The surprising reasons that more golf carts are becoming car replacements
In recent years, a surprising trend has begun gaining momentum across the US: Golf carts are being increasingly adopted as primary modes of transportation in communities, beach towns, and other areas. The traditional image of golf carts as mere mobility aides for silver-haired retirees to traverse the greens is shifting rapidly. If you’re skeptical, I can’t blame you. But the times are changing, so let’s dive deeper into why golf carts are making excellent car replacements for so many people.
Embracing the simplicity and efficiency of golf carts
For starters, golf carts are the epitome of simplicity and efficiency when it comes to four-wheeled electric vehicles. They are designed to move people around and little more. Forget the heated seats or the infotainment systems (though to be fair you’ll find high-end golf carts with those features, too).
These mobility buggies are compact, easy to operate, and consume significantly less power compared to conventional cars. That makes them an ideal choice for short, regular commutes such as neighborhood errands or trips to nearby recreational spots.
Moreover, electric golf carts are an eco-friendly alternative to gas-guzzling cars. They can help reduce your carbon footprint by operating on rechargeable batteries that sip away at energy compared to conventional combustion-powered engines that burn through gas and pollute the air we breathe. This shift toward sustainability, coupled with increased vehicle costs and higher gas prices, makes golf carts even more attractive from the economic side, in addition to their simplicity and ease of operation.
Versatility and customizability
Golf carts are also incredibly versatile and customizable. They can be adapted to carry not just passengers, but also cargo, making them useful for a number of different tasks from hauling groceries to transporting gardening tools.
In fact, many golf carts are actually used for more utility-oriented tasks instead of just as people movers. There are entire lines of utility-focused golf carts that come with truck-style beds.
The janky buggies of yesteryear have also been majorly upgraded with features that make them feel more like traditional cars, at least from the perspective of comfort and features.
These mobility alternatives are no longer confined to basic golf course navigation or cruising Del Boca Vista quickly enough to be first in line at dinner for the early bird special. Today, they come with various optional features such as rain covers and removable doors, upgraded upholstery, entertainment systems, custom paint jobs and even lift kits. Lifted golf carts are one of the fastest growing categories and are even finding popularity among younger users.
We’re also starting to see more street-legal golf carts that meet the requirements of low-speed vehicles (LSVs) and thus can be registered, tagged, and insured for road use. All of this variation means users can personalize their carts to reflect their style and needs.
Accessibility and community
Golf carts are easily accessible and foster a sense of community in many areas that have adapted their towns and communities to widespread cart use. In many towns and retirement communities, they promote slow-paced living and encourage more face-to-face interactions. Cities like Peachtree City in Georgia have become famous for massive adoption of golf carts and the inclusion of specific roads just for them. Island communities like Key Biscayne have also seen a huge uptick in golf cart usage, to the point where many homes have a second smaller garage door and section of the garage just for a golf cart. The island has even had to revamp its local laws to address the ballooning number of carts on its roads.
Such heavy golf cart use helps reduce the physical barriers that come with traditional vehicles, providing an open and friendly mode of transportation.
Additionally, for the elderly or those with mobility issues, golf carts provide an easy-to-access mode of transportation. The low speed combined with the ease of getting in and out of the vehicle make it a convenient and safe choice for many drivers who have given up their keys and no longer feel comfortable driving conventional cars.
Economic considerations
While the initial purchase price of a golf cart might seem steep, it’s important to factor in the long-term cost savings. Many people are shocked by the price of these vehicles, which generally start at around US $8,000 and can quickly increase to $12,000 or more when including nicer accessories.
Golf carts have major cost advantages though, including that they are less expensive to maintain and operate than traditional cars. When you consider the cost of gas, insurance, and regular car maintenance, a golf cart can often be a more economical choice.
Safety and regulation
While golf carts are generally safe to operate, it’s important to understand local laws and regulations. Many communities have embraced light electric four-wheelers, and thus, have specific rules in place for their use. While they can’t match the speed of cars, they often include safety features like seat belts, headlights, taillights, turn signals, and mirrors, making them somewhat more suitable for local, low-speed travel in light traffic areas, where allowed by law.
It is important to remember though that most golf carts are not legally allowed to operate on public roads, unless a local ordinance has made specific exceptions for them. Some manufacturers have begun producing LSV-edition golf carts that do meet federal requirements for on-road usage, and we’ll be discussing that topic in-depth soon in a multi-part LSV series next week.
One other aspect of safety to consider isn’t just that of the occupants, but also of those around the vehicle. Pedestrians and cyclists are at more danger than ever before due to the increasing size and weight of vehicles in the US. The single largest factor in determining the fatality rate of crashes between cars and cyclists/pedestrians is car speed. Slower-moving vehicles as well as lighter vehicles make everyone around them safer, and that’s another important consideration to keep in mind.
