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Jim
Hammett, Superintendent of John Day
Fossil Beds National Monument and Gregg
Haberly of Byron's John Day Polaris.
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John Day, OR (5/24/2011) - Today,
at Byron's John Day Polaris, Jim Hammett, Superintendent
of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument and
Scott Ritner, the National Park Service Ranger
at Painted Hills, took delivery of an electric
Low Speed Vehicle from Polaris Industries. The
vehicle, a Polaris EV LSV, will be on loan to
the park for a year and will enable the park
to test whether the Painted Hills Unit of the
monument, located near Mitchell, Oregon, can
become carbon neutral in its operation and self-sufficient
in its energy use.
With the recently completed construction
of a new park house that generates
far more energy than it uses, park staff hoped
to make the Painted Hills
Unit carbon-neutral and energy self-sufficient
in housing, administration
and transportation. Due to fiscal constraints,
the monument did not have
sufficient funding this year to both construct
the house and purchase a
rechargeable electric vehicle. However, through
a generous loan from
Polaris, they will be able to test their energy
calculations in the coming
months and see if reality will match engineering
calculations.
Creating a renewable energy economy is one
of the nation's top goals, and
one which the Interior Department and National
Park Service takes
seriously. Last year, Jon Jarvis, the NPS
Director, challenged each park
superintendent, "...to reduce their carbon
footprints, to set a very high
standard for carbon neutrality, and to be
an example of sustainability for
the entire world."
John Day Fossil Beds took this challenge
seriously. "I think we have a shot
at being one of the very first park units
with moderately high visitation
to be carbon neutral and energy self-sufficient,"
said Superintendent
Hammett. "Our engineer that did the initial
energy calculations showing it
was possible used a Chevy Volt as his basis
for calculating transportation
energy. Obviously, for the gravel roads at
Painted Hills, and for
transporting trash and maintenance supplies,
a Chevy Volt is not very
practical. This is why we are thrilled with
this generous loan from Polaris
- we will have a very functional electric
vehicle, ideally suited for our
Painted Hills ranger, and we'll be able to
plug it in at the house and use
the surplus solar-based energy it generates
to charge it."
The Polaris EV LSV, includes the necessary
features to classify the vehicle as a low
speed vehicle per the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration, such as a horn, turn
signals, automotive-quality windshield and
rear view mirror. The unit features a 30-horsepower
electric motor, up to a 50-mile range, 25
mph top speed, 1,000-pound payload capacity,
1,250 lbs. of towing and a 500-lb cargo box.
The unit can be used in three modes; High
for speed, Low for towing and hauling, and
Max for maximum range to ensure the best use
of power and battery life for any application.
The Polaris EV LSV also has VersaTrac with
one-wheel, rear-wheel drive for a tighter
turning radius that is easier on terrain.
About Polaris
With annual
2009 sales of $1.6 billion, Polaris designs,
engineers, manufactures and markets off-road
vehicles (ORVs), including all-terrain vehicles
(ATVs) and the Polaris RANGER(r), snowmobiles
and Victory Motorcycles(r) for recreational
and utility use. Polaris is a recognized leader
in the snowmobile industry, and one of the
largest manufacturers of ORVs in the world.
Victory Motorcycles, established in 1998 and
representing the first all-new American-made
motorcycle from a major company in nearly
60 years, are rapidly making impressive in-roads
into the cruiser and touring motorcycle marketplace.
Polaris also enhances the riding experience
with a complete line of Pure Polaris(r) apparel,
accessories and parts, available at Polaris
dealerships.
Polaris Industries Inc.
trades on the New York Stock Exchange under
the symbol "PII," and the Company
is included in the S&P Small-Cap 600 stock
price index.
Information about the
complete line of Polaris products, apparel
and vehicle accessories, is available from
authorized Polaris dealers or anytime from
the Polaris homepage at www.polarisindustries.com.