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. (Yamaha G19 controller)

"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. (Yamaha G19 controller)

MSD

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 Yamaha golf cart with a yamaha G22 controller inside.

Look around the country—especially in areas with sizeable retiree populations—and there's a good chance you'll find a Yamaha golf cart with a G19 golf cart controller not to far away from the links. There is a town in Minnesota that over the summer OK'd golf carts with a yamaha golf cart speed controller (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 Yamaha golf cart dealership in Missouri, sells 40% of its inventory for usage somewhere other than the golf course. Roughly 85% of resold Yamaha golf carts with a yamaha G19 controller wind up used away from golf courses. Carts with a Yamaha G19 controller 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 a yamaha G22 controller or G19 golf cart controller and camouflage paint, Yamaha golf carts are now being used by hunters as well.

Florida, with its abundance of golf courses and retirement communities, may have the most golf carts per capita in the nation with a yamaha G19 controller. A Orlando Sentinel story notes the spread of Yamaha 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 golf cart with a yamaha G22 controller is "not a toy." But that's not how many Yamaha golf cart drivers view them. "This is a toy of the Baby Boomer generation," Robert Edwards, the National Yamaha 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 a golf cart with a G19 golf cart controller to flip or drivers or passengers to fly out of the vehicle. The association has posted tons of Yamaha golf cart accident videos to demonstrate how not to operate their "toy" carts.

"Toy" or not, driving a Yamaha golf cart with a yamaha G22 controller 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 Yamaha 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 Yamaha golf cart.)

Dennis Smith says he'd drive his golf cart with the Yamaha G19 controller to Wildwood if there was something there he needed.

For example, said the 67-year-old retired Villages resident, if there was a hardware store, or if passenger trains returned to the train station along U.S. Highway 301 in town, he'd go to Wildwood.

Another incentive to drive to Wildwood would be if there were charging stations for electric-powered golf carts with a Yamaha G19 controller, such as the one he drives, Smith said.

People who love to drive around in their golf carts with a Yamaha G19 controller may get to do so in Wildwood.

But the idea is just that -- a concept that city officials are just starting to talk about.

The city of Wildwood recently adopted and received state approval for its 2035 Comprehensive Plan, said City Manager Robert Smith.

Included in that plan is a portion that says the city needs to plan for and promote lots of different ways to get around town and try to reduce motor vehicle travel.

At their Jan. 10 meeting, city commissioners told staff to look into ways of making Wildwood more golf cart-friendly, Smith said.

With places like The Villages and other big residential and commercial developments close by, Wildwood asked Sumter County for help on the golf cart idea, he said.

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

-- Which city roads can accommodate golf carts with a Yamaha G19 controller?

-- Would the future demographics of the city support golf carts with a Yamaha G19 controller 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," 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 cart access?

-- What are the requirements for street legal carts? Especially ones with a G19 golf cart controller!

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 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 with a Yamaha G19 controller and their operators. For example, The Villages has many paths designated for 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 G19 golf cart controllers, 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 G19 golf cart controllers. 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 with a Yamaha G19 controller 24/7, but to drive at night, they need headlights and brake lights, and preferably, some sort of reflectors, Nathanson said.

Lady Lake has experienced very few major problems with G19 golf cart controller 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 G19 golf cart controller operators can drive safely with other motorists.

"As long as people make safe choices," they'll be OK, Nathanson said.     MSD

Dozens of communities across the US have recently passed ordinances allowing Yamaha golf cart with a yamaha G19 controller 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 (which is easily attainable utilizing a high performance yamaha G19 controller) 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.  MSD (G22 golf cart controller)

USA Today: “More Golf Carts Leaving The Greens”

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.

There, for less than the price of a single new gas-powered vehicle, the seminary purchased five used electric carts (with Yamaha controllers) 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 golf carts 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 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 yamaha golf cart controller like a Yamaha G19 controller.

Now, non-golf purchases 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 them 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 golf cart sales. Nor, for that matter, does the organization representing the industry’s manufacturers, the International Light Transportation Vehicle Association. But dealers say the golf cart business is booming. Many people are upgrading to a high speed yamaha controller such as a yamaha G22 controller or a G19 golf cart controller.

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, 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 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 — now available with camouflage paint jobs and factory-installed pop-up tents.

Hunters like them because they can drive into the woods 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.

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 golf cars 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 to residents in those neighborhoods.

“Until the state comes out and says where you can and can’t drive them, 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.

“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 electric 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 electric vehicles 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 electric 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 golf carts 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.”

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.

Yamaha Golf cart zone proposed.

Electric golf carts (using Yamaha controllers) 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 Yamaha controllers.

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 Yamaha controllers.

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.