Theres a silent revolution underway on snowy slopes across the globe.
It is being led by packs of ultra-quiet, lightweight, electric snowpeds.
And leading this uprising is French aeronautical engineer Nicolas Muron.
Ladies and gentlemen say hello to the MoonBike and the world of electric snowmobility.
Think of it as a sophisticated persons snowmobile.
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Were a little different.
But disrupting an industry doesnt come without backlash especially when petrolheads are involved.
Macron tells us that haters regularly take to social media to vent their frustrations at the snowbike.
After two years of R&D, Muron arrived at the final design.
It also has ten times fewer components, half of which are available off-the-shelf.
Ski resorts are some of the biggest advocates for the shift to battery-powered snow mobility.
Many of these parks havecommittedto net zero in five or ten years which means decarbonising their entire vehicle fleet.
Last winter, the company made $5mn in sales, with each bike costing $8,900.
Those who opt to buy their own MoonBike are a very different demographic from that of the average snowmobiler.
Traditional snowmobiles are known to cause extensive damage to the environment.
Their tracks rip up land cover, affecting vegetation growth throughout the year.
Their exhaust fumes contain dangerous levels of airborne toxins, degrading air quality and altering snow chemistry.
In Europe, theyve been unpopular for a long time.
This has helped the company expand rapidly since its first market-ready model was released in 2021.
Perhaps the biggest challenge then is convincing petrolheads to go green but regulation should take care of that.
Muron believes dirty snowmobiles will be banned across the board sooner or later.
Peoples preferences are also changing.
Two to watch in this space are Taiga Motors from Canada andVidde from Sweden.
The company also makes electric jet skis.
In collaboration withItalian car design firm Pininfarina, itclaims to have built the worlds cleanest snowmobile.
For more heavy-duty work, electric snowmobiles will fill the gap.
Story bySion Geschwindt
Sion is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy.
