Navee WaveFly 5X is a two-person electric wing-in-ground craft developed by Chinese mobility company Navee. Designed to operate just above the water surface, the vehicle uses ground-effect technology to glide on a cushion of compressed air created between its wings and the water below. The craft can travel at speeds of up to 53 mph and typically flies between 30 and 80 centimetres above the surface. Constructed from aerospace-grade carbon fiber, the lightweight design combines characteristics of a speedboat and a low-altitude aircraft while eliminating the need for a conventional runway.
The vehicle has a payload capacity of 140 kilograms and a maximum range of 80 kilometres. Power is supplied by hot-swappable battery packs that can be quickly recharged or replaced between trips. WaveFly 5X is designed to take off and land directly on calm waterways and is intended for recreational and maritime transportation use. Navee recently demonstrated the craft on Lake Taihu in Suzhou, China, where it completed a public test flight. The model is currently available for pre-order and can be customized with different colors and accessory options.
Image Credit: Navee
What's Driving This Trend
- Electric Ground-effect Mobility
- Low-altitude electric craft that skim above waterways create a new category between boats and aircraft, with potential to reshape short-range coastal travel through faster, quieter, and more energy-efficient movement.
- Runway-free Water Takeoffs
- Water-based launch and landing capability reduces dependence on airports, marinas, and large docks, opening new possibilities for flexible mobility networks across lakes, bays, and sheltered coastal routes.
- Swappable Marine Batteries
- Hot-swappable power systems support faster trip turnaround and modular energy management, making high-performance electric recreational vehicles more practical for repeated daily use.
Who This Affects Most
- Recreational Boating
- Premium leisure watercraft are expanding beyond conventional hull designs as carbon-fiber electric gliders introduce aircraft-like performance to consumers seeking novel on-water experiences.
- Maritime Transportation
- Short-distance passenger movement across calm waterways gains a disruptive alternative through compact electric vehicles that combine speedboat accessibility with low-altitude flight efficiency.
- Advanced Air Mobility
- The boundary between aviation and marine mobility is becoming more fluid as ground-effect vehicles demonstrate new use cases for regulated, low-altitude electric transport outside traditional runway infrastructure.
