Inside Arc’s closed-loop cooling system

On Matt Mey’s first day at Arc, he hit the water for a test ride. It was 2022. Only two Arc One prototypes existed at the time. Cruising around Alamitos Bay in Long Beach, someone sat underneath the cockpit with a laptop wired into the boat, monitoring internal temperatures and warning when to slow down. “It couldn’t do much, but it was awesome,” says Matt, Arc’s manager of mechanical systems engineering. “We’ve learned a lot since then. It’s been exponential growth.”

Matt went on to design the high-voltage battery pack that powers the Arc Sport’s all-day range today. He also leads propulsion, steering, and cooling systems. Everything under the hood generates heat, and as he saw on day one, peak performance requires precise thermal management. Traditional gas wake boats use cooling systems that cycle the surrounding water through their engines. But that raw water leads to clogging, corrosion, and way more maintenance. Matt’s team built a better solution.

“Arc’s closed-loop cooling system is one big, simple loop,” Matt explains. “Liquid coolant travels through all of the components, accumulates heat as it goes, then moves through cold plates near the transom that are cooled by the lake. That brings down the temperature and the process repeats.” Without lake water entering the system, there’s no risk of salt, sand, or debris sneaking in and causing problems. It also means you don’t have to worry about fending off winter water damage with antifreeze.

Matt knows those maintenance hassles firsthand. Growing up in Toronto, he took trips with friends to wakeboard in the Lake of Bays. Engine headaches sometimes canceled their adventures. When not trying to get to the lake, he spent most of his free time tinkering. Matt helped his grandfather, an aerospace engineer, assemble model airplanes and boats, and in middle school he designed his own treehouse, structural plans and all. That same summer, he built a hoverboard with plywood, trash bags, and a leaf blower.

“I always wanted to work on innovative and new technologies,” Matt says. “And I’ve always had the thesis that everything is going electric. It just makes sense.” He arrived at Arc after a job building the battery systems powering the world’s first Hyperloop vehicle. “Arc is a much more logical idea,” he laughs. “We’re proving that the electric version of something is better and scaling it. I’m excited to start showing up to lakes and see the Arc Sport everywhere.”

For a deep dive into Arc’s closed-loop cooling, watch our latest episode of Inside Arc above. To test out the Arc Sport yourself, schedule a demo today.