In 1986, shortly after Bob Timm first joined the Napa Valley Country Club, his golf cart had to go in for repairs. The repairs dragged on for a few weeks, so the cart shop assigned Timm a loaner. However, a couple of days later, to his embarrassment, when he took a client out to the course to play, Timm found himself without a cart yet again — the loaner had been sold.

Formerly in the car repair and service business, “I decided that I had to do something,” Timm said. Taking matters into his own hands, he bought a used cart from E-Z-GO, a cart manufacturer owned by Textron, tore it down and completely rebuilt and repainted it. The new cart, painted in his own choice of colors, looked and ran better than any cart at the club, Timm said.

Timm wasn’t the only one admiring his work. His golfing buddies were so impressed with Timm’s cart they said they wanted their carts customized as well. “Everyone wanted one like it,” Timm said.

This prompted Timm to get serious about the business, becoming an E-Z-GO dealer. “We built and sold eight carts that year,” Timm said.

Twenty-five years later, Timm and his son, Gus Timm, own and run A&T Custom Golf Cars and Equipment, a thriving business customizing, selling and servicing electric golf cars, as they are called now.

These days, golfers and golf courses still buy carts, but owners or managers of large properties, hotels, wineries and anyone else looking for a means of transportation without a tailpipe, and thus with

Dennis Smith says he'd drive his golf cart 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, such as the one he drives, Smith said.

People who love to drive around in their golf carts 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?

-- Would the future demographics of the city support golf carts 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?

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 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 golf carts, 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 golf carts. 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 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 golf cart 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 golf cart operators can drive safely with other motorists.

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

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.

"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.

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Dozens of communities across the US have recently passed ordinances allowing golf carts 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 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.

USA Today: “More Golf Carts Leaving The Greens”

When reader W.T. Stonehill passed along news about a new article in The Economist concerning 3-4 million "souped up" golf carts hitting the roads and off-roads in the US, we, like him, we're pretty excited -- perhaps it was another sign that the electric car hadn't yet been killed. Apparently, since 1996, a large number of DIYers have been buying up old golf carts and modifying both the engines and bodies to turn them into "mini- Hummers." This would be great, except for one fact that the article buries at the end: "Most golf carts are electric and clean. But the souped-up ones have petrol engines and are fast."

While we won't go deeply into the Freudian implications of one golf cart modifier's claim that his raised, 36-bolt electric golf cart "makes me feel like a man,” we'd love to hear about tinkerers that are keeping their carts clean and green while exercising their mechanical prowess and creativity. The golf cart is a great model for short-distance electric transportation, and we'll bet that they can be souped up while still running on batteries. ::The Economist