ACEL Power: The $10 Million Startup Betting on 350HP Electric Outboards

ACEL Power was founded in Vancouver, Canada, in 2021, and now sells a four-model line of electric outboards running from 50HP up to a 250HP unit with a claimed 350HP peak. The company has raised US$10 million in venture funding and has motors on the water at dealers across North America. Its two most powerful models, however, remain stuck in pre-order more than two years after ACEL first said they would ship.

From Taiwanese Inverters to Vancouver Outboards

ACEL traces its roots to LW, a Taiwanese company that became one of the world’s largest inverter manufacturers and established one of the first lithium-ion cell manufacturing operations in Asia. ACEL itself was founded to apply that background to marine propulsion, building an Alpha prototype first, then Beta and Gamma versions, before its first commercial units, the 50HP and 75HP models, reached customers.

Chairman, co-founder and CEO Anthony Liu is an electrical engineer who says he generated over $150 million in revenue in five years at a previous start-up called Milo. John Liu, co-founder and president, has been named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list. The board includes Phil Rothenberg, formerly vice president of legal at Tesla from 2011 to 2018, and Michael E. Rickey, a former Honda Marine and Marine Jet Power sales executive, as board advisor.

The IE Series

ACEL’s Intelligent Electric (IE) range covers four models:

The IE 50 and IE 75 are the only models with confirmed customer deliveries: the first IE 75 units went to Island Lake Marina in Fort Collins, Colorado, in August 2023, and an IE 50 has since been sea-trialled on a Porrima P111 rigid inflatable boat. A retrofitted ACME Aqualiner, built by PetaWatts Ltd in Vernon, British Columbia, using a 75HP ACEL system, won the 2024 Gussies Electric Boat Award for Retrofitted, Customized and DIY Electric Boats. ACEL was also a finalist for the MRH Innovation and Sustainability Award at the 2024 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.

No dealer invoice, boat show report or owner account has placed an IE 150 or IE 250 in a customer’s hands. Both remain in pre-order, according to ACEL’s own product pages, which quote delivery within 12 to 14 weeks of confirmation.

The Funding, and the Slipped Timeline

ACEL closed an oversubscribed Series A round of US$10 million on 17 July 2024, led by Tau Capital, an Abu Dhabi-based venture capital firm. Tau’s Brad Allen joined ACEL’s board as part of the deal.

Announcing the round, CEO Anthony Liu said:

At ACEL, we are not just electrifying the marine landscape, we are digitalizing it, reimagining boating experiences with cutting-edge digital capabilities.

The same announcement said the IE 150 and IE 250 would reach market in fall 2024. That target has now slipped by close to two years, with both models still showing as pre-order on ACEL’s own site as of early September 2026.

Technology

The IE 50 uses an axial flux motor and is rated at 95.8 per cent total powertrain efficiency, according to ACEL’s own product page. Separately, in comments to Boatblurb, Liu credited the IE 150 and IE 250’s silicon carbide semiconductor technology with pushing drivetrain efficiency “as high as 98.5 per cent”, a figure not repeated on ACEL’s own spec sheets, so the two claims should be read as describing different parts of the system rather than treated as interchangeable.

Every model is sold as an integrated system rather than a standalone motor: a proprietary battery pack and battery management system, a 10.1 to 10.5-inch IP67 touchscreen onboard computer, an NFC-enabled smart key designed to float, a digital throttle with an emergency stop override, and a smart charger offering a claimed 80 per cent charge in about an hour on DC fast charge. All electronic components carry an IP67 water resistance rating. Warranty terms run to five years on the battery, three years on the motor and gearbox, and one year on the electronic package.

ACEL announced CE certification for its marine electrical drive units at METSTRADE in Amsterdam in November 2024, though no certificate number or notified body has been published. No UL, ABYC or ISO 13297 listing, or Transport Canada or US Coast Guard type approval, appears on public record.

Pricing

ACEL does not publish manufacturer pricing. Canadian dealer M-Oceans, in Scarborough, Ontario, lists the IE 50 at CAD $49,925, the IE 75 at CAD $64,925, the IE 150 at CAD $123,925 and the IE 250 at CAD $195,750, as complete systems including motor, battery pack and helm electronics. These are dealer asking prices, not confirmed factory figures, and are likely to vary by territory once import duties and installation are added.

Applications

ACEL positions the IE Series across pontoons, rigid inflatable boats, water ferries and runabouts, spanning recreational and commercial use. The company says it has propulsion systems rigged on boats in multiple markets, though the clearest documented case remains the PetaWatts retrofit in British Columbia.

What’s Still Unverified

There is no independent owner-review record for any ACEL model. Dealer listings for the IE 50 and IE 75 carry the standard “no reviews yet” note, and coverage in trade press to date is sourced entirely from ACEL’s own press releases and demonstrations, not from independent owner experience. Nor is there a published manufacturer price list, a confirmed IE 150 battery capacity, or a public certification record beyond ACEL’s own CE announcement. Anyone relying on this piece for a purchase decision should treat those points as open until ACEL, a dealer or an independent test confirms them directly.