ZETour

A 39-metre electric tour boat will carry passengers daily between Tower Bridge and Westminster, powered by a new onshore charging system installed in central London. This project addresses a practical gap: tourist vessels on the Thames run frequent, all-day schedules, so they need fast charging and high battery capacity that existing electric boats cannot provide. Without a working demonstration, operators have no proof that zero-emission tour boats are commercially viable. If the two-week trial succeeds, the vessel and charging infrastructure could be rolled out across London’s fleet. That would cut diesel emissions from river traffic in a densely populated urban corridor, directly supporting the UK’s Clean Maritime Plan and Net-Zero targets. The charging station itself—located in a prime central London spot—would also serve as a template for installing marine charging in other cities with limited waterfront space. This is an applied engineering demonstration, not fundamental science. Its value lies in proving that a high-duty-cycle electric vessel can operate reliably on a real commercial route, removing the uncertainty that currently stops operators from investing.