Arizona is building a reputation as a home for electric vehicle makers and one Phoenix startup is taking this new sector off the beaten path.
Battle Approved Motors is an early-stage startup looking to build an electric UTV, or utility task vehicle, specifically for high-end off-road racing. The company describes its envisioned vehicle as “Ferrari meets Tesla in the dirt.”
CEO and founder Chris James got the idea for building an electric UTV while producing a film project, "Mod Kids USA," which documented the lives of young modified, off-road kart racers.
“Wouldn't it be really cool if we could make a vehicle that does perform as well as these carts and trucks and really make it a vehicle for the future,” James said of the original thought behind the company. “Battle Approved Motors is, as far as I'm concerned, going to go all the way, and we just need people to believe in that.”
The company is currently running an equity crowdfunding campaign on StartEngine, which has raised $163,000 so far. BAM ran a similar campaign last year that pulled in just over $1 million, a significant portion of which went toward marketing, according to documents the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
BAM is currently in the design phase of production, with its 12-member team working in both Arizona and Wisconsin. The company is designing the vehicle in a program called SolidWorks, and it expects to debut its first vehicle, the two-seater e103, by the end of 2023.
The company lists its valuation at $52 million on the crowdfunding page, but in its filings with the SEC, BAM said this figure was “determined internally” without independent third-party evaluation.
James did not share much in the way of product development specifics, citing competitive secrecy in the racing industry, but he said the company is working with “the best of the best” partners for things like batteries and powertrains.
Big dreams
The ultimate vision for the company is grand and sprawling; BAM hopes to build three different models of its vehicle, to make high-end trailers, offer memberships for shareholders and to start its own off-road, all-electric racing series by 2024.
“What we want to do with Battle Approved is really be like what like Formula One has done for that for asphalt racing and power racing,” he said. “We want to be that for off-road.”
He likened the BAM UTVs to Mickey Mouse and his role at Disney; The vehicle is just the starting point for the universe of BAM products, including a physical attraction.
BAM owns 203 acres of land in Yucca, near Arizona’s western border, where the company envisions building a “real estate paradise” with a private testing facility and sustainable community called the Battle Ground.
Building Battle Ground is still a ways off, but the vision is to create a place for the off-road community to live and play, much like the homes surrounding golf courses in the Valley, but with more dirt and less fairway.
