By Will Burgess

Medina, MN — In a message to the dealer network on Monday, President of Polaris Off Road Division, Steve Menneto, wrote that preorder requests for the all-electric Ranger dubbed “Kinetic” overwhelmed their production demands as vehicles begin shipping this week.

After a slower than anticipated rollout, customers should find this message from Polaris as welcome news as notification is sent out to preorder customers ahead of their vehicle’s targeted arrival at their dealer.

Polaris opened an ordering window for these vehicles for a limited time in 2021 with a targeted release date toward the end of 2022. Orders sold out within two hours of the vehicle’s launch.

“We knew there would be interest for a performance-driven electric RANGER but selling out two hours after opening our initial order window for the XP Kinetic exceeded our expectations,” said Josh Hermes, Vice President of Electric Vehicles for Off Road.

Featuring an all-electric powertrain, engineered for off-road use through an exclusive 10-year partnership Polaris entered with Zero Motorcycles, the Ranger XP Kinetic has raised the bar for electrification of the powersports industry, boasting some impressive specs, including a motor producing an instantaneous 140 lb.-ft. of torque, a 140 mile range on a single charge, and with a whisper-quiet powertrain that’s excellent for hunting, notwithstanding.

While Polaris has offered a Ranger EV in its lineup since the 2010 model year—meaning participating dealers already have experience servicing these kinds of vehicles—the XP Kinetic marks a major step up in performance for the all-purpose ORV.

“Customers who ordered an XP Kinetic are going to experience firsthand the benefits that electric offers,” said Hermes, “and we will provide even more people with the opportunity to own the industry’s best-performing off-road utility vehicle when we take additional customer and dealer orders this summer.”

Production of the battery operated UTVs began is underway at the 900,000 sq. ft. Huntsville, Ala. manufacturing facility, as Polaris reopens orders for the Kinetic later this year, with anticipation of an expanded lineup.
And maybe, just maybe, an EV RZR is on the horizon too!

At any rate, the full-fledged electrification of the powersports industry is underway and here to stay as more EV concepts come to fruition and arrive at dealerships through the major OEM brands like BRP, Honda, and more.

Cover: A man demonstrates the charging plug on the new, all-electric Polaris Ranger XP Kinetic. | Source: Polaris Industries Ltd.

Will Burgess is a journalist with Adrenaline Powersports Mag