Porsche and Frauscher Launch Electric Boat 850 Fantom Air with Macan Powertrain
Porsche Engineering and Frauscher have jointly developed the 850 Fantom Air, an electric boat powered by a modified Macan Turbo drivetrain that can reach over 85 km/h.
- 400 kW
- 100 kWh
- >85 km/h
What Happened
Porsche Engineering, Porsche AG, and Austrian boat manufacturer Frauscher have jointly developed the 850 Fantom Air, an electric boat that uses a powertrain based on standard components from the Porsche Macan Turbo. The boat features a 400 kW permanently excited synchronous motor, a 100 kWh lithium-ion battery, and a top speed of more than 85 km/h. The development took less than a year for the first prototype and two years to reach series production.
- High-performance cooling via optimized pump actuation for continuous marine loads
- Newly developed for marine standards with salt spray and corrosion testing
- Reconfigured low-voltage and high-voltage wiring for marine cross-sections and protective sheathing
400 kW
From the Macan Turbo's rear-axle drive, adapted for marine use
“Due to the high level of interest from customers, we have now started to manufacture a small series of 25 boats.”
Why this matters
This project demonstrates how automotive EV technology can be adapted for marine use, potentially accelerating the electrification of the boating industry.
Terms in This Story
- eBoat
- An electrically powered boat.
- Z-drive
- A type of marine propulsion system that uses a vertical driveshaft and a propeller that can rotate 360 degrees.
- Permanently excited synchronous motor (PSM)
- An electric motor where the rotor uses permanent magnets to create a constant magnetic field, offering high efficiency and power density.
- Rest-bus simulation
- A technique used to simulate missing signals from vehicle systems (e.g., parking brake) when adapting automotive electronics to a new application.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.