GEM '1992–pr.

In 1992, a group of former General Motors engineers formed Trans2 Corporation in Livonia, Michigan. By 1995, they had designed an advanced electric vehicle using an aluminum frame and composite body materials. Their target market was customers in California and Arizona, where state laws allowed the use of alternative vehicles on certain city and neighborhood streets. Called the Personal Community Vehicle, their design was shown at a number of sustainable energy shows.

By 1998, the company had been sold to a group of Midwestern investors and moved to Fargo, North Dakota. The new owners renamed it Global Electric Motorcars and adopted the GEM brand for their vehicles. Their fortunes were favored by rulemaking at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA), which defined a new class of "low speed vehicles", latterly called "neighborhood electric vehicles", or NEVs. GEM started producing a range of models, including two-seaters, four-seaters, and a number of two-seat cargo vehicles. Following the NHTSA rulemaking, many other states revised their statutes to allow use of NEVs on certain types of public highways. Global Electric Motorcars LLC was acquired by DaimlerChrysler Corporation in December 2000.

GEM remained with Chrysler Group LLC after the DaimlerChrysler divorce. Polaris Industries, best known for snowmobiles and all terrain vehicles, purchased GEM in July 2011.