Inside Arc’s innovation with Ryan Cook

When Ryan Cook was young, his family called him “Rocket Man.” He earned the nickname after launching one in the living room, scorching the carpet floor. “Ever since I was a kid, I've really enjoyed challenging engineering problems,” says Cook, Arc’s chief technology officer and co-founder. “My friends would tease me in high school because when they would go play basketball, I would be making a solar-powered hot dog cooker in my backyard.”

That devotion shapes Arc’s culture of innovation today. We build boats that defy industry conventions to create better experiences on the water, powered by forward-thinking technology and design. It all starts with Cook’s engineering team, approaching every detail with fresh perspective and focus on the needs of modern boaters. In a recent conversation at our Los Angeles HQ, Cook breaks down Arc’s engineering philosophy and innovations.

What insight first inspired you to build electric boats?

When we started Arc, we just wanted to create a much better boating experience. That starts with an electric powertrain. Traditional gas powertrains don't do well in marine environments. They aren’t built to remain unused for long periods, they struggle with exposure to corrosive saltwater, and they perform poorly in humid conditions. Going electric solves all of those problems.

How else does Arc approach these problems differently?

Everyone in the industry basically does the same thing. There's a very small handful of engine manufacturers. That means that every boat brand pretty much just changes the interior and the hull shape slightly, but it's effectively the same boat, and it's been the same product for decades and decades. We're completely changing that script. Half of our staff is on the engineering side. We start from first principles.

How do you create the best possible boat on the water? It starts with an electric powertrain. It moves to a closed-loop, maintenance-free cooling system. It then moves to software that you've never seen on the water that is constantly getting better — and to features like our retractable hardtop that the industry hasn't seen before, but just make sense when you're coming at it from an outside point of view.

How do these design innovations change the boat ownership experience?

I like to say that electric boats make more sense than even electric cars do. In Texas, you might be drawn to the fact that you don't have to spend 30 minutes in the morning puttering down to the gas station only to wait in line for 15 minutes to fill up before you can even start your day. In Tahoe, it might be just the astronomical gas prices, because there's a monopoly on the stations on the lake.

In the Midwest, it might be just knowing that after winter is over, I can use my boat on this specific day and spend no money to get it running, rather than having to un-winterize and spend unknown weeks refurbishing your gas engine to get started for the season. And in Seattle, it's probably the Arc Sport's hardtop tower, our best-in-class heated seats, where every seat is heated, giving you a very comfortable ride in the Seattle weather.

What does Arc’s design process look like?

We’ve approached the design of each Arc boat from the ground up. We look at what people are doing on the water. We collect hundreds of different outings throughout the year of how people are using their boats, how much time they're spending on them. We then design the battery pack and the drivetrain from that data. The entire vehicle was designed from the ground up to ensure the best customer experience.

In what ways is the company itself built differently from traditional boat manufacturers?

In order to have a first-principles approach, you need to have an engineering-first approach. We have more engineers at Arc HQ working on our battery pack than our competitors have working on their entire boat. You're going to see these results, not just in the performance of the boat, but also in the production quality.

Our first-principles approach doesn't just apply to the technology onboard. That's certainly where we are a leader: with the electric powertrain, the software, and the features you’ll experience onboard. But it also applies to our manufacturing and testing process. I guarantee this boat has been more thoroughly tested than any gas boat you can buy today.

To experience Arc’s innovation yourself, demo the Arc Sport.