ASHLAND, Ore. — Electric all-terrain vehicles with a club car golf cart motor style 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, with golf cart speed controller, 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 club car golf cart motor style vehicle 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. These electric club car golf cart motor style is pretty typical for the golf cart industry and provides tons of power in aftermarket applications.  MSD

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Dozens of communities across the US have recently passed ordinances allowing Club Car electric golf cart style vehicles to share the road with cars. The club car golf cart motor style vehicles 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 club car electric golf 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 these carts with a club car golf cart motor as on-road vehicles.    MSD

USA Today: “More Golf Carts Leaving The Greens”

First thing's first, though. City staff must assess the following:

-- Which city roads can accommodate carts with Club car golf cart motors? (golf cart parts club car)

-- Would the future demographics of the city support golf carts with club car parts as a means of transportation?

-- Safety. Dennis Smith, the retired golfer in The Villages, says this is really the key. "Everybody should be concerned about their safety with golf carts with club car parts driving around" he said.

-- If pathways are needed, how would they be constructed and how much would they cost?

-- How would this affect future development?

-- What developments would support golf carts parts club car with access?

-- What are the requirements for street legal golf carts parts club car carts?

After an initial assessment, if the commission chooses, the city would look to hire a transportation engineer to do a formal study.

Herman Schultz, manager of Tomlin USA, a club car electric golf cart vendor on U.S. Highway 301 just outside Wildwood, said if he were a Wildwood city official, he'd mostly be concerned for the safety of the golf carts parts club car and their operators. For example, The Villages has many paths designated for club car electric golf carts, and Wildwood should consider building the same types of paths, Schultz said.

"You have to have a designated path," he said.

Wherever the city of Wildwood looks for advice on club car electric golf carts, one place to start might the town of Lady Lake. In 1989, the notion first came up for people to get around Lady Lake's portion of The Villages, said police Chief Ed Nathanson.

For years, the Lady Lake portion of The Villages has allowed golf carts parts club car carts. A few subdivisions in Lady Lake that are not part of The Villages also allow golf cart drivers, Nathanson said.

In Lady Lake, people can drive golf carts parts club car carts24/7, but to drive at night, they need headlights and brake lights, and preferably, some sort of reflectors, Nathanson said. (club car parts)

Lady Lake has experienced very few major problems with club car electric golf cart drivers sharing roads with other motorists, the chief said. In about 20 years, Nathanson said he's worked one fatal accident involving a golf cart driver.

The town regularly conducts courses on how operators with carts with club car golf cart motors can drive safely with other motorists.

"As long as people make safe choices," they'll be OK, Nathanson said.   MSD (golf cart parts club car)

CLAYTON • An electric epiphany shot through Concordia Seminary when the Lutheran theological institute recently replaced much of its aging fleet of maintenance vehicles.

Dealers specializing in small, gas-powered utility trucks once could have counted on the seminary’s business. This time, Concordia headed for the Kirkwood showroom of VIP Golf Carts. (high performance club car golf cart motor)

There, for less than the price of a single new gas-powered vehicle, the seminary purchased five used electric carts (with Club Car motors) to transport visitors, security officers, housekeeping and maintenance workers around campus.

“As a seminary ... we want to be good stewards of natural resources,” explained Steve Mudd, director of facilities. “It’s not only good thing to do as a citizen, it is also is good in terms of upholding the seminary’s Lutheran beliefs.”

Industry officials say the carts with a club car golf cart motor whirring around Concordia epitomize the evolution from a conveyance for duffers on fairways to vehicles increasingly purchased for utilitarian and transportation purposes.

“Nobody thought about selling golf cars with a high performance club car golf cart motor for non-golf use when I started” 25 years ago, said Neal Smith, president of Little Egypt Golf Cars in Salem, Ill. These carts use a club car golf cart motor.

Now, non-golf purchases of golf cart parts club car to individuals and businesses, that wouldn’t know a seven iron from a triple bogey, account for nearly half of the business at Smith’s three dealerships in Illinois and Missouri, including Gateway Golf Cars in St. Louis.

“You really have a lot of people using a high performance club car golf cart motor on their own to just pick up the trash or to use while gardening,” said Smith. “They feel safe driving them. And they want something that the dog can sit on or the grandkids can sit in or even drive.”

Advocates for fuel-efficient transportation don’t track sales of club car electric golf carts. Nor, for that matter, does the organization representing the industry’s manufacturers, the International Light Transportation Vehicle Association. But dealers say that golf cars with a high performance club car golf cart motor  is business is booming. Many people are upgrading their Club Car motor with new club car motors.

