2024 catalyst
- Thread starter SnoPro1000
- Start date
A
anziconda
Well-known member
I can’t help but believe that the new power plant will be electric. They have had a great track record with their engines, so why else would they sit quietly on the sideline while Polaris and skidoo went 850/900 and factory turbo? Why, after waiting so long to release a new chassis would they not have it ready to be released with more than a 600?
Look at how Tesla makes most cars look embarrassing with a four door sedan! The Tesla plaid is insanely fast! The characteristics of electric are perfect for snowmobiles! No more elevation power loss. Instant, wicked torque. Fewer rotating parts = Better reliability. Good bye Cvt and blown belts. No more emission restraints to work around. Environmentalist can no longer bitch about noise. The list goes on and on.
As far as I can tell, the only downside would be range per charge. Maybe they are waiting for the release of a battery that will solve that. Electric is evolving quickly and better batteries are sure to be on many drawing boards as we speak.
A lightweight, electric sled with a range of 100 miles would revolutionize the industry....
Look at how Tesla makes most cars look embarrassing with a four door sedan! The Tesla plaid is insanely fast! The characteristics of electric are perfect for snowmobiles! No more elevation power loss. Instant, wicked torque. Fewer rotating parts = Better reliability. Good bye Cvt and blown belts. No more emission restraints to work around. Environmentalist can no longer bitch about noise. The list goes on and on.
As far as I can tell, the only downside would be range per charge. Maybe they are waiting for the release of a battery that will solve that. Electric is evolving quickly and better batteries are sure to be on many drawing boards as we speak.
A lightweight, electric sled with a range of 100 miles would revolutionize the industry....
Meet Ekko - Our 100% Electric Snowmobile | Taiga Motors
The mountains are calling. Ekko responds brilliantly with a smooth design and fully electric powertrain that delivers outstanding performance even in deep snow.
www.taigamotors.com
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Weight and range are the killers for electric in the mountains. So much more load on a mountain sled it would be like trying to tow with a F-150 lightning. Just can't make it very far...yet. I would consider one for short range trail riding though.
Yeah, no. And when you run out of a charge I’m not going back to get the generator for you.
A
anziconda
Well-known member
My bad, didn’t watch the interview. It’s not going to take much to kill them for good at this point tho...They better nail it with the new motor, because If they have issues with it like Polaris did with the ol dragon 900’s it’s going to be damn hard to recover from that as well.
I watched a thing on the tiaga or whatever ele sled and holy **** are they heavy! I didn’t realize that they were still so far off on weight. You’d think they would save a bunch with so many fewer components, but I guess I’m wrong there.
i thought maybe electric too with the "revolutionize the industry" stuff. But i dont think they would bother wth a new anti-slosh gas tank as well as improve fuel injection and whatnot on their 600 if they were planning to scrap gas.
still wonder if superchargers are out of the question
still wonder if superchargers are out of the question
All interesting speculation. Here's more. I got in on the M7 bandwagon, lightweight, adequate power, so much fun. Now with the SkiDoo and Polaris factory turbos' increased MSRP vs. naturally aspirated, Cat has margin in the market to put toward lightweight parts. So, what if they pull out the M7 playbook and compete on weight. Put some volume with the production of lightweight parts to drop weight to a number only the most expensive mod sleds see currently.....or lower.
At least you wouldn't get cold waiting for help!
And the smoke will kill you in an instant!
The protective suits our local part time firefighters have holds up for 3 minutes in the corrosive smoke from an EV battery then they have to abort. Is 3 minutes enough time to get a trapped person put of a car? Probably not..... The electric motor has potential, batteries as we know them today is not the solution for the future!!
On the new Cat. Hopefully it's a home run!! Regardless of what brand you ride you will benefit from progress!
In mountain riding, with current battery technology, 10 miles might be a typical range, and probably not even that in deep stuff. Imagine if gas weighed 50lbs per gallon. I think the actual energy density of Lithium batteries is significantly worse, but just to give an idea. The only place I see electric sleds working with existing battery technology is on the trail, and then in a fairly limited environment. Electric cars are more viable because there isn't remotely as much drag on a wheeled vehicle on a solid surface, but even there, the product has a lot of limitations. The way I see it, when you're talking about deep snow, you run straight into a wall with current technology: if you make it similar in weight to current mountain sleds, you may not even make it to the goods before you're running out of juice; ignore the weight and try to fix the range issue, and you end up with a boat anchor that'd stick itself on the level long before it matched a gas sled's range.
@Clark42 Might be onto something. Imagine they get 600s out for demos this spring, and then "oh, guess what! We decided to stick the 800 in it for '24!" If people like the way it rides, they might jump for the 800 even knowing there's "something bigger" coming in '25, and some (like me) aren't too wrapped up in keeping up with the Joneses in the engine department. Maybe they're playing to the trail segment and think it's not worth it for some reason, but there's just so much to gain if they can drop the 800 in, even for only one year. I do like that they seem to have focused on the biggest complaint about the Ascender (heavy steering), and that they're talking about and making progress on weight. Makes me wonder if maybe they'll break the magic 400lb mark. Poo's been close (I think 408 is the lightest mountain sled; the current ones are a little heavier), but winning in that category seems more important to me than raw HP. Whatever the case, I hope they're able to bring something good to the fight; we'll also need to dump these idiots who think an economy can run on unicorn horns and leprechaun farts so people can actually afford one!
@Clark42 Might be onto something. Imagine they get 600s out for demos this spring, and then "oh, guess what! We decided to stick the 800 in it for '24!" If people like the way it rides, they might jump for the 800 even knowing there's "something bigger" coming in '25, and some (like me) aren't too wrapped up in keeping up with the Joneses in the engine department. Maybe they're playing to the trail segment and think it's not worth it for some reason, but there's just so much to gain if they can drop the 800 in, even for only one year. I do like that they seem to have focused on the biggest complaint about the Ascender (heavy steering), and that they're talking about and making progress on weight. Makes me wonder if maybe they'll break the magic 400lb mark. Poo's been close (I think 408 is the lightest mountain sled; the current ones are a little heavier), but winning in that category seems more important to me than raw HP. Whatever the case, I hope they're able to bring something good to the fight; we'll also need to dump these idiots who think an economy can run on unicorn horns and leprechaun farts so people can actually afford one!
So the 2023 are just starting to show up. So you're saying 2 more years yet? Yikes.
Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk
Interesting, I haven't heard anything about degradation of bunker gear (clothes) or the SCBA after exposure. I bet that smoke is pretty toxic without respiratory protection at a minimum
