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GM, Volcon strike deal for off-road electric vehicle powertrains

Off-road e-powersports company Volcon (VLCN) has a big, new technical partner — General Motors (GM).

Round Rock, Texas–based Volcon makes electric powersports vehicles like motorcycles and UTVs (utility terrain vehicles) only for off-road purposes. With its new partnership, GM will provide electric propulsion systems for use in Volcon’s UTV off-road vehicles, including the upcoming Stag — everything from motors, to batteries and inverters.

Volcon says future models, including future versions of the Stag, as well as the upcoming “Project X” vehicle, will be designed and developed to utilize GM’s electric systems. Volcon also says it will be the first, and currently only e-powersports company to be powered by GM’s electric offerings.

The Volcon Stag electric UTV
The Volcon Stag electric UTV

“We've been speaking with our counterparts at GM for quite a while, working on how we can integrate their tested and proven EV components,” Jordan Davis, Volcon CEO said in an interview with Yahoo Finance. “As far as production goes, we're looking at beginning deliveries in the middle of 2023.”

For GM’s part, the relationship makes sense as it shows the market it has EV solutions for a number of applications.

“General Motors has transformed from an automaker to a platform innovator, with scalable architectures designed to accelerate EV adoption across different industries and product types,” Travis Hester, GM VP of EV growth operations said in a statement. “Our work with Volcon is indicative of our plans and demonstrates the flexibility of the platform as well as potential applications well beyond traditional vehicles.”

Even before Volcon struck its deal with GM, its current products — such as the Grunt and Runt electric motorcycles — were already pulling in a good amount of interest.

The Volcon Stag electric UTV
The Volcon Stag electric UTV

“We are very close to being in a sold-out position,” Davis said. “We announced a few weeks ago the results of our preorder push, we topped 70 million in preorders very quickly. We have just a few hundred units left, and after this morning's announcement, we're already seeing a lot of excitement from both consumers and the dealer base.”

While powersports isn’t that big of a phenomenon in urban areas or on the coasts, it is a big business in America overall, one that Volcon sees growing even past the pandemic, when outdoor activities where a mainstay for many Americans.

“More and more people are enjoying time outside, and the segment is becoming more and more popular - it is a great time to be in the space, especially because we offer electric vehicles,” Davis says about the powersports industry. “The barrier to entry in our 2-wheel vehicles is low — if you can ride a bike, you can ride one of our vehicles… [and] range anxiety is lessening, as well as the acceptance of electric technology is increasing. The industry is strong, growing, and we see more to come.”

The Volcon Stag electric UTV
The Volcon Stag electric UTV

Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.

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