http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2015/01/brammo_sells_electric_motorcyc.html Brammo sells electric motorcycle division to Polaris Molly Young | January 15, 2015
[images http://imgick.oregonlive.com/home/olive-media/width768/img/oregonian/photo/2014/02/-4c8a749e7c21cea9.JPG A preview of the 2014 Portland International Auto Show at the Oregon Convention Center. The Brammo Enertia Plus electric motorcycle. Mike Zacchino/The Oregonian http://imgick.oregonlive.com/home/olive-media/width768/img/oregonian/photo/2014/02/-f943f413e04295ac.JPG http://imgick.oregonlive.com/home/olive-media/width768/img/oregonian/photo/2014/02/-6d326c1c2d13b190.JPG http://imgick.oregonlive.com/home/olive-media/width768/img/oregonian/photo/2014/02/-a2c260d3dc75ae96.JPG ] Talent-based electric vehicle maker Brammo has sold its motorcycle business to Polaris Industries Inc., an early backer of its technology. Brammo will shift its focus to building lithium-ion batteries and drivetrains at its Southern Oregon hub, said Adrian Stewart, the company's marketing director. It's unclear how many employees will remain in Jackson County, although Stewart said the company had no short-term plans to cut jobs. Polaris, a Minnesota-based maker of road vehicles with $3.8 billion in annual sales, has backed Brammo since 2011. Brammo's Empulse and Enertia electric motorcycles captured the attention of policymakers and investors and attracted millions of dollars in venture capital backing. In 2009, the state pitched in $100,000 from the Governor's Strategic Reserve Fund to help Brammo expand its plant in Ashland. It eventually outgrew the location and moved to its current facilities in Talent a year ago, more than tripling its space to nearly 100,000 square feet. But in recent months, there were signs of trouble. Brammo delayed production of its next model and laid off dozens of people on the assembly line. Polaris invested $9.5 million in Brammo, according to its most recent quarterly financial report. It described Brammo as an early-stage designer and developer of electric vehicles. "As such, a risk exists that Brammo may not be able to secure sufficient financing to reach viability through cash flow from operations," the report said. Polaris will begin making electric motorcycles at its Spirit Lake, Iowa, factory by the second half of 2015, the company said in a written statement. A spokesperson could not be reached for comment. Polaris announced the acquisition after markets closed Thursday. Shares closed at $137.55 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange, giving Polaris a market value of $9.3 billion. [© oregonlive.com] http://blog.motorcycle.com/2015/01/15/motorcycle-news/polaris-acquires-electric-motorcycle-business-brammo/ Polaris Acquires Electric Motorcycle Business From Brammo By Troy Siahaan January 15, 2015 [images http://blog.motorcycle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/H0B6770-XL1.jpg http://blog.motorcycle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/RP-2014_Empulse-Left-3Q-Red.jpg ] Big news coming from the electric motorcycle camp today, as Polaris has announced it has acquired the electric motorcycle business of Brammo Inc. In addition, Polaris is acting as a leading investor in a recapitalization of Brammo that enables the company to focus exclusively on the design, development and integration of electric vehicle powertrains. Going forward, the two companies will leverage Polaris’ leading position in the global powersports industry to market a variety of electric vehicles utilizing Brammo’s lithium-ion electric drivetrain technology. Meanwhile, this will free Brammo to continue developing its electric vehicle powertrains. Brammo supplies these products, including the Brammo Power battery pack and Brammo Power vehicle management systems, globally to a wide range of OEMs. As part of this transaction, Polaris will utilize the assets acquired to begin manufacturing electric motorcycles in the second half of 2015 at its Spirit Lake, IA facility. “We have enjoyed our involvement with Brammo Motorcycles over the past three years, and our excitement about their industry-leading lithium-ion electric drivetrain technology has increased commensurate with their improvements in cost and performance. Polaris and Brammo share a goal of adding the most advanced and highest capability electric solutions to Polaris’ portfolio of leading powersports products,” said Scott Wine, Polaris Chairman and CEO. The agreement allows both companies to be more agile during the development cycle with clear accountability toward selling products that exemplify Polaris’ standard for delivering world class vehicles. Polaris has been a strategic investor and partner with Brammo since 2011. During that time, the companies have collaborated on a number of projects in motorcycles, off-road and on-road vehicles. “Today’s announcement strengthens not only Polaris’ commitment to bringing our consumers lithium-ion electric solutions, but also this partnership’s ability to continue innovating and developing leading electric drivetrain technology,” said Wine. “We anticipate a return on these investments and believe the new alignment brings us that much closer to delivering world-class electric solutions across our products.” Considering