All aboard! Arizona company unveils all-electric raft for Glen Canyon tours
Aug 24, 2016, 4:39 PM | Updated: Aug 25, 2016, 12:04 pm
(Colorado River Discovery Photo)
(Colorado River Discovery Photo)
PHOENIX — If you’ve been looking for a chance to explore Glen Canyon by raft but were waiting for an environmentally-sound option to do so, your time has arrived.
Colorado River Discovery, based in Page, Arizona, said it’s new Helios raft is ready to head down the river.
“The Helios is a 100 percent electric raft that traverses a 16-mile stretch of the Colorado River in Glen Canyon,” Korey Seyeler with the company said.
Seyeler said the raft — which cuts down on noise pollution and gives off zero emissions — took 10 years of research to develop and is the first of its kind on the Colorado River. The raft’s outboard motor is electric.
“There’s more than 900 pounds of lithium ion batteries that actually go into powering this electric outboard motor,” he said.
The company said trips on the e-raft will be offered on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Service will be seasonal and trips will only be run between March 1 and Nov. 15.
Trips on the raft will start at $86 for each adult and $76 for children. A $6 river use fee will be also be added to each ticket.
The company will make donations to further research and sustainability efforts for each passenger.
KTAR’s Kaely Monahan contributed to this report.
