Olin College Engineers Automate A Gator XUV

In conjunction with Draper Laboratory, engineers at Olin College in Needham, MA have been using artificial intelligence, sensors systems and other technology to automate and remotely operate a Gator XUV. ??The program is in its second year and each small group of students spends two semesters on a project.

The Gator XUV can now identify trails and maneuver around obstacles. Beginning with their college campus’ car lanes, the team of students soon put the customized equipment to the test in forest areas, where the vehicle had to operate in places GPS was not available.

Learn more: ??Machinefinder.com

John Deere Marketing Initiatives

Drive Green Challenge – For a third year John Deere will be bringing their Drive Green Challenge to select dealerships in the Midwest and East Coast. ??A total of 60 dealerships will be visited by a customized promotional tractor trailer with various Deere equipment for test drives and demonstrations.

A unique??Gator??utility vehicle – the “Tail Gator” XUV, complete with speakers and other gadgets – will be featured at the sites. In addition, there will be a drawing for a similar machine at the end of the summer, to be given to one visitor to the Challenge’s various dates.

Other dealerships will have satellite versions of the Challenge. ??Learn more: ??Machinefinder.com

Gator XUV Configurator – John Deere has added a new feature to their website, a configurator for their Gator XUV model. ??The features allows for a range of vehicle customizations which are then sent to a dealer for a quote. ??Learn more: ??Machinefinder.com

John Deere Sponsors Iowa NASCAR Event – An Iowa Speedway event has been renamed the John Deere Dealer’s 250. ??The NASCAR event on May 22nd is expected to attract over 50,000 fans including a few thousand John Deere equipment owners as part of a dealer tie-in. ??Ten free one-year leases for a Gator utility vehicle will be given away as part of the promotion. ??Learn more: ??Machinefinder.com

News Briefs

Applied Geo Technologies Wins Club Car Supplier Award – Applied Geo Technologies recently received the 2011 Overall Operations Excellence Award from Club Car. The company supplies Club Car with cabling and wiring harnesses for all of Club Car’s golf, transportation and utility vehicles. ??Learn more: ??Cisionwire.com

Garia Review – Last week the Los Angeles Times published a short review of the Garia LSV. ??Learn more: ??LATimes.com

Tata Motors Launches Two Light Commercial Vehicles – Today Tata Motors launched the passenger carrier Magic Iris and a micro truck the Ace Zip. ??Both vehicles are for India’s domestic market. ??The vehicles are lesser versions of the Ace Magic and Ace respectively. ??The company plans to launch CNG powered variants in the future. ??Learn more: ??Business-Standard.com

Polaris Reported Record Earnings

Polaris Industries recently reported record earnings for the first quarter of 2011. ??Management reported sales of $537.2 million ??and net income of $47.3 million for the quarter compared to $361.7 million and $19.8 million in the first quarter of 2010. ??For the full year 2011 management expects sales to increase 17%-20% compared to 2010.

I listened to the earnings conference call and here are some of the highlights as it relates to the STOV markets.

  • Off-road vehicles which includes UTVs and ATVs exceeded expectations
  • International sales were up 21% in part do to side by side sales increasing 50% in Europe where these vehicles are supplanting ATVs as they have been in North America
  • Polaris is gaining market share in UTVs and ATVs as they outperform the market domestically and internationally.
  • Management reports side by side sales increasing more than double the overall market rate
  • RZR XP 900 launched in January is selling well
  • Bobcat branded vehicles they supply “ramped up nicely” and is gaining retail momentum
  • Military sales which includes some STOV products doubled in the first quarter
  • Diesel product started nicely and is expected to slowly but steadily develop with good opportunities in the UK, military and single fuel use segments such as farming and construction
  • Off-road parts, garments and accessories sales increased 22% in Q1

Innovation On The Farm

While technically not a STOV since it is a pickup truck, I thought this story of innovation on the farm was interesting and could be applied to a STOV just as easily. ??A farmer in Oregon, with the help of a friend, converted a diesel pickup to an all electric. ??While this is not common it has certainly been done before, but the real innovation was developing a remote control to operate the truck. ??Not only does the truck save on fuel but operations that required two people could now be managed by one.

…Feeding cattle is now a one-man operation, saving on hired labor. Anderson can start, steer, throttle and stop the truck with a hand-held remote control device from up to 500 feet away. He can feed off the back while driving with the remote. He can also honk the horn from the remote if cattle get in front of the rig. Driving through gates no longer requires a second person to keep the cattle from running into the next pasture. ??As an added benefit, Anderson said that during calving he can check the cows at night without disrupting them because the truck is so quiet….

