Sunday Strategist: Polaris Goes Electric Slowly and All At Once

Over a breakfast of eggs and buffalo sausage last month, Scott Wine—CEO of Polaris, the motorcycle, snowmobile, and off-road vehicle maker—was giddy about a partnership he was patching together with Zero Motorcycles, an e-bike brand launched from a Santa Cruz garage.

“What I keep telling my board is that this gives us instant offense,” Wine told me. “If we do it ourselves, we’re four years away and probably $50 million in operating expense.”