Electric ATV in What’s trending?
the works
The electric
snowmobile
BY SHEILA ASCROFT
A TAIWANESE COMPUTER firm called Acer has moved
into the electric all-terrain vehicle business bigtime.
In 2015, it established a subsidiary called MPS Energy
develop batteries and power systems for cars and other
electric vehicles. MPS (Mobile Power System) also
plans to develop other new systems, intelligent power
management, sensors and data analysis.
What does that mean for the average ATV rider? It
means you might soon be able to drive a “smart” battery-powered ATV that would eliminate the motor noise that
scares off game and connect you via wireless to the Acer Open Platform cloud, so you are never lost.
The weather-and-waterproof X-Terran (and other models) will use an electronic module called Car IoT, to track
onboard and external statistics and location. Modules will be available with variations for touring, recreation, and high
speed to maximize the electric ATV experience.
If you rent or run a fleet of ATVs, such a module would collect diagnostics data that could lead to savings on
maintenance, time and staff.
The X-Terran’s MPS battery is actually 256 industry-standard 18650 lithium-ion batteries, combined into one box.
There is no set date yet for production.
Future electric cars
have to make noise!
IT MAY be ironic, but
while designers of
electric snowmobiles
and ATVs are
promoting quieter
machines, the U.S.
National Highway
Traffic Safety
Administration has
new rules mandating
noise in electric motor
vehicles.
Last November, the
safety bureaucracy
ruled that new hybrid-
fueled and electric
cars must make noise when travelling at low speeds so pedestrians – especially
blind ones – will hear them coming.
The rule could help prevent about 2,400 pedestrian injuries a year, according
Traffic Safety officials. Manufacturers have until Sept. 1, 2019 to build in sounds
that meet the new standard.
Currently, electric cars make hardly any engine noise. The only noise they
usually generate is caused by wind resistance or tires, and there’s not much of
that from a slow-moving vehicle.
The new rule requires all new electric vehicles weighing 4,500 kilograms or less
to make audible noise when traveling forward or reverse at speeds of
30 k/hr or less. The new rules don’t set out what kind of noise automakers devise,
so whether it’s a fake engine noise or “beeping” will be up to the manufacturers.
www.fishhuntandride.ca
EVER WISHED YOUR snowmobile was quieter so you could enjoy the
silence of the snowy woods? Ever wished any winter recreation vehicle
didn’t cost so much to fill up and spewed less pollution into the crisp clean
air? Be patient. Help is on the way – the electric snowmobile.
Three McGill University engineering graduates have founded a company
called Taiga Motors to build and sell electric snowmobiles. Gabriel
Bernatchez, Samuel Bruneau and Paul Achard, all 25, hope to produce 20
of them for commercial demonstration this winter. If all goes well, there will be a limited launch in the spring of
2018. By 2020, they plan to scale up production to 5,000 units. If everything works, riding future winter trails may
get a lot more peaceful for riders and furry creatures alike.
Taiga Motors (named after Canada’s boreal forest) is the serendipitous evolution of an electric vehicle building
hobby group at McGill. The three Taiga founders were on teams that won top accolades in the Society of
Automotive Engineers electric snowmobile and race car competitions in 2013 and 2014.
A series of unexpected but encouraging phone calls after graduation spurred them into calling 100 ski hill
operators across North America to see if anyone was really interested in buying electric snowmobiles. They were.
As it dawned on them that their complete lack of business training was a handicap, they sought help from
McGill’s Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship. It convinced them to make the whole vehicle not just the power
pack, and connected them to mentors and investors. Taiga then won a $15,000 prize in the Dobson Cup’s
innovation category.
“It gave us legitimacy in the eyes of a lot of investors,” Samuel Bruneau, one of the owners, said.
The company then moved Shawinigan, a town halfway between Montreal and Quebec City. The town had more
government incentives in place, and it was a good place to test vehicles and connect with suppliers, and some of
them provided free parts for the production prototype.
Ever since Quebecker Joseph Armand Bombardier designed the first snowmobile in 1937 (a seven-seat snow
coach) and became the name behind the 1959 Ski-Doo, snowmobiles have revolutionized transportation in wintry,
remote communities, and become a popular sport along the way.
So popular that it created a problem, according to Bruneau.
Put simply, snowmobiles are worse polluters than automobiles. According to some studies, two-stroke
snowmobile engines produce more smog-forming emissions than a car driven 160,000 kilometres. Although four-
stroke versions are more efficient, an electric snowmobile would be even better – less pollution and a quieter ride.
People who want these features are Taiga Motors’ target market. “The goal is to make it a no-brainer to get an
electric snowmobile,” Bruneau said. The company thinks it can set a price at about $15,000, similar to a higher-
end Ski-Doo. And, “You’ll save over $1,000 a year with