Gem

indy_500

indy_500

Well-known member
Polaris to Acquire Global Electric Motorcars LLC (GEM)
Provides future growth opportunities within the low-emission small vehicle market
MINNEAPOLIS (April 25, 2011) — Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSE: PII) today announced an agreement to acquire Global Electric Motorcars LLC (GEM), a wholly owned Fargo, N.D. based subsidiary of Chrysler Group LLC and manufacturer of premium electric-powered vehicles. GEM is the recognized leader within the low-speed vehicle market, with a well-respected brand and approximately $30 million in sales during the 2010 calendar year. Since the company was established in 1998, they have placed over 45,000 electric-powered vehicles on the road worldwide. GEM has developed business-to-business sales expertise within the fleet and government vehicle markets, and has created a competitive advantage with core competencies in make-to-order vehicle fulfillment and mobile service support.
"GEM provides Polaris with an established position in the low-emission small vehicle market and supports Polaris’ strategy of penetrating on-road market segments poised for growth," said Scott Wine, Polaris chief executive officer. "We are excited about the outlook for growth within this market space, and are looking forward to developing even stronger growth prospects for the GEM business."
"Our vision is to accelerate profitable sales growth for GEM, by combining Polaris’ strength in new product innovation with the most-recognized brand in the low speed vehicle market space," said Mike Jonikas, Vice President of the On-Road Vehicle Division. "These new product efforts for GEM will be supported by an expanded distribution presence within select domestic and international markets."
The agreement to acquire GEM will officially close within the next 60 days once Polaris secures the required state sales certifications to sell GEM products. During this interim period, since Polaris will not yet have officially acquired GEM, operations will proceed as usual and Polaris will continue to learn and understand the GEM business through information exchange. Following this interim period, Polaris will be in a position to outline specific plans for the GEM business.
 
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Hoosier

Well-known member
Hmmmmm. The Company's stock is high and it's buying other companies....weber (I think that's what it's called), indian, and now gem. I suppose it makes them more diversified. Hopefully all this will allow them to borrow some technology and know-how for their sled engines. The new chassis seems to be a hit, particularly in the crossover and mountain categories, but their engine tech is behind. I'm sure Poo wants nothing more than to pass up Doo though.
 
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polarisrider1

New member
Hoosier said:
Hmmmmm. The Company's stock is high and it's buying other companies....weber (I think that's what it's called), indian, and now gem. I suppose it makes them more diversified. Hopefully all this will allow them to borrow some technology and know-how for their sled engines. The new chassis seems to be a hit, particularly in the crossover and mountain categories, but their engine tech is behind. I'm sure Poo wants nothing more than to pass up Doo though.
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Lol
 
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ezra

Well-known member
I would love to see a electric drag sled set upfor 660 I bet it could fly.the tesla if fast as heck.set up for 1 quick run down the ice then a recharge would prob give glen hall,s z1 a run
 
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Hoosier

Well-known member
indy_500 said:
I don't think they will ever use their tech. to build an electric snowmobile.........
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Why not? The college clean sled competition or whatever it's called gets better and better each year. Just wondering why you think that...I never thought there would be a 4 stroke sled either, and now some of the 4 strokes are competitive with the 2 strokes on the trail at least. 4 stroke sleds have come a long way since they first were introduced.

I doubt Poo sleds will gain any direct engine transplants from any of these acquisitions, but I'm assuming some of the technology and knowledge will flow from subsidiary to subsidiary, and the snowmobiles will benefit as a result.
 
indy_500

indy_500

Well-known member
Hoosier said:
Why not? The college clean sled competition or whatever it's called gets better and better each year. Just wondering why you think that...I never thought there would be a 4 stroke sled either, and now some of the 4 strokes are competitive with the 2 strokes on the trail at least. 4 stroke sleds have come a long way since they first were introduced.

I doubt Poo sleds will gain any direct engine transplants from any of these acquisitions, but I'm assuming some of the technology and knowledge will flow from subsidiary to subsidiary, and the snowmobiles will benefit as a result.
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i'd rather pay $5 a gallon than ride an electric snowmobile....
 
