ASHLAND, Ore. — Electric all-terrain vehicles may not impress the dune- and trail-riding crowd that rides for recreation, but a few small companies expect organic farmers and vineyard growers will pay a premium to gather cattle and spray vines without the carbon footprint of a gas vehicle.

While automakers are toiling to produce electric cars that will fit the demands of American drivers, Ashland-based Barefoot Motors is on the verge of turning out heavy-duty ATVs that can go 50 miles on a charge costing about 90 cents.

"I think a lot of attention is focused on the more glamorous vehicles -- the cars," said Chief Executive Max Scheder-Bieschin. "But there are lots of other applications where the strength of the technology can be focused."

Debby Zygielbaum, vineyard manager at organic Robert Sinskey Vineyards in Napa, Calif., test-drove an early Barefoot prototype last year and is eager to be an early adopter when production starts in June. She'd like to haul her spraying equipment without fogging the vines with exhaust fumes, and the ATV could get free power from the vineyard's solar panels.

"It's becoming feasible where it will actually become a working vehicle to use in the field," she said.

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So Honda is getting into the electric motorcycle biz huh? Well, now we know what they plan to do with all the engineering talent suddenly available from their now defunct F1 & AMA efforts.

Motorcycle News (via our friends at AutoBlogGreen) says Honda is serious about building a workable Ebike and selling it to the likes of you and me by 2010. Sure, that sounds plausible. Honda has the engineering grunt and it pretty much has the whole motorcycle thing down, so it seems like a lead pipe cinch.

But is it?

The pope who wears Prada has a new set of chic custom wheels.

Pope Benedict XVI, who has made headlines with his high-style red designer loafers and his Gucci shades, is tooling around the grounds of Vatican City in an electric car outfitted in luxurious Natuzzi Italian white leather. His latest fashion statement was donated to the pontiff by Global Electric Motorcars (GEM), a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler, and Natuzzi.

"It was a very special project and an honor to be involved in it," said Daniel Tranchini, chief global sales and marketing officer for Natuzzi, the world's largest manufacturer of leather upholstery, calling us from the International Furniture Fair in Cologne, Germany.

The car, which bears a vague resemblance to a golf cart, has the papal seal on the front and back and was made for short hops behind the walls of Vatican City. No word on whether there is a papal putting green out there.

Dozens of communities across the US have recently passed ordinances allowing golf carts to share the road with cars. The electric powered carts are turning into a viable transportation alternative for people feeling the strain of expensive gasoline.  A few communities around the country have even created dedicated cart lanes. With top speeds of approximately 20 mph and a very informal safety system, these tiny vehicles are only appropriate on roads with lower speed limits. New laws are going to have to be put in place to deal with safety concerns as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does not yet recognize golf carts as on-road vehicles.

USA Today: “More Golf Carts Leaving The Greens”

Vern Buchanan (R), the Congressman representing the Sarasota, FL area, is one politician who sees the "green" light. While visiting with solar and electric car maker, Cruise Car Inc, whose manufacturing and sales operation is in his district, the lawmaker made a plea for a national bipartisan effort to make the switch from fossil fuels to more environmentally-friendly energy sources. Speaking to the company's employees and assembled media, Buchanan said, "My sense is we've been misled as Americans in many ways for the last 25 years in terms of our energy and where we're going to get it. Solar, alternate energy, all that stuff is possible; it'll create jobs, it'll make a difference."

Proof of that difference was all around him. While obviously not the transportation solution for everybody, Cruise Car is doing a booming business. There's a 60 to 90 day waiting list for some of their vehicles, which can go up to 62 miles on a charge and are powered by the sun, though they can be plugged in for extra charging if necessary. The company is doubling its 10 employees this year and will be moving to a new facility (and doing more hiring) to keep up with an exponential increase in demand. Hopefully, more of our representatives will open their eyes to the many benefits of a greener economy and make the changes needed to speed things along.

[Source: Bradenton Herald]

Deciding to buy your child a go kart can be a difficult decision to make. If you have already decided to take the plunge, then you may be trying to decide whether gas or electric go karts are the better choice. Electric go karts have a number of advantages over karts powered by gas. This article will share with you those advantages.

Cheaper

Electric go karts are usually much cheaper than their gas counterparts. Karts powered by gas normally start around $400 or $500. You can find a lot of electric go karts that will only cost you a maximum of $200.

