I am very intrigued by the possibility of electric snowmobiles in the future, I think it is a matter of time. I think the introduction of battery based snowmobiles will be a tiered approach, as we have seen in cars. Obviously the easiest to satisfy users are those that are using them to access areas on snow covered roads or transport in range limited areas (ski areas, resorts, etc), these are the lowest power applications that require the least amount of battery, these are utility based users. The next step is those wanting to access backcountry areas with high power needed to break trail and make it back to the trailhead, these are accessed based users. The last step will be satisfying the hard core users who like to ride all day, these are performance based users and will demand the most.
Currently I think the battery technology exist to satisfy the utility based users. Current battery technologies are about 200 wh/kg in terms of power density. In order to match the range and power requirements needed by accessed based users, I think batteries would need to be ~500wh/kg. At 500wh/kg sleds could match weight with the current top power sleds (160hp), and offer about 60% of the range. In order to satisfy the performance users, we need batteries that are at least 800wh/kg, to hit range and weight parity of the current 2 stroke based offerings. The leaps in battery technology needed means that in order to satisfy all users it will be a few years (my wild ass guess is 10), but we should get started on figuring out the hurdles now with utility based designs.
There are some inherent benefits built in to using an electric drivetrain to power a snowmobile, and that mainly comes down to heat. The main limitations with an electric drivetrain is keeping things cool (batteries, magnets, rotors, power electronics, etc), if you are able to keep things cool you can "overdrive" the performance of a system and get more torque/power out of a lighter system.
Overall, stoked where this is headed, I think everything will be electric in 15 years, and I hope that allows us to ride/access areas which are currently off limits.
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