Prague’s most romantic waterway is also one of its narrowest. The Čertovka, or “Devil’s Channel”, runs between Kampa island and the Malá Strana, under little bridges and past old mill wheels. Big sightseeing ships can’t fit. Elektronemo can, and it does so in near silence.
The boat was built in 2010 by the Prague Steamboat Company, the city’s historic river operator, following its own original design. It was the first boat of its kind in the Czech Republic. With its blue hull and glazed cabin it looks like it belongs to another century (its name recalls Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo), but underneath it is fully electric.
Elektronemo is 10.2 m long and 3.2 m wide, with a draught of just 35 cm. Solar panels (3 × 128 W) top up a bank of traction batteries with a capacity of 1,200 Ah, and two electric motors with a combined maximum of 4.4 kW drive it. There is room for up to 24 passengers, who can even board through the back door of the Karel Zeman Museum straight onto the Čertovka.
Technical data
| Builder / operator | Prague Steamboat Company, 2010 |
|---|---|
| Size | 10.2 × 3.2 m, draught 0.35 m |
| Solar | 3 × 128 W panels |
| Batteries | Traction batteries, 1,200 Ah |
| Motors | 2 electric motors, 4.4 kW max. combined |
| Passengers | Up to 24 |
| Route | Čertovka (Devil’s Channel), Kampa, Vltava in central Prague |
Photo (Čertovka, Prague): DVMilan / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sources: Prague Boats: Elektronemo · Prague Steamboats