As recently as ten years ago, golf courses and country clubs were still the primary customers for M&M Golf Cars, the state’s largest dealership with outlets in Mexico, Lee’s Summit and O’Fallon, Mo.

Today, about 40 percent of the 5,000 vehicles M&M moves on an annual basis are purchased for non-golf purposes with higher performance golf cart parts club car, said company president Chris Miller.

On the fleet side, large campgrounds, apartment complexes, car dealerships, business parks and college campuses have stepped into the breach when financially strapped golf courses and country clubs curtailed purchases of electric carts with club car golf cart motors during the recession.

Though sales to homeowners lag behind the fleet market, dealers are seeing an uptick in purchases by outdoor enthusiasts who’ve discovered the value of a relatively quiet mode of transportation (club car electric golf carts) — now available with camouflage paint jobs and factory-installed pop-up tents.

Hunters like them because they can drive into the woods with club car parts undetected by deer and other prey, said Miller.

VIP Golf Carts sales manager Dave Wojciechowski sees Neighborhood Electric Vehicle purchases growing exponentially in the event Missouri lawmakers enact legislation governing use of low-speed transportation on public byways. Even the speedy 48 volt club car electric golf carts with the golf cart parts club car can provide the customer with the high performance they desire at a very affordable price!!!!

Illinois has a law on the books allowing slow vehicles on roads with a posted speed limit of 30 mph. or less; Missouri has yet to adopt a definitive statewide statute guiding use of carts with higher performance golf cart parts club car on public thoroughfares. (Some Missouri municipalities have, however, addressed the issue.)

But as anyone who ventures into Soulard, Lafayette Square or area retirement communities may have noticed, the absence of definitive ordinances has not slowed sales of carts with higher performance golf cart parts club car to residents in those neighborhoods.

“Until the state comes out and says where you can and can’t drive a cart with a club car golf cart motor, people will keep on doing it,” said Wojciechowski.

A versatile frame that can convert rear seats into cargo capacity and the sticker price — typically $5,000 to $12,000 for a new vehicle — is a big draw for purchasing departments seeking low-maintenance alternatives for building and grounds departments. All they need is some higher performance golf cart parts club car, and their ready to go!

“They certainly fit the bill at half the price of a pickup truck,” said Dave Hurst, an analyst with Pike Research, a Colorado-based consultant specializing in alternative energy.

And switching to a club car electric motor saved Concordia a carload of money. The sticker price for the gas-powered vehicles purchased in the past runs from $18,000-$22,000 new and about $15,000 used. The cost of the used club car electric golf carts the seminary bought off the VIP lot: $3,500 each.

And that doesn’t even take into account how much the seminary figures to save by using vehicles powered by electricity as opposed to a fossil fuel — a consideration the industry believes will ultimately drive most corporate or institutional decisions to move to club car electric golf carts with high performance club car parts or hybrid.

“Fleet operators love electric because they live and die on the cost of fuel per mile,” said Brian Wynne, the president of the Electric Drive Transportation Association in suburban Washington.

Ken Wambold, the national sales manager for Wheego Electric Cars, based in Atlanta, said the addition of public solar-powered charging stations and technology that extends the golf car battery capacity to about 100 miles would attract even more buyers to low-speed transportation.

“It will relieve a lot of people from what’s called ‘range anxiety,’ ” Wambold said.

Ultimately, though, it’s the escalating cost of oil that inserts club car electric golf carts with high performance club cars parts into the category of growth industries.

“Every time gas spikes, we have a spike in sales of carts for non-golf use,” said Miller. “I will assume that sales will continue to climb, because I don’t see the price of gasoline coming down.”  (club car electric golf carts with high performance club cars parts)    MSD

One of the deadliest roads in Spokane County is getting some needed attention.

The Spokane County Sheriff's Office last week announced that it will be launching an enforcement campaign on Monroe Road, which runs for 11 miles from Half Moon Prairie to the west side of Deer Park.

The Washington Traffic Safety Commission has made grant funding available for the extra enforcement.

The sheriff's office is teaming up with the county engineer's office and the Spokane County Target Zero Task Force. Target Zero is a program to end all traffic fatalities.

Deputy Craig Chamberlin, spokesman for the sheriff, said Monroe Road has seen five fatalities and 18 serious injury accidents in the past four years.

Three fatal accidents over a six-month period in 2009 claimed the lives of a motorcycle driver, a teenage girl and a 19-year-old man.

"Speed is the major contributing factor" in the accidents, Chamberlin said.

The 19-year-old was going an estimated 70 mph when he lost control of his vehicle entering a curve, according to news files.

The speed limit is 45 mph.