The future of golf carts
Looking forward, the popularity of golf carts as everyday vehicles doesn’t seem to be waning. As more communities adopt golf cart-friendly policies and infrastructure, and as manufacturers continue to innovate with improved performance, comfort, and safety features, the role of golf carts is set to expand.
In conclusion, it’s safe to say that the days of golf carts being just for golfers are long gone. They are an efficient, versatile, and eco-friendly alternative to traditional cars, particularly suited for short-distance travel and community living. As we tread further into an era of sustainability, these compact vehicles are emerging as a popular choice for those seeking to minimize their environmental impact, simplify their lives, and strengthen their local connections.
They might not be appropriate for everyone, but many communities with local golf cart laws and with light traffic roads could serve as perfect locations to replace many vehicle trips with golf carts. So next time you’re considering a new vehicle, why not give the humble golf cart a second look?
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At CES2025, the impressively built-out John Deere exhibit was all about automation. Autonomous job sites, autonomous farms … but it was this new, battery electric, autonomous lawn mowing robot that stole the show.
The self-driving Deere mower robot was positively dwarfed by the giant farm machinery surrounding it, but it continues to prove that humans will pack bond with anything as more than one burly-looking and grizzled man asked what its name was. (It’s Howard. I’ll fight you.)
For his part, Howard packs a 21.4 kWh battery pack that runs a suite of electric motors that includes a drive motor and three cutting blade motors spread across a 60 inch cutting deck – but it’s not the electric motors that make John Deere’s little robot mower cool, it’s the way it works.
See, instead of using “just” GPS data or “just” repeating a pre-recorded run, Howard can do something in between. The way it was explained to me, you would ride the stand-up mower around the perimeter of the area you wanted to mow, select a pattern, then hop off, fold up the platform, and let it loose. Howard mows just the way you would, leaving you to focus on edging, planting, or (let’s face it) schmoozing with the clients.
It’s exactly the sort of help landscapers are looking for.
But that should come as no surprise, of course. John Deere, perhaps more than most companies, knows its customer. “We’ve been in the turf business for 60 years — it’s a core part of Deere,” says Jahmy Hindman, chief technology officer at John Deere, explaining things beautifully. “The work that’s being done in this industry is incredibly labor intensive … they’re not just doing the mowing work. They’re doing the tree trimming, maintaining flowerbeds and all these other jobs. The mowing is table stakes, though, for them to get the business. It’s the thing they have to do in order to get the higher value work.”
Tim Lewis, lead engineer with the commercial automatous mower, told Lawn & Landscape that the industry in general has a high turnover rate as well, making it difficult to hang to people who know where one job ends and another begins. “There’s a lot of nuances it takes to do these jobs effectively,” he explains, “so “Autonomy can help with that.”
The John Deere autonomous commercial mower (there’s no snazzy alphanumeric, yet) leverages the same camera technology as other Deere autonomous machines, but on a smaller scale (since the machine has a smaller footprint). With two cameras each on the front, left, right, and rear sides of the little guy, he has a 360-degree view of the world and enough AI to lay down a pattern, avoid an obstacle, and shut off if it thinks it’s about to mow down something (read: someone) it shouldn’t.
John Deere will have Howard on display through tomorrow at CES in the LVCC’s West Hall. If you’re in town, be sure to go say hi.
John Deere CES2025
SUOURCE | IMAGES: John Deere; Electrek.
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Tesla has officially unveiled the Model Y “Juniper” refresh, less than a day after uncamouflaged photos of the vehicle leaked online.
The refreshed Model Y, codenamed Juniper, has been expected for some time, and was expected to include many of the improvements of the 2023 Model 3 refresh.
In October, Chinese social media said the refresh was about to enter trial production, and just days later we saw a photo of the refreshed Model Y outside the Shanghai factory. Then last month, we heard that mass production would start in Shanghai in January, so we can expect that very soon as well.
And while Tesla said in 2024 that there’s no Model Y refresh coming “this year”, 2024 is over now, and the refresh is here.
Today, Tesla updated its Chinese website with all the information about the refreshed Model Y, with many of the same improvements as the Model 3 refresh like a quieter cabin, higher efficiency, more performance, ambient lighting and a rear screen.
According to Tesla’s site, the new Model Y can achieve 719km of range (446mi) in Long-range AWD spec with 19-inch wheels, but this is based in CLTC estimates, which are much more lenient than EPA. Previously the highest-range spec had 688km CLTC range, so that’s about a 20-mile improvement.
The 20″ wheels on the long range version will take you 662km, and RWD standard-range batteries will go 593km or 559km on the 19″ and 20″ wheels respectively.
We imagine this could translate to roughly ~350 miles of range on the top-spec Model Y on EPA ratings, but we’ll have to see when the car gets released in the US.
