From Formula 1 to superyachts: Williams unveils ES10M

Williams Grand Prix Technologies will show its ES10M battery system to the superyacht trade for the first time at Metstrade 2026 in Amsterdam. The system will be on stand 08.541, where members of the team will be available throughout the show to talk through installation, refit and integration requirements.

Based in Grove, Oxfordshire, alongside the Atlassian Williams F1 Team, the company develops energy systems and physics-informed machine learning for applications where performance, reliability and safety are critical. The move from racing to yachting is also the subject of a keynote by Selin Tur, Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer, on the mainstage of The Superyacht Forum on Monday 16 November, from 16:30 to 17:30. The session, “From racing to yachting: Accelerating high-performance innovation”, will draw on experience from Formula 1 and the wider automotive sector.

“As the superyacht sector accelerates its focus on energy efficiency, we see a significant opportunity to bring proven battery systems expertise from elite motorsport into the industry,” said Tur. “We’re delighted to be speaking at The Superyacht Forum and sharing lessons from Formula 1 on turning complex technologies into reliable and scalable solutions. The same engineering rigour, innovation and performance standards that define Formula 1 can help support the future of superyacht design and operation.”

ES10M is a modular, scalable, high energy density system aimed at superyachts, support and explorer vessels, hybrid propulsion and refit programmes. Its modular architecture and wide voltage range give naval architects, system integrators and shipbuilders room to work with, and a chance to reallocate space and weight budgets on board. It can be used in hybrid-electric drives, and the company says it is easy to install in refits, where it brings better power management and more energy for the same volume. At anchor, it can run hotel loads on battery power alone for extended periods, quietly and with zero emissions.

The range of installations is wide. On yachts over 100 metres LOA, ES10M can be split across multiple banks in dedicated battery spaces; on 50-metre yachts, a compact single-rack installation fits into smaller engineering spaces. The company also points to support and explorer vessels, where batteries have to cope with harsh conditions and long, logistics-heavy voyages.

At module level, Williams Grand Prix Technologies quotes a gravimetric energy density of 200 Wh/kg and a volumetric density of 325 Wh/l. Each module stores 9.8 kWh at 50.4 V and weighs 48.8 kg. The system scales from 39 kWh to more than 12 MWh, and from 201.6 V to 907.2 V, and is built to withstand thermal stress, vibration and ingress.

Safety rests on several layers. Thermal-grade materials and the chosen cell format prevent propagation from cell to cell, while an integrated gas management system provides controlled venting to protect crew and engineering spaces if something goes wrong. The battery management system uses physics-informed machine learning to monitor cell and module performance continuously, with remote monitoring and diagnostics, and a supervisory controller can isolate individual battery strings. According to the company, this lets ES10M predict load behaviour, anticipate faults before they occur and extend battery life.

The modules are rated IP67, and the system has been designed to maritime-grade EMI/EMC standards. Lloyd’s Register class compliance is in progress.

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