Prinoth’s Panther XL Heads to Antarctica with the Norwegian Polar Institute
While the majority of us are trying to beat the heat right now, several Prinoth Panther XLs are keeping cool in Antarctica. The company recently announced that the Norwegian Polar Institute has selected Prinoth’s high-performance Panther XL tracked vehicles to support transport and logistics at the Troll Research Station in Antarctica.
According to Prinoth’s press release, a contract (worth $17 million USD) has been awarded for the company to supply 10 of its Panthers XL units, as well as relevant spare parts and service. The Panther XL is built at Prinoth’s Granby, Québec facility, and is designed to work in the world’s harshest environments.
Prinoth noted that the Panther XL is a true product of internal collaboration. The company said the machine draws from both its Snow Grooming (Sterzing) and Crawler Carrier (Granby) business units, with additional innovations developed specifically for this model.
More from the press release:
From Prinoth’s Snow Grooming division, the Panther XL features a large, intuitive and customizable touchscreen display adapted from snow groomers to meet the specific demands of Panther XL operations, heated windows and wipers designed to endure the most severe weather and a high-comfort air suspension seat, intuitive steering wheel and cruise control system, providing operators with exceptional comfort and control for long-haul missions.
From Prinoth’s Crawler Carrier expertise, the Panther XL benefits from Prinoth’s patented rubber track undercarriage, incorporating large wheels and automatic track tensioning for reliable performance in difficult terrain and an advanced powertrain integration, drawing on Prinoth’s deep experience with Caterpillar power pack systems.
Additional Info on Prinoth’s Panther XL
On top of those features, the Panther XL boasts innovations developed specifically for polar operations. These include:
- A full suspension cab design for superior ride quality and operator comfort
- Prinoth’s patented 4-track drive dynamics for optimized traction and stability
- Patent-pending operator assist drive functions, designed to support operators during long-distance hauls in extreme conditions.
“Antarctica demands the very best technology,” said Klaus Tonhäuser, president of Prinoth. “By bringing together the strengths of our Snow Grooming and Crawler Carrier teams, and adding targeted innovations, we’ve built a vehicle that’s made to perform well in the toughest conditions and underlines our groupwide leading engineering capabilities and our focus on customer needs.”
Pam Kleineke is managing editor of Compact Equipment.
