McGill University's electric snowmobile in the 2013 Clean Snowmobile Challenge
/ Beth Cefalu
Many of us are familiar with electric cars, but what about electric snowmobiles?
Electric snowmobiles are much cleaner and quieter than conventional snowmobiles. They are run with an electric motor and don't release any emissions.
Two teams created electric snowmobiles for this year's Clean Snowmobile Challenge in Calumet, however, they haven't hit the mainstream market yet. But some scientific researchers are using them to collect data without contamination.
"If you were to ride up to one of these sights with a conventional snowmobile, it would skew the data right off the chart," explained technical specialist Tracy Dahl. "If you contaminated the snow, you would have to move your sampling entirely."
"It's extremely critical to be able to access these sights without contaminating them," he added.
Because they don't emit pollutants, electric snowmobiles may also eventually be used for medical rescues.
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