POLARIS and Zero Motorcycles have signed a ten-year exclusive partnership which will see the firms building a range of off-road electric powersports models.
the deal will see Polaris and Zero combine their sizable pool of experience to build electric vehicles covering ATVs and even snowmobiles. The deal is reported to be the start of a push to have an electric version of each vehicle in the existing Polaris range.
Indian FTR1200 first impressions review
The deal is pretty simple to figure out; Polaris brings the off-road, ATV, and snowmobile knowhow, Zero lend them their battery, controller, and motor expertise. There we go, a news story is written.
Now, you may be wondering why Visordown is covering this news story, as we are a motorcycle website, and this is mainly snowmobile news. But is there more to this deal than meets the eye…
Let me explain. Polaris owns Indian Motorcycle, purveyors of American cruisers, flat-trackers, and tourers. And they are bloody good too. But in June this year, Indian made a move in a completely new direction. They filed a trademark for a motorcycle, the EFTR. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Indian was setting its sights on a new electric model in the future. They already have the FTR1200 range, part naked, part cruiser, part flat-tracker – and a shed load of fun to boot. Putting two and two together suggests that Indian is planning on slotting in an electric drivetrain into the capable chassis of the existing FTR models.
Zero SR/F video review
But building a new all-electric powertrain is an expensive and time-consuming project. One of the best ways to help circumnavigate some of that cost is to fly on the coattails of an existing manufacturer.
Enter stage left Zero. The firm is already involved with the parent company, doing pretty much exactly the same thing that would benefit an Indian electric motorcycle massively.
Now, this is purely speculation. We have no proof or evidence. But as the team are already within the fold and working for a brand so closely related, it seems silly not to put them to work on this new project.
Doesn’t it?