Polaris’ ownership stake in both Victory and Indian Motorcycles, the experience, resources and capital Polaris brings to the table can only be seen as a positive in the e-bike landscape. While we don’t know Polaris’ long-term plans with Brammo, a more immediate prediction is that of Polaris/Brammo/Victory/Indian beating rival Harley-Davidson and its Project Livewire to the electric motorcycle punch. Whatever the case may be, Polaris is clearly positioning itself to become a major player in the e-bike/alternative energy game. [© 2015 VerticalScope] http://finance.yahoo.com/news/polaris-acquires-electric-motorcycle-business-230000470.html Polaris Acquires Electric Motorcycle Business from Brammo Business Wire Polaris Industries Inc. [20150115] Acquisition Includes Certain Assets, Technology, and Trademarks MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Polaris Industries Inc. (PII) today announced it has acquired the electric motorcycle business of Brammo Inc. In addition, Polaris is acting as a leading investor in a recapitalization of Brammo that enables the company to focus exclusively on the design, development and integration of electric vehicle powertrains. Going forward, the two companies will leverage Polaris’ leading position in the global powersports industry to market a variety of electric vehicles utilizing Brammo’s award winning lithium-ion electric drivetrain technology, while freeing Brammo to continue developing its innovative electric vehicle powertrains. Brammo supplies these products, including the Brammo Power battery pack and Brammo Power vehicle management systems, globally to a wide range of OEMs. As part of this transaction, Polaris will utilize the assets acquired to begin manufacturing electric motorcycles in the second half of 2015 at its Spirit Lake, IA facility. “We have enjoyed our involvement with Brammo Motorcycles over the past three years, and our excitement about their industry-leading lithium-ion electric drivetrain technology has increased commensurate with their improvements in cost and performance. Polaris and Brammo share a goal of adding the most advanced and highest capability electric solutions to Polaris’ portfolio of leading powersports products,” said Scott Wine, Polaris Chairman and CEO. The agreement allows both companies to be more agile during the development cycle with clear accountability toward selling products that exemplify Polaris’ standard for delivering world class vehicles. Polaris has been a strategic investor and partner with Brammo since 2011. During that time, the companies have collaborated on a number of projects in motorcycles, off-road and on-road vehicles. “Today’s announcement strengthens not only Polaris’ commitment to bringing our consumers lithium-ion electric solutions, but also this partnership’s ability to continue innovating and developing leading electric drivetrain technology,” said Wine. “We anticipate a return on these investments and believe the new alignment brings us that much closer to delivering world-class electric solutions across our products.” Brammo has designed and developed numerous electric vehicles, including the award-winning Enertia and Empulse motorcycles. Testifying to its capabilities and technology, Brammo motorcycles have won a number of awards including: 2013 Playboy “Motorcycle of Year” and “Best Electric” (Empulse R), 2012 GQ “Best Stuff of the Year” (Empulse), 2011 Popular Science “Best of What’s New” (Empulse), 2011 Motorcycle.com “Best of 2011” and a 2010 Silver Edison Award. In addition, Brammo’s motorcycles have won numerous racing championships including the 2013 FIM eRR North American World Cup Champion and 2012 TTXGP World Championship. About Polaris ... www.polaris.com. About Brammo ... www.brammo.com ... [© yahoo.com] ... http://www.rttnews.com/2442456/polaris-buys-brammo-s-electric-motorcycle-business.aspx Polaris Buys Brammo's Electric Motorcycle Business 1/15/2015 ... http://www.ammoland.com/2015/01/polaris-acquires-electric-motorcycle-business-from-brammo/ Polaris Acquires Electric Motorcycle Business from Brammo January 16, 2015 by Ammoland For EVLN posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ http://www.evdl.org/archive/index.html#nabble+template%2FNamlServlet.jtp%3Fmacro%3Dsearch_page%26node%3D413529%26query%3DEVLN%2Bbrucedp2%26days%3D0%26sort%3Ddate http://www.utilityproducts.com/articles/2015/01/utility-safety-disconnect-fuse-kit-safeguards-electrical-vehicle-charging-stations.html Utility safety: Disconnect Fuse Kit safeguards EVSE http://www.nextgreencar.com/news/6920/Bristol-Airport-plugs-in-with-electric-van Bristol.uk Airport IT using e-NV200 electric van ... http://www.nextgreencar.com/i/news_xlarge/bristol-airport-ev.jpg http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1473171/nissan-and-hydro-quebec-partner-to-expand-the-electric-circuit-public-charging-network-in-quebec Nissan&Hydro-Québec Expand the Public EVSE Network in Quebec.ca ... http://montrealgazette.com/business/local-business/quebecs-ev-charging-network-gets-a-major-boost + EVLN: Winnipeg.ca Woman's family Charge-cord Ticketed by the City {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-polaris-com-Acquires-Brammo-eMotorcycles-tp4673496.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
