Briggs & Stratton and Club Car Announce Strategic Supply Agreement
Briggs & Stratton Corp. announced a new strategic supply agreement with Ingersoll Rand to power Club Car vehicles with its Vanguard Commercial Lithium-Ion Battery Packs.
Beginning in July, the company will power Club Car’s new Lithium-Ion line of Fleet Golf Cars. With lithium-ion power, the fleet charges two times faster, reduces energy consumption, requires zero maintenance, and has a much longer life compared to traditional lead-acid batteries, the company said.
“The Vanguard Commercial Lithium-Ion Battery Pack is unique because of its modular construction,” said Jeff Zeiler, vice president, vice president of product innovation at Briggs & Stratton Corp. “This flexibility, coupled with 110-plus years of power application expertise, allows us to work closely with a wide range of customers and needs, developing a rugged solution that provides the required amount of power and runtime - in addition, we also offer the convenience of product testing and further system refinement in our Power Application Centers. Briggs & Stratton and Club Car collaborated for a number of months to develop a solution perfect for powering the vehicles, and we’re excited to say we’ve done it - these cars are packed with plenty of power and will provide an exceptional experience on the golf course.”
“We are enthusiastic about our new collaboration with Briggs & Stratton,” said Rodney Storer, Club Car integrated supply chain leader. “We value the in-depth knowledge and wide experience with lithium technology Briggs & Stratton brings to the partnership. Including their high-quality, automotive-grade battery system in our cars is a big win for Club Car. This battery system can be scaled and used across a broad range of applications and environments. Club Car will benefit from Briggs & Stratton’s speed and nimbleness as a design and supply partner – and, our customers will appreciate the reliability and efficiency of the system and enjoy the enhanced in-car experience that comes with this lithium solution.”
As a result of this new agreement and other rapidly increasing interest, Briggs & Stratton previously announced it will open a new Advanced Battery Manufacturing facility in Tucker, Ga. As of June 10, four production lines will be operational within the new 78,000-square-foot facility, which has capacity to accommodate future growth. This facility is in addition to the current production space located in Milwaukee, Wis., which going forward will serve as a developmental facility to support the influx of interested customers in this $12 billion addressable market, including military, construction, municipal and golf & leisure, in addition to lawn & garden.
“This new facility supports our commitment to investing in high-growth areas of the company; of which driving growth in commercial markets and introducing new enabling technologies, including battery power solutions, rise to the top,” said Zeiler.
For additional information, please visit www.vanguardpower.com
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.