Per Electrek, the company spun out of McGill’s racing team. Its three cofounders, Paul Achard, Gabriel Bernatchez, and Sam Bruneau, worked on electric powertrains during their engineering studies. They focused on developing a lineup of electric snowmobiles and later unveiled their electric watercraft: The Taiga Orca.

Taiga’s electric snowmobile can go from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 2.9 seconds, something Electrek wrote is “unheard of in a production snowmobile.” It can also travel for 140 km on a single charge.

Bruneau calls Taiga the only mass-production-ready electric powersport vehicle manufacturer, positioned to commence mass production and distribution of its offering in the near or medium term.

To date, a release says more than 760 local and international dealers have applied to carry Taiga’s products, and more than 200 commercial fleet operators have submitted applications to Taiga’s fleet program. To date, Taiga has received over 1,400 snowmobile and personal watercraft pre-orders.

Big plans in Quebec?

There are also rumblings that Taiga will build a 50,000-unit-per-year factory in Shawinigan, Quebec, says Electrek.

Taiga currently operates in a 50,000 square foot R&D assembly facility in Montréal, Québec, which is estimated to increase production capacity to 2,000 vehicles per year by the second half of 2021.

Taiga also has plans to build an approximately 340,000 square foot mass-production assembly facility over the coming years. The mass-production facility will seek to operate at peak capacity of 60,000 vehicles and 20,000 powertrains per annum by 2025.

EV companies going public is becoming a trend

Growing environmental concerns, as well as US President Joe Biden’s plans, have expedited demand for the electrification of passenger vehicles and commercial equipment, with off-road vehicle electrification “as the next logical step,” Taiga said in a release.

We’ve already seen Amazon make a huge investment in St. Jerome’s Lion Electric, in January. At the same time, Lion Electric announced it would go public via a merger with SPAC Northern Genesis Acquisition Corp.

Taiga’s release indicates that data projections indicate a $50 billion market opportunity for snowmobiles, personal watercrafts, other recreational marine applications, and side-by-side vehicles. There is also a potential $400 billion of upside identified in other off-road vehicles, like motorcycles, agriculture and commercial vehicles, construction and heavy machinery, and lightweight aviation.

Meanwhile, Taiga’s snowmobiles and watercrafts offer a lower total cost of ownership relative to traditional internal combustion alternatives. The company estimates that snowmobile fleet operators will earn potential average annual savings of over $2,000 per vehicle.

(PHOTO: PMEMTL.COM)