In 1986, shortly after Bob Timm first joined the Napa Valley Country Club, his electric golf car motor cart had to go in for repairs. The repairs dragged on for a few weeks, so the cart shop assigned Timm a golf cart dc motor cart loaner. However, a couple of days later, to his embarrassment, when he took a client out to the course to play, Timm found himself without a cart yet again — the golf cart dc motor cart loaner had been sold.

Formerly in the car repair and service business, “I decided that I had to do something,” Timm said. Taking matters into his own hands, he bought a used electric golf car motor cart from E-Z-GO, a cart manufacturer owned by Textron, tore it down and completely rebuilt and repainted it with special electric golf cart parts. The new cart, painted in his own choice of colors, looked and ran better than any electric golf car motor cart at the club, Timm said.
Timm wasn’t the only one admiring his work. His golfing buddies were so impressed with Timm’s electric golf car motor cart they said they wanted their electric golf car motor carts customized as well. “Everyone wanted one with the special electric golf cart parts like it,” Timm said.
This prompted Timm to get serious about the business, becoming an E-Z-GO dealer. “We built and sold eight electric golf car motor carts that year,” Timm said.
Twenty-five years later, Timm and his son, Gus Timm, own and run A&T Custom Golf Cars and Equipment, a thriving business customizing, selling and servicing electric golf cars with special electric golf cart parts, as they are called now.
These days, golfers and golf courses still buy electric golf car motor carts with special electric golf cart parts, but owners or managers of large properties, hotels, wineries and anyone else looking for a means of transportation without a tailpipe, and thus without tailpipe emissions, have surpassed golfers as buyers and users of these inexpensive, zero-emission vehicles with special electric golf cart parts.
Today’s electric vehicle is far different from those sold 25 years ago. There are no brakes; regenerative braking is done by the motor, which captures a lot of the energy lost by normal braking, resulting in a 30 percent increase in efficiency, experts said. In 1986, electric cars went 10 to 12 miles per hour. Today, electric golf cars go up to 30 mph, meaning that many models can be street-legal, dealers say. (golf cart parts)
Street-legal electric cars, called Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) or Low-Speed Vehicles (LSVs) are classified as zero-emission vehicles by the California Air Resources Board and potentially eligible for a 10 percent state rebate, reducing the normal $8,000 to $10,000 price tag. Electric vehicles used in agriculture potentially qualify for a 25 percent rebate from the California Air Resources Board.
The father-and-son team at A&T Custom Golf Cars and Equipment used to sell about 150 electric golf cart dc motor cars in a good year, but volume fell off with the slowdown in the economy, they said.
“We are pleased to see an increase in the last year or so, partly because of an upturn in the economy,” Gus Timm said. “But more importantly, we are able to offer cutting-edge technology and a wider product range that answers the needs of wineries and other businesses that are looking for green solutions to their transportation needs. Previous customers are upgrading to the newer, more innovative technology as well.” He added that manufacturers are also offering attractive retail financing to help dealers, which is also boosting sales.
Gus Timm said most of their sales today involve some golf car parts customizing, which has subjected them to some friendly ribbing from customers about the word “custom” in the business name. So the Timms decided to build a showpiece. They stripped a cart down to the bare frame, put on bigger wheels, a high-torque golf cart dc motor and a high end stereo and gave it to their body shop with free rein to use the shop’s creative skills to produce something different. They came up with a four-wheel drive look sporting a $2,000 Lamborghini yellow paint job.
“It cost as much as a compact car, but we lent it for parades and charity events such as Relay for Life,” Gus Timm said.
The Timms also built a custom cart with special electric golf cart parts that, from the front, looked like a smaller version of the customer’s Mercedes SUV.
The most common options and customizing on today’s carts with golf cart electric motors are a weather enclosure, a cooler kit for beverages, sand and seed bottles (to fix divots) and custom wheels.
Less commonly, because of the cost, they will convert from a DC to AC motor. A golf cart dc motor can be set up to maximize either torque or speed but not both, while an AC motor can give the user both a good top speed and the power needed for hills or heavy loads. However, due to cost of the whole AC system, most people will not pay 50% more for only a 8-10% enhancement in performance versus a Separately Excited golf cart dc motor system.
Envisioning the future, Bob Timm said that they are seeing electric golf cars with special electric golf cart parts used as an alternative means of weekend transportation for local errands and short trips. “Much cheaper than a hybrid car, emission-free and silent,” he said.
Gus Timm added they want to still be selling them in 25 years.
“We aim to be the primary electric motor golf cart distributor in the North Bay,” he said. (Golf Cart Parts) MSD