After narrowly avoiding bankruptcy, Taiga is back with the launch of a new electric watercraft with fast-charging capabilities

Taiga Motors Inc. has restarted manufacturing and begun customer deliveries of its new MY25 Orca electric watercraft.

This is a major milestone for the Montreal-based electric personal watercraft and snowmobile manufacturer, which was on the brink of bankruptcy just last October.

The turnaround for the company (following their filing for bankruptcy protection in July 2024) comes after a strategic rescue by UK entrepreneur, Stewart Wilkinson.

Wilkinson brought Taiga into a global alliance of marine electrification leaders. This group includes Wilkinson’s other ventures: electric yacht maker, Vita; Norway’s electric boat motor systems developer, Evoy; and London-based global marine charging network, Aqua superPower.

“Restarting production in such a short time is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our team and the support of great partners,” said Matthew Taylor, vice president of operations at Taiga. “We’ve leveraged years of operational lessons to build a robust, vertically integrated advanced manufacturing system right here in Canada.”

With deliveries of the MY25 Orca watercraft now underway, Taiga is preparing for electric snowmobile production in fall 2025.

The company plans to scale operations at its Montreal facility, which has an annual production capacity up to 8,000 combined units. This will support both Taiga’s own electric vehicle lineup and the supply of electric powertrain components to boat manufacturers worldwide.

Better batteries, faster charging

The MY25 Orca watercraft features the latest in Taiga’s battery innovations. The company says it has developed a new battery cooling system that improves fluid flow across lithium-ion cell hotspots.

This cooling technology increases thermal transfer rates and ensures more uniform temperatures throughout the battery pack, which helps boost performance. Taiga says its watercraft can now deliver up to 65 per cent more continuous battery power in warm weather marine use.

Additionally, these thermal improvements, combined with recent software updates, enable higher peak charging rates. (Taiga’s batteries now support DC fast charging.)

“The rapid introduction of new battery technologies is possible thanks to Taiga’s vertical integration, bringing advanced engineering and automated production together all under one roof,” said Paul Achard, chief of engineering at Taiga.

“We are excited to implement this breakthrough battery technology in our upcoming snowmobile production and future powertrain products.”