Frauscher and Porsche have announced the launch of the eagerly anticipated stylish Frauscher x Porsche 850 Fantom Air daycruiser, featuring Raymarine Axiom+, seamlessly integrated into the luxury sports boat's wrap-around helm station.
According to Florian Helmberger, Director of Sales and Marketing at Frauscher Bootswerft, the Austrian boatbuilder partnering with Porsche on this project: "This boat is a luxury product for a discerning market with Raymarine's multi award winning touchscreen interface forming an elegant and highly functional focal point in the direct eyeline of the helm and passengers. We have also worked with the teams at Raymarine and their Austrian exclusive distributor, Yachtelektronik Werner Ober, to customise the technology for this specific use case. For example, the Axiom+ has a dedicated motor and battery system data page, reflecting the heightened importance on a fully electric boat of the most accurate and powerful intelligence and real-time analysis tools."
The Frauscher x Porsche 850 Fantom Air has set a new standard in electric boat propulsion technologies, thanks to its use of the same state-of-the-art 800 Volt Premium Platform Electric (PPE) platform on which the soon to be launched all-electric Porsche Macan road car will be based.
This technology which has already garnered considerable interest in the electric motoring industry uses new generation power electronics to couple a permanently excited synchronous electric motor to a high voltage lithium-ion battery with a total capacity of around 100kWh.
Critical for the utility of this propulsion unit on the sea, where charging facilities are fewer and further between than on the roads, is the fact that it can be charged at either DC fast-charging stations or through AC systems. Frauscher Bootswerft and Porsche are aiming the high performance vessel squarely at the superyacht tender and the luxury day cruiser markets.
Mark Goodwin, Raymarine's Digital Switching Manager led the integration from the marine electronics side: "We reprogrammed the display to precisely meet the needs of Porsche and Frauscher. It's critical at the helm of a boat to know all of the information concerning the drive train, such as range, battery charge level and overall health of the system. Electric boats cannot just pull over to the side of the road and wait for help, so users will completely rely on the information our system is providing for the safety of everyone onboard. Our standard marine parameter group numbers (PGNs) do not really support the data ranges needed for an electric boat running at 800 Volts, so we used new PGNs to achieve this integration. Understandably given the strength of its brand in automotive, Porsche led the discussions on the look and feel of the user interface, which fits in seamlessly with the functionality and design language of the rest of the boat."
Gregoire Outters, Raymarine Vice-President and General Manager stressed how important long-term OEM partnerships are to the company: "Raymarine is proud to be an OEM for this exciting venture with Frauscher and Porsche. The reason we routinely sign these agreements with such discerning brands is not merely due to the class leading design and functionality of our products, which as in this case, can be reconfigured to fit perfectly with the needs of the end user. Just as critically, our equipment offers easy installation which boatbuilders appreciate and is supported globally and backed by a very long reputation for excellent after-sales support which keeps the customers happy too."
The Frauscher x Porsche 850 Fantom Air project is on schedule for the launch of its first batch of 25 full production boats in 2024.
To learn more about Raymarine's products, please visit stand number 01.111 during the METSTRADE exhibition which runs in Amsterdam from 15-17th November 2023.