San Diego Coronado ferry going electric with a 15.27 million dollar grant
The San Diego Coronado ferry is going electric. The California Air Resources Board, the state agency that regulates air pollution, has granted 15.27 million dollars to Flagship Cruises and Events, the company that runs the route, to build 2 fully electric ferries for the run between San Diego and Coronado. The whole project, covering design, construction and the chargers needed to run the boats, costs more than 21 million dollars, so the state grant covers most but not all of the price.
The money comes from a program the board calls Sustainable Heavy Duty Initiatives for Future Technology, part of a larger state effort named California Climate Investments, which spends money collected from polluters on cleaner alternatives elsewhere in the economy. The board describes the program as built to speed vehicles, equipment or pollution controls not yet common on the market, and splits it into 2 kinds of projects, demonstration projects within 3 years of being sold commercially, and pilot projects already being deployed on a small commercial scale.
Every source states the total project cost as more than 21,000,000 dollars, a floor rather than an exact figure, so this bar shows at least that amount, not precisely 21,000,000 dollars.
Show the numbers
| California Air Resources Board grant | 15,270,000 |
| Total project cost | 21,000,000 |
We are grateful for CARB's support to bring zero emission vessels to our San Diego-Coronado service with the first all-electric new build ferries in California.
Brad Engel, President of Flagship Cruises and Events. Source 1.
Two ferries built in 1964 and 1940 are being replaced
The 2 new boats replace 2 diesel ferries that first entered service in 1964 and 1940, making them 62 and 86 years old in 2026. Each new ferry will carry up to 275 passengers and measures 90 feet long and 32 feet across, figures confirmed independently by a news report on the grant. Aurora Marine Design is the firm designing the new vessels, working alongside the California Air Resources Board, the Port of San Diego, Momentum and the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District, the county agency that oversees local air quality rules.
These ages are this research file own arithmetic, the current year, 2026, minus each vessel build year, not a figure either source states directly.
Show the numbers
| Built in 1964 | 62 |
| Built in 1940 | 86 |
Diesel ferries burn fuel that releases fine particles into the air, called diesel particulate matter, which can worsen breathing problems for people living and working near the water, an area officials call the portside communities.
The conversion of these ferries to electric will significantly help reduce diesel particulate emissions for the Portside communities.
Paula Forbis, Air Pollution Control Officer for the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District. Source 4.
The launch date has moved from fall 2026 to 2027
Every announcement from February and March 2025, when the grant was first awarded, said the first electric ferry would carry passengers by fall 2026. Reading the project page that Flagship itself currently publishes, rather than only those initial announcements, shows the schedule has moved. That page, checked directly for this article, states the project now sets sail in 2027, and still lists a competitive shipyard bidding process as an active step, one reason building 2 new boats and installing chargers has taken longer than first announced.
Once built, the 2 new ferries retire vessels that have carried passengers across San Diego Bay since 1964 and 1940, a 24 year age gap between them that shows how long a diesel ferry can keep running before a state grant funds its replacement.