Electric sloep for sale: what does it cost and when do you need a licence? Antaris and Navalia compared

A new electric sloep costs from €29,950 (Navalia E-Sloep 650, including VAT) to over €158,000 (Antaris Seventy7 Cabin). The key difference is power: Navalia fits 6 kW as standard, which keeps the boat licence-free in the Netherlands and Germany. Antaris builds its electric sloeps with 10 to 20 kW, and in Germany that means you need a boating licence.

What is a sloep?

A sloep is an open, beamy Dutch leisure boat with bench seating all round, built for relaxed trips with family and friends on canals and lakes. Typical sizes are 5 to 10 m with room for 8 to 16 people. Many yards now offer their sloeps with electric drives.

Antaris and Navalia compared

\* Both yards state battery size in "kW"; they mean capacity in kWh. \** For models from 7.50 m, Navalia states "10 to 20 hours at a constant 40 km/h". With the 6 kW standard motor, though, Navalia gives a speed of only 10 km/h, so we have left the figure out.

Sources: Navalia electric sloeps, E-Sloep 650, E-Sloep 700, E-Sloep 850, Antaris fully electric.

Navalia: low entry price, licence-free

Navalia builds six electric sloeps from 6.50 to 10.50 m, from €29,950 (650) to €89,500 (1050), each "incl. BTW", meaning Dutch VAT (Navalia). The drive is an outboard or pod from ePropulsion, 6 kW as standard. With this motor Navalia quotes a top speed of 10 to 12 km/h; at a cruising speed of 7 km/h one battery lasts 8 hours, two batteries 12 to 16 hours. Charging at 230 V takes about 4.5 to 5 hours per battery (E-Sloep 700).

More powerful motors cost extra: in the configurator the 6 kW motor with battery costs €8,198, 12 kW €22,150 and 20 kW €28,500, with no note on VAT (E-Sloep 650). Navalia does not say whether the base price already includes a motor. Ask for the price of the boat ready to go. We cover the ePropulsion motor in our electric outboard comparison.

Navalia gives no CE design category, only the CE mark in the standard equipment, and lists no dealers outside the Netherlands.

Antaris: more power, dealers in Germany and the UK

Antaris offers six fully electric models, from the Fifty5 (5.90 m) to the Seventy7 Cabin (8.05 m). The yard developed the drive with WaterWorld, with 10 kW in the smaller and 20 kW in the larger boats. Antaris quotes 5 to 8 hours of running time and 5 to 8 hours of charging; prices range from €55,945 to €158,195 (Antaris). Whether the prices include VAT is not stated.

Compared with the base model with a combustion engine, the electric version of the Fifty5 costs around €13,000 more by our calculation (€42,950 against €55,945), the Sixty6 around €17,400 more (Fifty5, Sixty6). All models carry CE design category C for coastal waters.

Unlike Navalia, Antaris has dealers in Germany (Goericke in Hamburg, Premium Boating in Potsdam) and in the UK (Bushnells in Reading) (dealers).

Do you need a licence for an electric sloep?

It depends on the country and the motor. Neither Antaris nor Navalia says whether their kW figure is continuous or peak power, so we work with the stated number.

With a Navalia sloep and the 6 kW motor you can drive without a licence in the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland. In Austria and on Lake Constance you would need a motor below 4.4 kW; Navalia lists a 3 kW motor in the configurator only for the E-Sloep 1050 (E-Sloep 1050). All limits in detail are in Electric boat without a licence.

In the UK, every boat on Canal & River Trust waterways needs a boat licence, with or without a motor (CRT). More in our electric boat registration guide.