They call it a NEV -- a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle

[RZehr]

Maybe these can be an answer to affordable transportation in cities.

For a long time, golf carts were just something you'd strap your clubs to and play 18 holes with. But with new carts and new technologies hitting Central Oregon shops, it's becoming increasingly likely you'll see them on city streets.

“They call it a NEV -- a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle. But really it's just meant for kind of cruising around town," said Chris DeJon, sales manager at Mt. Bachelor Carts and Parts. "It's street legal on any road 35 miles per hour or less.”

It's classified as a low-speed vehicle (LSV), and police say as long as it checks the boxes, it's allowed on most city streets.

“If they would be deemed as a safe vehicle through the Department of Motor Vehicles, it would have all the safety equipment that is required to be on our public roadways," said Cindy Ksenzulak, Bend Police traffic sergeant. "They would have to have licensed driver insurance and essentially just be driven by a safe and sober driver.”

Requirements include seatbelts, turn signals, headlights, and a reenforced windshield.

The neighborhood cart concept is new, locally, but it’s one DeJon believes will take off in Central Oregon.

“They are going to be around," he said. "You're going to see them out there.”
https://www.centraloregondaily.com/news ... e247d.html

An affordable option, besides public transportation. Greater flexibility than public transportation. Electric. Not subject to all the safety regulations that a regular car has, but it restricted to only 35 mph roads. Cheaper to build than cars. What is not to like?

[MaxPC]

So many questions.
Where are the batteries made? In the USA? China?
What are the safety features to protect passengers? Air bags?

[Ken]

I kind of don't see the point. Once you design a 4-wheeled vehicle you are already limited to streets and car parking rather than sidewalks, bike paths, and bike parking. So you still need all the car style infrastructure. At that point what is the point of such a capacity-restricted vehicle? Seems to me that the more logical approach would be to focus on smaller city cars that are still fully highway capable. This is the direction that Europe is going. Unfortunately for whatever reason (economics? regulation? we don't seem to be getting such vehicles here in the US).

For example, this new Hyundai EV is going on sale in Europe for under $20,000 Euros and will have a range in the 150-200 mile zone. but there seems to be no plans to bring it to the US: https://www.carscoops.com/2022/08/hyund ... e-by-2024/



There are lots of similar small EVs being made for the Asian and Euro markets that aren't being imported to the US. Living in the city, I'd 100x rather have one of these than some golf cart that takes up nearly the same space but won't go any faster than my e-bike and that I can't safely take on any highway.

There are some actual golf cart communities like the Villages in central Florida. But they are designed from the ground-up for this sort of thing. 99.9% of the US is not.

[barnhart]

If I were in the market for a commuter car, I would look seriously at the Aptera. It seems to be in-between the NEV and electric cars by being road capable but avoiding some safety regulations by having three wheels.

[Josh]

Golf carts and John Deere Gators can definitely go places that don’t have car infrastructure.

Of course, the reason cars are heavy is because of crash safety - a golf cart has no protection at all if it gets hit or rolls over.

[RZehr]

So many questions.
Where are the batteries made? In the USA? China?
What are the safety features to protect passengers? Air bags?

I don’t know. Might be seat belts, but I doubt airbags.

[RZehr]

I kind of don't see the point.

That little car is not allowed on the golf course.

Unfortunately for whatever reason (economics? regulation? we don't seem to be getting such vehicles here in the US).

Right. And so we use golf carts to fill this gap.

The alternative in most cities, is not slow and unavailable public transportation, but instead a 3,000 pound gas car to haul typically one person 1 mile to a store or work. Most people aren’t going to walk or pedal a bike, they will drive their gas car.

[Ken]

Unfortunately for whatever reason (economics? regulation? we don't seem to be getting such vehicles here in the US).

Right. And so we use golf carts to fill this gap,

Golf carts don't fill that gap.

Golf carts are great for communities designed from the ground-up for that mode of transportation. But that doesn't define any part of the US outside of master-planned retirement communities such as the Villages. Which is less than 0.01% of the US.

In every other town and city in the country we have the following:

1. Most of our transportation infrastructure devoted to cars
2. A small amount of transportation infrastructure devoted to pedestrians and bikes (which are 2-wheel and narrow).

Golf carts aren't really capable of using either of those two types of infrastructure. They can't really fully utilize the car-centric road system in most cities because they lack the speed and safety to navigate city streets. Even in the middle of most cities you still have highways everywhere. This is central Seattle and Golf Carts don't belong here. Yet one has to navigate these sorts of streets to get anywhere in most American cities.




Nor do they belong on sidewalks and bike lanes like these. You can't fit golf carts on these narrow bike lanes and sidewalks, nor can you park them at these bike racks:



So where do golf carts actually go in most American cities? Outside of converting vast numbers of existing city streets designed for cars into golf cart lanes, the answer is nowhere.

[RZehr]

You seem to have missed reading the article.

These are actually legal to drive on regular roads as long as the speed limit on that road is 35 mph or lower. They just can’t be on highways, which have speed limits higher that 35 mph. So Seattles I-5 and bike lanes are not used at all.

So yes, a golf cart like these, is completely able to navigate within much of small / moderate sized city limits, from residential neighborhoods to schools, to stores.

[Ken]

You seem to have missed reading the article.

These are actually legal to drive on regular roads as long as the speed limit on that road is 35 mph or lower. They just can’t be on highways, which have speed limits higher that 35 mph. So Seattles I-5 and bike lanes are not used at all.

So yes, a golf cart like these, is completely able to navigate within much of small / moderate sized city limits, from residential neighborhoods to schools, to stores.

I read the article. It is a dealer trying to sell these vehicles. But realistically, if you are living in say Bend or Redmond. How do you actually get anywhere without going on US-97? Which has a 55 or 60 mph speed limit, not 35? Most of the places people shop (big box stores) are along US-97. This is the most popular model of these things. By the time you get a nice one you are already in the $25,000 range. https://www.bacarts.com/New-Inventory-2 ... t%20states.

At that price point, might as well get an actual small EV that you can take on the highway and out into the country or even drive across the country.

Or spend $2-5k and get a decent cargo e-bike like this that you can actually take on bike paths and sidewalks, bring inside elevators, and park inside your apartment to safely store and charge if you live in a city where on-street parking is scarce and there would be no place to park and store one of those bigger NEVs. https://www.ternbicycles.com/en/bikes/472/gsd And also bring on buses and subways if you live in an actual city with mass transit.