going to be our long-term software, we might as well just start with it so we don't have to migrate later.”

According to the company, the ability to build complex parameterized models in Siemens’ NX software enables Arc to develop adaptable parametric 3D models that support its rapid iteration design, build, test and redesign process. “There's a lot of parameters involved in hull design – deadrise, beam at chine, keel angle, etc.– so we used NX to parameterize them all. With our fully parametric hull model, we would build one boat, gauge performance, collect data and tweak one or two parameters and then build a second boat based on what we learned,” Cook said. “Fast forward to today and we're even more sophisticated because we know the performance characteristics we want out of the vehicle. With a given center of gravity and the type of shape we want to go with, we can do it in one shot with NX.”

Arc uses Siemens’ Simcenter software to simulate its products – a particular challenge when looking to disrupt an industry that continues to rely on gas-powered propulsion systems and long-established marine engineering principles, the company says. Arc’s focus on all-electric propulsion brings new design, engineering and manufacturing challenges, which is why they depend on Siemens’ simulation technologies.

Arc also uses Simcenter software to optimize the centre of gravity, which is challenging due to the heavy battery pack, and to optimize across the composite hull, deck and hard top to remove weight. Simcenter software also enables the team to carry out smaller-scale part structural, vibration and thermal analysis work across the entire boat.

Arc added Teamcenter software for Product lifecycle Management (PLM) during development of its second product, the Arc Sport, to optimize its product and production data management as the complexity of both its product and supply chain increased. 

You can learn more in this recent Siemens blog.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.