Polaris and Zero sign 10-year agreement, but motorcycles aren't the focus

Motorcycles are not the focus of the pact, however. The two companies announced the agreement and said they are already working together on several vehicles, the first of which will be released by the end of 2021. The first products will most likely be off-road vehicles, like Polaris' side-by-sides and single-seat ATVs. There are also plans — for real — for an electric snowmobile. These new Polaris models would use Zero's electric powertrain technology.

The partnership gives Polaris a quick step forward in developing electric versions of its off-road vehicles and helps Zero with a new market for its technology, without directly competing with Zero's existing line of motorcycles. There's no specific mention of an electric motorcycle under the Indian or Polaris brands coming from this partnership, though the news release does state that "Polaris aims to offer customers an electric vehicle option within each of its core product segments by 2025." So if you consider Indian a "core product segment," then we could see an electric motorcycle, possibly an off-road model, by 2025.

In 2015, Polaris acquired the electric motorcycle portion of Brammo, which was being liquidated. For a while, the company offered the former Brammo Empulse electric motorcycle, which was unique among electric two-wheelers for its six-speed transmission, as a Victory Empulse. But the Victory version didn't last long and neither did the Victory brand, which was shut down by Polaris in 2017 to focus on Indian.

In any case, the technology obtained from the demise of Brammo is now a decade old, so it appears Polaris has moved on to partner with a company that has continued developing its drivetrains in the quickly evolving electric vehicle space.