Group Beneteau and Fountaine Pajot Group are partnering to create E-Lektra Marine, a 50/50 joint venture (JV) to develop electric propulsion and intelligent onboard energy management.
The alliance will bring together seven major sailing brands — Beneteau, Jeanneau, Lagoon, Excess, Fountaine Pajot Sailing Catamarans, Fountaine Pajot Yachts and Dufour – and onboard energy autonomy – with the aim of accelerating the electrification of sailing and supporting the transition to low-emission solutions.
The Groups say that they would like to bring electric solutions to between 10% and 15% of the global sailing market by 2030.
The JV will combine the scale and capabilities of the two French Groups to create a global standard for the electrification and energy management of sailboats, which will be open to all players in the boating industry.
Electrification of sailing
“With E-Lektra Marine, two major players in the sailing industry are joining forces in an unprecedented alliance to accelerate the electrification of sailing,” said Bruno Thivoyon, chairman of the management board, Group Beneteau.
“By combining our industrial expertise, we aim to establish open standards and make low-emission solutions simpler, more accessible and scalable.”
E-Lektra Marine will aim to overcome the challenges of producing silent propulsion with lower emissions and autonomous energy management.
E-Lektra Marine also addresses the sailboat’s overall onboard energy management use.
The two Groups have already pooled life cycle assessment methodologies for their boats, and will now share a decarbonisation roadmap and scale up each Group’s technology by 2030.
High-voltage hybrid solutions
Groupe Beneteau has offered low-voltage electric solutions on its sailboats up to 12 metres for several years and Fountaine Pajot deploys high-voltage hybrid solutions on its catamarans over 15 metres.
Both Groups now aim to design and deploy an onboard system that is competitive with internal-combustion solutions and capable of orchestrating all onboard energy flows in real time.
E-Lektra Marine will work with a group of partners including Alternatives Energies (La Rochelle), for electric systems integration, Cirtem (Toulouse), for energy conversion and management and EVE System (Lyon), for battery pack design.
Scalable solutions
The Groups say that by bringing together the production volumes of seven brands – 60% market share – as well as those of other major players in the sector, the platform aims to reach the industrial thresholds required to make solutions simpler and more competitive.
Mathieu Fountaine, deputy chief executive officer, Fountaine Pajot, concluded: “After several years of deployment, Alternatives Energies has demonstrated that scalable solutions do exist.
“The E-Lektra Marine joint venture with Group Beneteau shows that our industry can mobilise around shared environmental objectives.
“Today, electrification is becoming essential; it must now be made accessible across the entire sailing market.”
