I had the pleasure to attend the Taiga electric snowmobile launch, in Montreal, Monday March 2. I got a chance to take a test drive on this bad boy: Production will begin in Montreal this summer. Delivery of the vehicles to the initial deposit holders, is due prior to winter 2020 (unless "Elon time" applies to Taiga, too). There are 3 models; mountain, crossover, and touring/utility. Range: 100-138 KM, 21 and 28 KWH battery - with some really interesting battery thermal management, allowing for use down to -40 C/F. Lots of other goodies (App, GPS trail tracking, etc) Oh, and 0-100KPH (60ish MPH) in 2.9 seconds - with no backrest - oh my........yes it's really fast. I am a reservation holder, and I can't wait. Check them out: Taiga Snowmobiles – Taiga Motors
The Globe and Mail (Canada's New York Times) wrote a nice piece on this..... Dashing through the snow on the Tesla of snowmobiles
Just out: Taiga to go Public via SPAC. Montreal jet-ski maker Taiga to go public via Canaccord SPAC - BNN Bloomberg
CANACCORD GENUITY GROWTH II CORP: CGGZ.UN trading on the TSX NEO. Traded today at $3.81 $CDN, up $.31
My bad They said that they will start at $15,000 ($US) - It's in the FAQ They are just now supplying a bunch of ski resorts (Mt. Tremblant being one), I was supposed to get one this year...but Covid-19 really messed them up. Or, they've discovered Elon time. However, this week they emailed me to confirm my address. I am fairly near the top for getting one: I'm reservation holder number 3 I'm going for the Nomad Performance...and they say there will be Founder's edition models for the first release. Giggety
Damn, that's sweet! I don't really know how much a comparable gas snowmobile is, but given that it's got a pretty big battery pack, that price seems reasonable.
Pricing depends. A trick sled can set you back over 15k usd. looks interesting, though will look forward to actual range. In addition to lack of smell, will also be interesting to understand the noise. Double edged sword, though prefer quieter overall
The battery for the performance model is rated at 140 KM. We'll see....It's good enough for what I need to do, but for the long trail riders through remote areas.....well, no good until there's some infrastructure. When I test drove it last March, I noticed that it was quieter than a traditional sled, but the aggressive track on it still made some noise, so people and animals will hear you coming. No smell though.
I was gonna say, unless you can plug into a tree, it's going to be a no go for most of the Alaska riding trails. Certainly won't be doing any iron dog runs (sadly).
Agreed I've had a couple of Twitter battles with guys that absolutely crapped on this sled. They were trailing in the Rocky Mountains of AB/BC. Taiga will probably never be able to be used on remote trails. Even after I told them that their domain wasn't the target for Taiga, they still whined. But.....Just north of me (central Ontario) there are thousands of miles of trails. A lot of them are from old railways. Most of them weave around towns, but often parallel or cross roads; some of them main roads. There will be lots of opportunity to add charging near these trails. The same goes for Quebec....and I suspect a lot of the mid-west and north-eastern US. Remote Alaska, Yukon, NWT......will probably remain ICE sleds. Unless a battery miracle occurs that can triple the range.....
Taiga has delayed the release until September 2021. However, they sent me a nice toque! (For my American friends - a nice winter beanie)
A nice article about Taiga in The Financial Post (Canada's Wall Street Journal) Taiga's new deal turns up the throttle on the electric snowmobile dream | Financial Post