Just under a year after Polaris received a Mobility Public-Private Partnership & Programming (MP4) grant through Michigan Office of Future Mobility & Electrification's (OFME) program to develop and maintain an off-road trail charging network in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the off-road charging network is officially open. This first-of-its-kind off-road electric charging network supports around 100 miles of scenic off-road trails in the Upper Peninsula.
Michigan's MP4 grant supports the modernisation of the state's mobility offerings and its massive outdoor recreation industry as it transitions to more electric and technology-enabled vehicles.
In June 2023, Polaris announced it had been selected to receive a US$700,000 grant to develop and maintain an off-road trail charging network in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Free to use, the EV charging stations enable the use of various electric off-road vehicles or other trails-approved electric options on the public trail system. There are four installed electric vehicle charging stations on state-designated ORV trails in the woods of Ontonagon County. The four chargers are deployed in Ontonagon, White Pine, Bergland and Greenland.
Polaris partnered with Texas-based Yotta Energy, a leader in renewable energy storage, to provide the charging hardware. Yotta's REV charging station is an integrated, scalable EV charging solution that includes solar production capacity and 120kWh of onboard energy storage. The solution can be grid-connected or operate completely off-grid making them suitable for use in remote areas and urban locations alike.
With the development of this off-road EV charging network, Polaris also announced that local Polaris Adventures Outfitter, Hamilton's North Coast Adventures near Ontonagon, Mich., is the first in the country to offer a rental fleet of Polaris' all-electric off-road vehicle, the Ranger XP Kinetic. Rentals of the vehicle started recently, giving Polaris Adventures customers the opportunity to explore the beauty of Michigan's western Upper Peninsula's most famous trail – The Pioneer ORV Trail – in one of the newest electric off-road vehicles and use the new off-road charging network.
