I apologize if this has been discussed before. I tried to look but couldn’t find anything.
A little background:
I am looking to buy a Polaris GEM e6. I want the longer battery life, but I do not want to spend $10,000 on a battery (maybe I am seeing that wrong). To me that is crazy. Furthermore, I am looking at the used market, and majority of the ones being sold do not have the lithium battery upgrade.
My question is, how fast does the Polaris GEM E6 use up power? Can I charge the Polaris with a battery pack, as I am driving it? The battery pack will have a outlet for 110 volts. My thought process on this, is that I saw the solar option on the Gem website. It simply states that it will extend the range ( I assume this means it will charge the Gem, so I am thinking an electric battery pack will do the same, but by how much, I don’t know)
I guess really (and I apologize, I just have a basic understanding of electricity) how many watts per mile does the Polaris E6 use?
The GEM website states that the Lithium-Ion 8.9 kWh can give the E6 ALMOST 50 miles per charge. So, does this mean each mile is roughly 178 watts? (8.9 kwh = 8,900 watts divided by 50 = 178 watts)
So did I just answer my own question? Will a 1,000 watt battery pack simply last a little bit over 5 miles? If so, then I guess the $10,000 option is not so bad. lol.
Looks good to me. In theory!
Polaris may be optimistic about mileage. My older Gems use 250w per mile stop and go. An E6 would be over 300w/m unloaded.
Conversion losses 12v-48v will eat up a lot. The 1kw may also be 1/2 when trying to use it in less than an hour. (AH @ C-rating)
Taking a battery along for the ride adds weight.
While Polaris gets $12k for 12kwh battery. (from memory) A new Chevy Bolt 12kwh battery from Chevy is <$5k.
An as new 18kwh Chevy Volt from a salvage yard is <$5 also.
Your on the right track for high mileage. More kwh.
Yea. I think every company exaggerates their mileage. This will be in Houston, so it will be nice and flat though.
I saw y’all talking about the car batteries like the bolt you mentioned but thought I was misunderstanding it… so to be clear we can grab these car batteries and put them on the gem? (No worries, I will find someone to do it properly lol) but 18kwh would suffice my needs and then some.
I wouldn’t say “no worries”. It can be done.
We have more experience with the classic Gems. Polaris has tightened the screws on the new ones.
If you find a classic E6, someone on here might do it for 1/2 the price of a Polaris battery.
Yes, you can buy these car batteries and use them on your GEM but to be very clear; it is not a simple matter of dropping it in. There is a lot of added steps and some hardware that will be needed. Dave @Inwo can hook you up with all the electrical items you need as well as give you the tech support (as can many others of us). Many of us have pulled this off and I’m not aware of anyone who isn’t delighted with the outcome. Just know that it is a bonafide project and not just a simple drop-in replacement.
