Electric Snowmobiles?

[spnce]

Is this gonna be cool? I'm not a sledder but I kinda wanna be

https://taigamotors.ca/

[anotherVTskibum]

While I'd love to ride around without deafening myself and coming home smelling like two-smoke exhaust, the range limitations and inability to refuel in the field are currently big issues for those rigs. It's pretty easy to carry a spare gallon of fuel on a sled (especially on one sled in a group of two or four) and top off if you burn a little more than anticipated because you ended up burying your ride an extra time or two. I'm not so sure how the range estimates on the Taigas will hold up to real-life use, especially factoring in tandem riding and towing uphill, sled mishaps (bury it and burn a lot of energy getting it out), etc.

Also, they're probably not good for wildlife (with respect to direct contact, obviously the reduced emissions is a good thing where applicable). Motorized use is generally less disruptive for wildlife than skinning, hiking, or cycling, apparently because the wildlife can hear you coming and are less likely to act surprised and bolt. Silent sleds (or electric motorcycles) combine the stealth of non-motorized use with the speed of motorized use and have the potential to create a lot more disruption.

[adrenalated]

Cool idea. I'd like to see what they recommend for the inevitable running out of charge in the middle of nowhere. Maybe they could offer a spare emergency battery that can be carried on the sled (the equivalent of carrying a spare fuel can on a normal sled)?

[Ville]

And you can get strawberry scent 2-stroke oil now days. No need to go electric 😁

Sent from my PLK-L01 using TGR Forums mobile app

[cmcrawfo]

I heard a rumour that the Canadian Military was trilianing electric sleds in some of their artic ops.

[BCMtnHound]

Range sucks. Especially if staying at a cabin for a night or two that has limited battery banks and solar of its own (or generator, so there goes the carbon offset). Love the torque and responsiveness of the electric motor though.

[Quadzilla]

Interesting, on a slightly different note, the other day coming back in from a moderate angle tour had a guy approach us on what looked like a fat bike. This is not uncommon around here and some pretty capable guys riding them too. The difference in this case was that the bike was a E Fat bike with a skid for a front end. The conditions were about 6" fresh over a base and the guy was just cruising along with his dogs easily. It was low angle and didn't really notice what happened if he climbed up or rode down as it was just a encounter. Bike silent. I do ride Mt. bikes a lot and has been a primary thing I do for years and this year have seen and shared trails with E bikes. Haven't really bothered me yet but haven't had any encounter with dicks or carnage. They are coming and I guess we will see. E is better than gas..............

[FullStop]

I heard a rumour that the Canadian Military was trilianing electric sleds in some of their artic ops.

I work with the military quite a bit in the high arctic and they we still running a bunch of old Bearcats as of last week.

[josef]

Also, they're probably not good for wildlife (with respect to direct contact, obviously the reduced emissions is a good thing where applicable). Motorized use is generally less disruptive for wildlife than skinning, hiking, or cycling, apparently because the wildlife can hear you coming and are less likely to act surprised and bolt. Silent sleds (or electric motorcycles) combine the stealth of non-motorized use with the speed of motorized use and have the potential to create a lot more disruption.

This is a pretty comical argument. I am not about limiting motorized use or anything but to say it disturbs wildlife less than human movement is a little ridiculous.

Back on topic. Batteries dont play nice with cold weather. This will someday be possible as battery technology improves as well as motor efficiency but I think we are still a long ways off.

[cmcrawfo]

This is a pretty comical argument. I am not about limiting motorized use or anything but to say it disturbs wildlife less than human movement is a little ridiculous.

Back on topic. Batteries dont play nice with cold weather. This will someday be possible as battery technology improves as well as motor efficiency but I think we are still a long ways off.

Moose are actually attracted to the sounds of logging equipment.... so, there is that.

[anotherVTskibum]

This is a pretty comical argument. I am not about limiting motorized use or anything but to say it disturbs wildlife less than human movement is a little ridiculous.

Counter-intuitive, yes, but apparently not ridiculous:
http://www.rgj.com/story/life/outdoo...u-do/96148672/

Back on topic. Batteries dont play nice with cold weather. This will someday be possible as battery technology improves as well as motor efficiency but I think we are still a long ways off.

The Taiga range features claimed to be true even at -30'C. I think we're pretty damn close on the tech standpoint, the in-the-field refueling challenge is the biggest issue IMO.

[BCMtnHound]

Moose are actually attracted to the sounds of logging equipment.... so, there is that.

Mountain caribou will chase the feller-buncher for fresh upper storey lichen as well. Enough of a nuisance that the operator would shut off the machine, and upon exiting the cab the caribou would run. Ungulates, and most wild critters in general, seem to really respond negatively to the human profile and scent, more so than by the sounds our (industrial) activity make. Interestingly, when prescribing timber cutting regimes in subalpine habitat, the caribou prefer larger openings in order to visually respond to predators - partial cutting regimes and visual screening is discouraged, which is different from moose or mule deer habitat strategies.
That said, nothing brings in predators like plowed roads or wide snowmobile trails, not skin tracks.

[josef]

Im still not buying it.... (probably because I went to CU). Seems like they were drawing conclusions on studies that had different focuses. Seems far from definitive.

