August 6th, 2008

The electric car is here, and your neighbor may be driving it already

Posted by Harry Fuller @ 5:36 pm

Categories: Blogroll, air pollution, cars & traffic, conservation, energy, environmental health, fossil fuel, green tech, law & politics, petroleum, renewable energy, state government

Tags: car, vehicle, clean technology, american consumer, sales strategy, sales, harry fuller

ZAP truck courtesy of ZAP.
American consumers are bypassing Big Oil and Big Auto, they are going directly to the electric car. They are not waiting for fancy new start=ups to come out with traditional looking cleantech vehicles. How is this happening? By buying golf carts. More and more American towns are making them legal street vehicles. Some entire states also allow golf carts on roads. Some town police departments are using them for street patrols.

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Golf cart sales are up this year. Manufacturers are watching business boom. Ther E-Z-Go folks used to build just golf carts for golfers. They know the tide has turned. In their new vehicle announcment, for the ST Express, they say “E-Z-GO developed the ST Express to provide consumers with a durable vehicle capable of transporting four passengers on road or off. Available in both gas and electric models, the ST Express also features numerous options to suit the owner’s specific design and function needs.”

This is not your father’s golf cart, folks.

Some have tried to take us down this road before. Here’s the story of one man who built gold cart-style electric transport nearly forty years ago.

And sales of small electric vehicles are up generally. Zap, in California, just got a new round of funding and is expanding its dealership network. They promise speeds up to 40 MPH. One New York publisher was tickled at finding electric carlets in Texans’ garages.