When Did Golf Carts Take to the Streets?
You may find yourself wondering, what is the history of golf carts? If you are fifty or older, you probably remember when golf carts were only seen on the golf course Although the first electric golf carts were garage-built in the 1930s, the idea really didn’t catch on for another twenty-five years. Early designs included three-wheel and four-wheel carts designed to haul two golfers in the front and a couple golf bags on the rear deck. These cumbersome vehicles were limited to using cart paths or grass-covered fairways. Now, electric carts are being used for a variety of transportation needs. If you drive through a resort area, campus environment, retirement community or town center, you will probably be sharing the road with a street legal golf cart.
What was once your grandfather’s lame golf cart has now become one of the gnarliest looking and most popular ways to get from point A to point B. Early models of electric carts were much less reliable and often ran out of power on the course. Back then, maintaining the vehicle was often considered to be more of a hassle than it was really worth. But, better batteries, improved steering, and stronger motors helped to make electric golf carts more desirable. Nowadays, communities are built around golf courses, sport settings, beaches and parks. So much so, that seeing a golf cart on the green may not be anything new but neither is competing for space on the streets of these greener neighborhoods.
Adaptive Nature of Electric Golf Carts
One of the earliest golf carts was pulled like a rickshaw by two caddies to carry a golfer whose health and mobility prohibited walking a lengthy course. A later version of this true golf "cart" included two additional wheels and a battery-powered engine. Unfortunately, these early designs had difficulty storing enough charge to complete eighteen holes. About the same time in Arkansas, a businessman designed and built a three-wheel electric cart to be used in Southern California to transport elderly members of the community to the grocery store. Whereas older golfers and those limited by disabilities found these early vehicles to be quite useful, most golfers still chose to walk the course with their caddies.
When the general population started to focus on environmental concerns, electric golf carts started to gain mainstream popularity. As people decided to “Go Green”, it became practical and responsible to replace hopping in the car with a trip to the store in dad’s golf cart. This changed the role of street legal golf carts. Electric vehicles could reduce the carbon footprint of neighborhood transportation while allowing the driver and passengers to enjoy a more relaxed outing. In fact, people who live in golf course communities often proclaim the entire experience is quite rewarding as it allows them to connect with their surroundings. Moreover, a fully-equipped neighborhood electric vehicle from Moto Electric Vehicles is much cheaper to purchase and maintain.
Rise in Frequency of Street-Legal Golf Carts
Suburban areas around the United States where electric-powered carts were popularized soon became known as golf cart communities. By the late 1990s, the rest of America began to explore how this economical means of transportation could be applied to their specific needs for moving people and goods across a microcosm of properties. Hauling people, delivering materials, transporting guests, and policing the grounds were targeted as prime opportunities to save money (and save the planet). That triggered an ever-increasing influx of street legal electric carts being used at airports, amusement parks, college campuses, resorts, industrial complexes, and rental properties.
For decades, the risk remained that a cart’s batteries would not get charged soon eough or long enough. So, the cart would suddenly run out of juice leaving the driver with a non-operative vehicle. While there are maintenance routines that still must be performed to ensure a cart is reliable, improvement in technologies like lithium ion batteries have greatly increased the performance for today’s street legal golf cart. In the mid-70s, Palm Desert (California) pioneered the use of golf carts on the streets for older residents that wintered there. In recent years, popular outdoor states like Florida, Texas, and California have stretched regulations to allow for street legal carts on neighborhood roads that include cart-path designated crossings over federal and state-maintained roadways.
Contact Moto Electric Vehicles to Learn More
Currently the legal system in many communities is still playing catch up with the population’s demand for driving electric carts on local streets. And, the laws can vary greatly from one location to the next. In fact, some states do not have clear-cut statutes in place to govern driving an electric golf cart off the course. On the otherhand, there are places that allow street legal electric golf carts and restrict the usage of conventional means of transportation. That’s because a street legal electric golf cart is an excellent way to get around. Both cost efficient and convenient, carts also provide many space-saving benefits. When compared to the size of a parking lot needed for today’s cars and trucks, golf carts allow valuable space to be used for something better.
As golf carts continued to migrate from the grassy slopes onto city streets, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration did create a new category in 1997 for low speed vehicles with mandated safety features that were capable of reaching speeds of 25 mph. Nonetheless, driving is restricted to streets and roads as approved by local governments and city ordinances. It is also illegal to drive golf carts on federal or state roads (with some exceptions for registered low-speed electric vehicles) in Hawaii, Rhode Island, Delaware, Missouri, Maryland and New York. If you live in a community with the dedicated infrastrucure, chances are a street legal golf cart could make your daily drive a lot easier.
At Moto Electric Vehicles, we’ve been helping people for decades to find the street legal golf cart that meets their needs for an economical means of transportation on private property as well as public roadways. Our goal is provide you with the highest level of professional services in building a street legal golf cart just for you. To learn more about any vehicle or golf cart-designated location, call Brett Jackrel (toll free) at 855-339-8333.