Until battery technology at least matches run times for combustion engines, we are not that close. On top of battery storage and system efficiencies there is also fast charge technologies being worked on. I worked on battery powered lawn and garden tools a while back and dove pretty deep into this. Pretty much all of the tech, at least at that time, was being driven off of the automotive industry. They used the same exact lithium ion cells that we used, just in much larger quantities.

We are much closer to them being feasible then in the past but still a ways off in my eyes. I would guess in 10 years it could be close enough for wide spread acceptance.

[Wapow]

It's a cool toy, but not a bonafide tool, like a modern mountain sled. They say 100km range, but that has to be on a trail. Guessing it has incredibly limited capacity in the mountains. It's like a Tesla, made for soccer moms and dads to feel better about themselves tooling around the burbs. You never see them on the freeway outside of the city, because they don't work well for that application. Same goes for this. The snow bike version holds much greater promise.

[cmcrawfo]

I work with the military quite a bit in the high arctic and they we still running a bunch of old Bearcats as of last week.

in 2013 there was a $600,000+ tender to build electric "stealth" snowmobiles. Prototypes were tested.... I will google the article.

[josef]

The feeling better about themselves part is funny if they really knew how batteries were made....

[fatnslow]

The fact they have virtually no information on the battery pack is not a good sign. I wouldn't expect any true backcountry usability with a $15K electric system. I know a guy(deceased) that created this e-bike but it never made it into production .

[cmcrawfo]

The feeling better about themselves part is funny if they really knew how batteries were made....

a friend of mine does exploratory drilling .... He just finished a job where they were looking for materials for batteries, he said the locals were super friendly and stoked on the exploration and mining possibilities. Contrast that to the same community the year before, exploratory drilling not related to battery production, hippies keying company trucks and hippy hate in the coffee shop.

[josef]

a friend of mine does exploratory drilling .... He just finished a job where they were looking for materials for batteries, he said the locals were super friendly and stoked on the exploration and mining possibilities. Contrast that to the same community the year before, exploratory drilling not related to battery production, hippies keying company trucks and hippy hate in the coffee shop.

haha pretty neat world we live in huh?

[Shredhead]

How much does the electric sled weigh and what’s the distribution?

[Bruce Springskiin]

Shit the tracks are louder than the exhaust on the BAT sleds you can use in Yellowstone. Make tracks quieter, let a bear sleep

[3PinGrin]

a friend of mine does exploratory drilling .... He just finished a job where they were looking for materials for batteries, he said the locals were super friendly and stoked on the exploration and mining possibilities. Contrast that to the same community the year before, exploratory drilling not related to battery production, hippies keying company trucks and hippy hate in the coffee shop.

Haha, too funny. I have been doing environmental work (both sides of the fence: enforcement and consulting) for a long time and I fucking hate hippies. But don't get me wrong, I hate dumbass rednecks and environmental rapists too.

[zartagen]

Haha, too funny. I have been doing environmental work (both sides of the fence: enforcement and consulting) for a long time and I fucking hate hippies. But don't get me wrong, I hate dumbass rednecks and environmental rapists too.

Don't you tele?

[3PinGrin]

Don't you tele?

Haha, yes, but in a more upright "non-hippie" manner.

And I don't like patchouli.

[GPP33]

This is a pretty comical argument. I am not about limiting motorized use or anything but to say it disturbs wildlife less than human movement is a little ridiculous.

Back on topic. Batteries dont play nice with cold weather. This will someday be possible as battery technology improves as well as motor efficiency but I think we are still a long ways off.

I agree that it's probably a totally flawed argument based on bad data analysis but on the other hand I have experienced first hand pulling up to a deer in my jeep and at first they don't seem to care, until you stick your head out the window and they realize you are a person then off they go. Still don't think that's evidence enough to prove that they are overall less stressed by mechanized travel. I've also only once run into a animal while skinning so I'm pretty sure they know I'm there before I know they are there, plus they don't generally hang out where the snow is that deep. That one time was a moose and he just walked off the trail about 20 yards and laid down, didn't that stressed by us skinning by.

Also agree on battery technology, we're getting there fast though and personally I can't wait. Sleds are fun but I can't stand the smell and noise and don't want to deal with the maintenance. Electric makes so much sense in every way except for the fact that with an easily transportable fuel supply a gas sled can go on and on forever. Not many charging stations in the BC. An electric snow bike would be even better but getting sufficient battery life out of such a light weight and compact format is going to be even tougher. The KTM trail bikes are only good for a couple hours of riding, you can probably cut that in half or less if you put a ski on the front, a track on the back and plow through pow. A sled has a lot more real estate for batteries and the water cooled gas sled you're competing with is already a heavy ass bitch.

Exciting stuff and I'm glad there's companies trying to push the technological boundaries to make these a possibility. Personally I think it's a race, we either come up with a solution to the noise and localized air pollution that the sled necks/OHVs are happy with or the anti access groups will succeed in getting everything shut down to motorized travel. Once it's closed it'll never open back up but if their arguments are eroded by eliminating the two major points of opposition there's a chance we can avoid getting them shut down in the first place. Hopefully the users aren't too ignorant to accept electrics superiority in performance, I've talked to plenty of people who have sworn off ever owning an electric car out of pure ignorance and hatred for the "left".