18 • May 2025 • Powersports Business

Upfit UTV, a Fox Factory subsidiary and pioneer in producing purpose-built, custom vehicles, and OMI, an electric powertrain engineering firm, are jointly introducing new off-highway vehicles( OHVs) that employ what they call“ OMI Fusion-Drive.” This hybrid system has been adapted for powersports, commercial, and government fleets, according to a recent press release.

TECHNOLOGY OMI Fusion-Drive pairs the power and range of combustion engines with the instant acceleration, throttle response, and quiet operation of electric motors. This makes it ideal for defense missions that demand stealth and reliability, as well as heavy-duty work in agriculture and construction, and recreational off-roading, such as rock crawling, the company says.

“ OMI Fusion-Drive lets us deliver game-changing performance for off-road vehicles,” says Justin Smith, CEO of Upfit UTV.“ The combination of power, adaptability, and advanced technology ensures we’ re meeting the needs of even the most demanding applications.”

EFFICIENCY OMI Fusion-Drive’ s scalable design allows installation without chassis modification across a range of vehicle models, enabling fast installation and more product choices. OMI’ s pre-integration and platform-level optimizations reduce cost, weight, and space, helping OEMs and upfitters cut development time from years to months.

PARTNERSHIP This collaboration combines Upfit UTV’ s industry leadership and distribution network with OMI’ s three decades of expertise in automotive electromechanical innovation. Together, they aim to deliver ruggedized performance that is unmatched in today’ s market, deploys rapidly, and is designed and built in North America.

“ Upfit UTV is an ideal partner for OMI,” says Nicholas White, CEO and founder of OMI.“ Together, we can quickly scale highperformance vehicles that meet the unique needs of off-highway fleets.”

LAUNCH The Polaris Ranger 1500 will be the first platform to feature OMI Fusion-Drive, available in both diesel and gasoline options. Engineered for heavy-duty tasks in defense, agriculture, and commercial uses, these vehicles will hit the market in Q1 2026.

OUR TAKE We spoke with OMI’ s chief marketing officer a couple of months ago, and he says that the exciting part of the hybrid system is not that it is more sustainable for the environment, which is a great side benefit, but that it offers more performance for special applications. Think of this system as a more complex supercharger or turbocharger for a combustion engine. The kicker is that the throttle response is instant and can be mapped accordingly, whether for rock crawling, towing, hunting, or quiet trail riding. The cost may be a bigger issue, as this system will add a significant amount to the sticker price. The company’ s best bet may be to find an OEM partner. However, this could be the start of a new OHV segment, which currently only includes Segway and its Super Villain. OMI and Upfit UTV are leaning more towards utility than sport or recreation.

If you think a hybrid is only for tree-huggers, think again. OMI’ s Fusion Drive systems aim to make it all about the performance and utility of the system’ s electric motors paired with gasoline or diesel engines.( Photos: OMI)

The Polaris Ranger 1500 will be the first platform to feature OMI Fusion-Drive, available in both diesel and gasoline options.