The grant funding will pay for extra patrols in the designated safety project corridor starting in coming days and continuing for one year.

In addition, the county engineer's office has finished a series of road improvements, including enhanced signage "with higher retro-reflective sheeting" at curves, Chamberlin said.

In addition, new outer-edge striping has been laid down. Shoulder areas were improved as a safety measure, and rocks and trees were removed alongside the roadway. New guardrails went up.

"Slow Down and Stay Safe" signs are being installed along the route.

Similar safety projects have been undertaken over the years on the region's highways, including U.S. Highway 2 through Airway Heights and cities to the west.

Club Car Golf cart zone proposed.

Electric golf carts (using Club Car motors) may soon become a preferred mode of transportation in northeast Spokane.

The Spokane City Council tonight is considering an ordinance to establish an electric golf cart zone in that part of town. These carts use hight speed Club Car motors.

A 2009 state law allows cities to designate golf cart zones on streets with speed limits of 25 mph or less.

The measure was developed at the request of the Greater Hillyard Neighborhood Planning Alliance.

"One of their strategies was improving mobility for residents," said Councilwoman Amber Waldref, who is sponsoring the measure.

Residents who want to drive golf carts with on city streets won't need a license, but they will have to register with the city for a $50 annual fee and provide an affidavit of insurance coverage through a homeowner's or other policy. Drivers also must be at least 16 and have driving experience or have taken a driver education class.

Safety equipment such as mirrors is required, as are lights for nighttime travel.

Hillyard proponents of the measure asked that the zone be limited to electric carts only, Waldref said. These carts would be required to use Club Car motors.

The carts are allowed to cross arterials, but they cannot be driven on arterials where speeds are higher than 25 mph.

The fee will pay the cost of posting signs in the designated zone, which will be bounded by Francis Avenue on the north, the city limits to the east, Euclid Avenue and North Foothills Drive to the south and Nevada Street to the west.

A new vehicle costs around $5,000, and a used model runs much less. They get decent gas mileage, and sometimes require no gas at all, with electric models good for around 20 miles per charge. They're also increasingly OK to operate on town roads around the country. Maybe the perfect car for you isn't a car at all, but a Club Car golf cart

Look around the country—especially in areas with sizeable retiree populations—and there's a good chance you'll find Club Car golf carts far away from the links. There is a town in Minnesota that over the summer OK'd Club Car golf carts (ATVs too) to be driven on streets, and proposals in small cities in Texas would allow carts on popular hike and bike trails and elsewhere within town borders.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that vendors such as M&M Golf Cars (yes, it's cars, not carts) now sell a large percentage of their vehicles for non-golf course purposes. M&M, the largest Club Car golf cart dealership in Missouri, sells 40% of its inventory for usage somewhere other than the golf course. Roughly 85% of resold Club Car golf carts wind up used away from golf courses. Club Car golf carts can be seen cruising around at campgrounds, car dealerships, seminaries, retirement communities, college campuses, and more. Because they're quiet to operate, and can be customized with pop-up tents and camouflage paint, Club Car golf carts are now being used by hunters as well.

Florida, with its abundance of golf courses and retirement communities, may have the most Club Car golf carts per capita in the nation. A Orlando Sentinel story notes the spread of Club Car golf carts not just in residential villages, but on roads throughout the state, as more and more towns allow it:

 "Every community is different," said Florida Highway Patrol spokesperson Kim Montes. "It does get confusing. We typically don't get involved in the municipalities."

But troopers will stop golf-cart drivers for violations such as driving on the sidewalk or driving under the influence. Drivers must obey all state and local traffic laws, she said.

Montes warned that a Club Car golf cart is "not a toy." But that's not how many Club Car golf cart drivers view them. "This is a toy of the Baby Boomer generation," Robert Edwards, the National Club Car golf cart Association's executive director, told the Arizona Republic, which was prompted to do a story in 2011 after an 85-year-old man was killed behind the wheel of his cart when it collided with an SUV.

More often, injuries occur due to drivers turning too quickly—even 10 mph is too fast for a sharp turn—which can cause carts to flip or drivers or passengers to fly out of the vehicle. The association has posted tons of Club Car golf cart accident videos to demonstrate how not to operate their "toy" carts.

"Toy" or not, driving a Club Car golf cart drunk can land you in serious trouble. In one notable incident last summer, Mick Brown, the drummer for Ted Nugent's band—and a 55-year-old member of the Boomer generation—was arrested for driving a Club Car golf cart under the influence of alcohol. Brown allegedly stole the cart after a concert and took a couple of women for a ride around the venue, speeding recklessly on a foot path past police officers. (Note: It is also illegal to steal a Club Car golf cart.)