Other benefits typical of electric vehicles also apply such as low maintenance and no vehicle emissions. ??Learn more: ??Eastoregonian.com

Polaris Acquires GEM

Yesterday Polaris Industries announced that they will acquire Global Electric Motorcars, LLC (GEM) from the Chrysler Group. ??GEM has annual sales estimated to be $30 million and has been the leading LSV manufacturer. ??IMS estimates their annual sales volume to be around 3,000 units, although they have been under pressure lately as more manufacturers have entered the market. ??The sale will take about two months to complete and will strengthen Polaris’s On-Road division. ??Polaris also recently acquired Indian Motorcycle. ????Learn more: ??Tradershuddle.com

Comment: ??GEM is strong in the commercial LSV segment particularly in government and fleet sales to end user such as parks and universities. ??Polaris already has their Breeze LSV for the consumer personal transportation market and an LSV version of their Ranger EV which originally targeted the military segment but has commercial applications as well. ??The acquisition gives Polaris probably the most recognized brand in the LSV market and saves them time and money spent developing a brand of their own. ??GEM has not substantially changed their vehicles in recent years so they will definitely benefit from high level and continuous innovation that Polaris puts into their product lines, as witnessed by their model development in the UTV market. ??In addition, Polaris has an existing network of dealers that is around ten times the size of GEM’s current network. ??The acquisition could add a real boost to the level of competition in the LSV market.

Another question is whether Polaris will be seeking more acquisitions in this space. ??While GEM is more oriented to the commercial market, a company like Tomberlin produces LSVs targeting the consumer market. ??Tomberlin’s management has a relationship with Polaris from helping them develop some of their off-road products in the past. ??Tomberlin also has other products such as the Vanish electric UTV, electric ATVs and the Schwinn brand of scooters??that could supplement Polaris’s existing product lines .

Arctic Cat Reveals New 2012 Wildcat UTV

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tfwpyd5JguA&feature=player_embedded]

Arctic Cat revealed a new UTV, the Wildcat, at their recent snowmobile dealer show. Management did not provide many specifics about the vehicle but stated that the vehicle could be in dealer showrooms in fiscal year 2012 which ends in March 2012. ??The vehicle looks to be targeted towards the pure sport end of the market and the CEO mentioned an “extremely capable suspension”. ??Learn more: ??UTVNews.com

NEVs On The Increase In Hawaii

A recent story reports that Hawaii currently has 268 registered taxable electric vehicles in use. Approximately 250 of the vehicles are NEVs and the remaining are highway capable vehicles.?? In the last year the total number of electric vehicle grew 51% which works out to be about 90 vehicles.?? The state government has established a goal of using clean energy for 70% of the transportation needs.?? Since it is an island, Hawaii is a good fit for NEVs and other electrics because of the shorter travel distances required, a mild climate which improves battery performance and a less expansive area for building out EV charging infrastructure.?? Learn more:?? Dailyjournal.net &?? Hawaii.gov

Charging Infrastructure News

EV Solar Charging Station

EV solar charging station at Brooklyn Bridge Park

A Solar Charging Station Grows In Brooklyn – Brooklyn Bridge Park recently became home to the city’s first solar powered electric vehicle charging station.?? The station was developed and donated by the Beautiful Earth Group, a renewable energy developer based in Brooklyn, and uses two recycled shipping containers stacked on top of one another and 24 photovoltaic panels.?? The station will be used by the park’s fleet of four electric vehicles which include two GEM LSVs and two Toro utility vehicles.?? The charging stations fits with the park’s sustainability efforts and will also be incorporated into educational programs for children.?? Learn more:?? Brooklyneagle.com

Plugless Power wireless charging station from Evtran

Google Testing Wireless Charging Station – Google is testing wireless EV charging technology developed by Evtran of Virginia.?? Called Plugless Power, the recharging station will be used to power up one of Google’s NEVs that are used in the company’s vehicle sharing program for employees.?? The vehicle had to be retrofitted to work with the charger which works on the principle of induction similar to electric transformers except that the transformer is split between the charger and the vehicle.?? Evtran is looking for additional corporate or municipal NEV fleets to field test their product.?? Learn more:?? Cleantechnica.com

Some Solar Powered LSVs Operating Totally Off The Grid

All American LSV

Cruise Car All American LSV with solar panel

Cruise Car management is reporting that some of their All American solar powered LSV customers are able to operate their vehicles completely off the grid.?? Customers are driving up to ten miles per day on just solar power alone and some have not had to use an external power source since purchasing their vehicles.

These reports provide more evidence that the STOV market continues to be sliced up into many sub-segments which are being satisfied by vehicles with a particular set of features and functionality.?? In this case the question is how large is the potential market for vehicles that can exclusively or predominately operate on solar power.

In the future we can anticipate an attempt to increase the solar power generated by these vehicles through larger solar panels, new photovoltaic technology and innovative placement of photovoltaic material on vehicles.?? As the range improves this sub-segment can grow incrementally.

It will be interesting to see if the market for fully functional electric vehicles like the Leaf and Volt can similarly develop based on range specific use.?? While some critics of electric vehicles seem to believe in an all or nothing approach when it comes to electric vehicle range, I think the STOV market demonstrates that there are niche markets based on the specific range needs of customers.?? In both markets, instead of producing a “perfect” vehicle in terms of range from the start, there exists the possibility to incrementally grow the market as technology and vehicle range improves.?? Learn more:?? Domesticfuel.com