Safer

Go karts that rely on gas for power can be dangerous due to the fact that gasoline is extremely flammable. Most parents wouldn't be too thrilled with having their kids handling gasoline. Even kids can safely handle the batteries required by electric go karts. Also, most electric karts have some form of speed control so that parents can control how fast their kids are able to go.

Environmentally Friendlier

Everyone knows that burning gas releases toxic fumes into the atmosphere. For the environmentally conscious parent, electric go karts are the perfect solution. In addition to helping save the Earth, your kid won't be breathing in any poisonous fumes while he's having fun in his new toy

Noise

The engine of gas powered go karts make a lot of noise when running. If you live in a relatively quiet neighborhood, this may cause problems with your neighbors. Electric karts make considerably less noise

Maintenance

Maintenance costs for go karts powered by gas can add up quickly. You will need a constant supply of fuel. In addition to this, gas engines are more susceptible to breakdowns and oil leaks. With electric go karts, you can simply recharge the battery time and time again. Also, they have much less moving parts, so they are far less likely to break down.

Performance

Electric go karts usually have more efficient engines than gas go karts. They easily outperform gas powered karts in handling and performance. Also, they are virtually impossible to tip over while cutting sharp corners like gas go karts are vulnerable to doing.

Easier to Start

The price of gas is getting out of hand everywhere. Ok, maybe not Venezuela, where its cheaper than our bottled water at ¢15 a gallon, but almost everywhere else, it's expensive. In the Philippines its so costly ($4.50 gallon in a country where, according to the Philippine National Statistics Office, the average household income is about $4,000 USD a year) that the Philippine National Police (PNP) has started testing neighborhood electric vehicles (NEV) with the goal of putting them into regular action.

The customized vehicle can accommodate 4 adults and comes with a police light bar and "Polis" markings. There are no gears to shift, so operation is simple. With a top speed of 30 km/h (slow) they won't be involved in any high-speed chases but they're still adequate for routine patrols and providing police visibility. The force is also considering implementing bicycles.

The recent lifting of the low speed vehicle (LSV) ban in Quebec has shone the light of discovery on another electric vehicle manufacturer getting ready to go gangbusters. In Ste.-Therese, Quebec, very close to where the Chevrolet Camaro plant was once located, sits the home of Nemo. Locally designed and manufactured, their vehicle, the Must HD2 has garnered interest from 50 municipalities within "La Belle Province" as well as from individuals. Company president, Jacques Rancourt, says they've sold 15 trucks in the past week and a half since their legal status changed and now expects to move 500 units this year.

The Must HD2 sells for around $20,000, is built on an aluminum chassis and can handle a 1,000 lb payload. Being an LSV, it's limited to 25 miles an hour but has a 70 mile range. Since it's made in the North, it does has a robust heater and many options ranging from lithium ion batteries to an AM/FM radio with CD player. We think it's a pretty cool looking truck, seemingly capable of handling a range of chores and so we wish the makers of this little brute, "Bonne chance!".

TreeHugger has recently covered the Solar Sailor and solar-powered electric bike, but we've never seen anything quite like this. For the serious DIYer, SolarVehicles.org offers info, resources, advice and even blueprints for building your own solar-powered vehicle. Most of the models are somewhere between a scooter and a golf cart, and, according to the pictures on the site, they even work! It may not be the kind of thing you'd want to take on the highway or even a busy street, but they seem perfect for putting around town. Once built, the three and four-wheeled vehicles go between 25 and 40 km/h (about 15 to 25 mph) depending on the load/cargo and grade of the road. The site has all the info you'll need to build your own, from wheels to solar cells to frames, so you can get yourself around using the power of the sun. ::Solar Vehicles

When reader W.T. Stonehill passed along news about a new article in The Economist concerning 3-4 million "souped up" golf carts hitting the roads and off-roads in the US, we, like him, we're pretty excited -- perhaps it was another sign that the electric car hadn't yet been killed. Apparently, since 1996, a large number of DIYers have been buying up old golf carts and modifying both the engines and bodies to turn them into "mini-Hummers." This would be great, except for one fact that the article buries at the end: "Most golf carts are electric and clean. But the souped-up ones have petrol engines and are fast."

While we won't go deeply into the Freudian implications of one golf cart modifier's claim that his raised, 36-bolt electric golf cart "makes me feel like a man,” we'd love to hear about tinkerers that are keeping their carts clean and green while exercising their mechanical prowess and creativity. The golf cart is a great model for short-distance electric transportation, and we'll bet that they can be souped up while still running on batteries. ::The Economist