For the marine uses specifically, the use of hydrofoils promises to dramatically reduce the amount of energy needed for movement at any decent speed.
Previously hydrofoils weren't used because they rely on complex feedback mechanisms to maintain ride height despite waves etc.
Sure, someone could pair hydrofoils with gasoline engines, but I suspect they won't, and that means hydrofoil+electric will win out over conventional hull+hydrocarbon fuels for a bunch of use cases.
Probably not. Hydrofoil boats work OK, but few applications need the speed. The US Navy went through a period of hydrofoil enthusiasm, and built some.[1] Boeing built a hydrofoil ferry, and some are still in service. The Navy version used 10x as much fuel per hour in hydrofoil mode, running off a gas turbine. Of course, it was going fast in that mode.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ2sSRBMPqs
> few applications need the speed.
Speed is key to profitability for most usecases. If you are transporting people from A to B, and you can do it in half the time, then you can make twice as many trips per day, doubling revenue (or, if there isn't enough demand, you can buy a smaller boat and reduce your capital costs whilst maintaining the same revenue).
And thats before you consider that by going faster you might win more marketshare because the users want the fastest route. And you can often charge extra per person/per ton for faster/express services.
Not in shipping. See "Slow Steaming".[1] Most container ships could go much faster than they normally do.
Sadly, the S.S. United States, the fastest transatlantic liner ever, is about to be disposed of by sinking.[2] 35 knot top speed. Southampton to New York in 3.5 days. No market for that once air travel crossed the Atlantic.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_steaming
[2] https://6abc.com/post/what-are-doing-ss-united-states-histor...
The difference is for short distance passenger transport, I.e. commuting.
A route that used to take 1 hour suddenly becomes 30 minutes and suddenly your daily commute becomes bearable.
Good point. The SF bay has some hydrofoil ferries. Trip length is about right for that.
They use t foil catamarans on the catalina express route. Diesel engines and water jet not gasoline though. Ride is about an hour to avalon from the port of long beach.