Taos Ski Valley Resort in New Mexico wrote in an e-newsletter today that it has deployed the “first, fully electric snowcat in North America.”
For those unfamiliar, a snowcat is a snow groomer that packs snow and improves skiing, snowboarding, and snowmobile trail conditions.
Taos Valley has put a Prinoth Husky eMOTION on its slopes, which is an electric snow groomer with a 180 kW (245 hp) engine and a battery capacity of either 100 or 200 kWh, depending on whether the resort opted for basic or premium. Italy-based Prinoth says on its website that the eMOTION has a run time of up to three hours and a DC fast charging capacity of 100 kW. (Its AC charging capacity is 22 kW.)
But today’s announcement is a wee bit confusing. Taos Ski Valley made a similar claim in April 2022 when it said it was “North America’s first ski resort to announce it will deploy a fully electric PistenBully snowcat” 100E from Kässbohrer – a different make and model from what it announced today.
Something must not have worked out, as the resort’s sustainability page states that last year, it deployed a “hybrid Pistenbully snowcat which has a 20% fuel savings over traditional diesel snow cats” – and there’s no mention of the 100E.
Taos Ski Valley said today that the eMOTION electric snowcat will reduce its emissions from snow grooming by around 1,100 pounds per shift. And, of course, it’s going to be a whole lot quieter than diesel snow groomers.
Taos Ski Valley, the world’s first B Corp Certified ski resort and a certified carbon-neutral company, has already deployed electric snowmobiles, utility terrain vehicles, and snowblowers. The resort has set a net zero by 2030 target.
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