The Science Of Packaging
High Performance In A Small Footprint Zeus began in September 2001 when a collection of experienced individuals decided to act on a shared conviction that off-road vehicles could not only be more compact but also be simultaneously high-performance and safe to operate. Built on a safety platform, Zeus appeals to both military and commercial markets in its mission to create world-class off-road vehicle systems and commercialize them for profitable niche markets. The vehicle design firm produces innovative solutions to complex problems, focusing on bridging the technology gap between what currently is available and what is necessary to address the end user’s need for performance, speed, utility and safety. “There are some large-vehicle companies that provide good vehicle dynamics, and there are some small-vehicle companies that provide compact vehicles,” enumerates Will Harvey, CEO of Zeus. “But there are no companies out there right now that deliver excellent vehicle dynamics in small packages. That’s what we do.” Zeus finds its key success factor in the science that takes place during the development of its proprietary technologies. With inhouse testing and instrumentation capabilities, Zeus builds prototypes and performs tests on the vehicles before they go into production. Zeus crosschecks the real-world testing
data with state-of-the-art solid models for accuracy. “The quality of our design is reliant on the strength of our scientific propositions, and we do our due diligence there in a very reasonably careful fashion,” Harvey declares. “We follow the numbers right through to the detail and to the design that makes the most sense.” Whereas some high-tech developers dedicate the majority of their resources on the front end
with each of Zeus’s team members, all of whom are longstanding members of the company’s core user category. “We’re about vehicles. We’re just a bunch of car guys more than anything else,” Harvey confides. “What we pride ourselves on is taking that mutual obsession—that enthusiasm—to a technical pinnacle.” Since its inception, Zeus has achieved several milestones, among them several patents and patents pending for design as well as a contract with the Office of Naval Research and the Marine Corps Vehicle Group for technological development of an internally transportable vehicle (ITV) prototype. Staying true to the Zeus mission, the firm is independently commercializing a compact utility vehicle for the hunting market under a separate brand called Overfield. The technology used in the Overfield vehicle is a direct descendant from that developed for the ITV project. When asked about the future of Zeus, Harvey pipes in without even a moment’s hesitation, “We’re looking to the future of alternate materials and construction methods. We’re also very interested in alternate propulsion systems, specifically electric propulsion….” He concludes, “Our challenge is not so much in creating new opportunities as it is in deciding which of our strong options to pursue.” Z
“We’re about vehicles. We’re just a bunch of car guys more than anything else.” to explore ideas or technologies but then fall short in the arena of developing viable products, Zeus retains a position on the other side of the spectrum with regard to business approach. “We are not exclusively a research company. We are a product company,” says Harvey. “We look at the process from a market perspective, so we can create products of technology that are adaptable to satisfy existing market demand.” Harvey continues, “We are looking for people who need high performance.” Zeus has identified such markets in top-end recreational users, serious hunters, the military and certain government agencies. Zeus believes, “Speed is life,” an expression of how much performance matters to avid vehicle enthusiasts. The maxim resonates
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