Acceleration has also been improved, with Tesla saying the large-battery AWD Model Y can achieve 0-100km/h (0-62mph) in 4.3 seconds, down from a previous 4.9. The RWD version does the same sprint in 5.9 seconds. Both of these numbers would be slightly shorter for 0-60 times, because of those extra 2mph at the end.
There is no performance version yet – just as with the post-refresh Model 3, which didn’t get a performance spec until later.
The exterior design is just as leaked photos suggested, with the same rear end we saw in leaks in July and the front end that we saw earlier today. Though now we get to see it in higher resolution and better lighting.
The front-end includes a Cybercab/Cybertruck-like “light bar” rather than the more traditional-looking headlights of the Model 3 refresh, and has been narrowed to remove the “duck lip” bump at the front of the hood.
Also on the front end is a new front bumper camera (again, like the Cybertruck, but unlike the Model 3), which should help with parking and also offer an additional point-of-view for Tesla’s Autopilot software. The inclusion of this camera, while it will improve Autopilot accuracy, does lead to questions over whether previously vehicles that don’t have a front bumper camera will be able to achieve the same level of accuracy as refreshed vehicles do.
And the interior design changes are also roughly as expected, though the steering wheel has undergone less radical changes than some had hoped.
Earlier today, photos leaked suggesting that the Model Y would receive a similar “squircle” steering wheel as the Cybertruck, leading to speculation that it might also receive the Cybertruck’s steer-by-wire system. But it turned out that those photos were just a Model 3 with a custom steering wheel.
The actual interior of the Model Y maintains a circular steering wheel, which suggests that it won’t get steer by wire (the steer-by-wire specification isn’t listed on Tesla’s Chinese site for the car).
It does however have photos showing missing steering column stalks, which has been a controversial feature of the Model 3.
However, looking closer at the steering wheel, the turn signal buttons from the Model 3 are not present. It looks like Tesla may have included a vestigial turn signal stalk hiding behind the steering wheel, and just deleted the PRND drive mode stalk.
This is still a controversial change, as changing drive modes through the screen isn’t the most popular feature, but the turn signal deletion was particularly egregious and it’s good to see it back. We wonder if the Model 3 might eventually gain this improvement, or whether this will be different in different regions.
Tesla says the new “acoustic glass” in the Model Y reduces interior noise significantly. The Model 3 also got this improvement, and testing does show a significant improvement in interior noise levels as a result.
The Model Y receives other interior improvements seen on the 3, like a screen for the rear seat. The Cybertruck also includes this screen.
This shot also shows the ambient lighting LED strip across the dash, which can be customized through the vehicle’s UI.
Another rear-end improvement is electric rear seats, operated through a button in the trunk. This button gives easier access to rear storage space, allowing owners to fold the rear seats up or down while loading or unloading cargo.
Tesla’s Chinese website calls these “anti-gravity” seats, but it’s unclear what exactly the improvements might be in this respect. The seats are ventilated.
First deliveries are scheduled for March in China, subject regulatory approval, though Tesla’s configurator says “the specific delivery date will vary depending on the configuration and pick-up location and other reasons.”
Tesla is offering a “Launch series” in China, something that Tesla has done with many of its cars, but hasn’t done before in the US with the Model 3/Y. It includes some unique design elements and “Launch series” badging in various parts of the vehicle.
As for other regions, they will probably have to wait. The Model 3 refresh came out in Europe first, and the US needed to wait months for it. This is particularly likely now given new US tariffs on Chinese-built cars (which are a bad idea).
Electrek’s Take
As I wrote in the Take section of our leaked photos article earlier today, this refresh is needed, because not only has the Model 3 had access to lots of improvements that the Model Y hasn’t gotten for the last year and a half or so, but Tesla is having a challenging time with sales right now.
The company just finished a year where its sales dropped for the first time since 2011 – back when Tesla only sold the low-production Roadster. This happened despite the overall global EV market surging to new heights, even though Tesla, the world’s largest EV maker (just barely), did its part to drag down the EV market by failing to grow apace with the rest.
Part of the reason for this is due to stale models – while the Model Y is Tesla’s best-selling model, it’s starting to seem a little long in the tooth, particularly given the Model 3’s upgrades. So we wondered earlier today whether the Model Y refresh could reignite Tesla’s growth.
But it’s not just about models. After all, Tesla did just finish its first full year of Cybertruck production, which is a new model, but its polarizing nature led to disappointing sales numbers.
That polarization is not helped by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is doing his best to harm the company and say phenomenally stupid things or make ridiculous promises basically every day (or every few minutes). His idiotic behavior is turning away customers, whether he believes it or not.
Maybe the company – not the stock – would be better off if he surrendered his title and let Tesla have a real CEO, so he can go play videogames on twitter all day instead (as he already does).
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