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Hoosier

Well-known member
indy_500 said:
i'd rather pay $5 a gallon than ride an electric snowmobile....
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Well, you're in luck then! $5 gas will be here way before electric sleds, maybe even this upcoming season! Let's hope not.

Electric motors are torque monsters. Too bad batteries don't work well in the cold. Hate to be 50 miles from where you are headed and need to stop for 8 hours to recharge. Maybe there will be a hybrid first.

If they did come up with an electric sled, what excuse will the tree huggers come up with to keep the sleds out of Yellowstone?
 
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oldguy

oldguy

Member
A few years back I had a chance to drive the all electric sled the University of Madison built in the Clean Snowmobile Challenge, it was shocking, (had to say it), how spunky it was. We ran it pretty hard for about and hour and the batteries held up.

Polaris has the all electric Ranger they have found a market for. Chevy Volts have way more demand then availability. I am sure there are tree huggers out there that hate snowmobiles, but because of the no emissions of an electric sled they would consider it an acceptable why to get out in the woods to do some hugging.
 
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tealracing16

Member
Clean Snowmobile Challenge

For anyone interested in where snowmobiling can lead this is the place to go. It is usually up by Houghton in March. Madison won with a gas/electric hybrid that was amazing when I was there. The all electric sleds have come a long way. And the torque you could have in 660' would kill a gas sled.

$5/gallon gas is ok? Must not have to pay for the truck to get there, trailer to bring your sled with you, the hotel when you stay there, the food to eat while your there, etc. It all changes when you are out on your own.
 
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landoman

New member
The last company I worked for had 2 gem cars. We drove everywhere and had a top speed of about 26mph. Pretty fun for running around on campus. There is a market for these but the price may need to come down just a bit as they were pricey.
 
skiroule

skiroule

Well-known member
A lot of contributors to this thread seem to be way more knowledgeable about electric power than the general public. There's a misconception that electric motors lack the power of gas engines. The fact is that this is just not true.

I'm involved with projects that use 600 volt digitally controlled motors to move hardware and these are monsters to control. One over-torque mistake and you'll bend everything in sight.

I'm a V8 guy but would I drive an electrically powered vehicle? Yes! I'd love to give my local BP station the "wave". Would I ride an electrically driven sled in the bush? Absolutely. It's all about torque. Now if we could just do something about the battery duration.

I'm sure some of us saw the Monster Garage episode where Jesse drove a 62 Chevy powered with lithium-ion hand tool batteries to very impressive quarter-mile runs that would have pushed the original 327 hard.
 
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windingtrailgal

Active member
I'm for sure not as tech saavy as most...but I do have just a general question....

With gas prices being what they are and my understanding of wanting to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, technology seems to be focusing a lot on electric vehicles. What happened (have no clue of the year) a few years back when the grid "crashed" leaving millions from OH to the east coast without power - the tech heads got on the news and started talking about the 60's technology that is still in place and that the electric grid throughout that region needed a billion dollar overhaul to upgrade this dilapidated system. They stated that this was not just an issue with this particular grid but with the US as a whole.

So my question is then this - if we are moving the technology for the manufacture of electric vehicles forward, is the infrastructer of the source and distribution of electricy also being upgraded in order to handle what could potentially be a significant increase?

Just throwing it out there and not trying to be stupid and state I don't agree with electric cars, snowmobiles or anything like them...am just wondering about the basic infrastructure and how all of this additional electricity is going to be produced and then distributed?
 
skiroule

skiroule

Well-known member
windingtrailgal said:
I'm for sure not as tech saavy as most...but I do have just a general question....
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Nice Try! You are, in fact, as savvy as most.

You do raise a good point if you consider electricity as a mass replacement for oil. The capacity simply isn't there. Even though we don't typically experience "brown-outs" in the midwest, every summer we are subject to energy alerts in my area.

This being said, electric commuter cars would be a good start. They could have limited range and they could recharge at night when electricity use is reduced. Still, we can't have it both ways. We have to invest in alternatives if we want people to use them.

BTW - my volt-mobile would still have flames.
 
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