If you made it to the South Pasadena second annual Clean Air Car Show and Film Festival, you might have seen Cruise Car, Inc. and the two demonstration cars.
Looking at them, you might not think of them as cars. They are basically golf carts, but really nice golf carts. In California, it is NOT legal to run around in golf carts unless you are on Catalina Island. It IS legal to run a low-speed neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV) on streets with a maximum speed of 35 mph. NEVs have a maximum speed of 25 mph. Their range varies.
Cruise Car’s Sunray is a golf cart. The Kudo is a street-legal NEV.
Michael Margulis of Sun Motors LLC, Cruise Car’s authorized Southern California rep took me for a short spin. Like all EVs, they are quiet. Not being a golfer and not having ridden in a GEM, I can only say that the last time I was in a golf cart it was in Altadena and it reminded me of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride…not the ride at Disneyland, but the story.
By comparison, the Kudo, a low-speed vehicle that is street legal as is Cruise Car’s Classic, drives very smooth and is very quiet. I would say the only real problems is that it isn’t meant for a 12-year-old to drive, but that’s the problem I have with most gas cars. The emergency break was difficult to take off and put on with my foot and full-weight of 93 lbs.
Of course, your average driver is over 95 lbs. and by quite a bit so that is really a minor issue. For neighborhood shopping it would be quite nice. If you don’t drive much and live in sunny California, you might never have to plug in. Margulis has customers who have yet to plug in and are running totally on the energy provided by the solar panels. According to the Web site, you are eligible for Solar Tax Credits with purchase.
If you have a golf course or use small utility vehicles for going around a campus–academic or otherwise, with the price of gas and the coming price increase in electricity, I’d say these are definitely the way to go. Of course, you should also try the GEM and make your own comparison.
I didn’t take my dog, so the dog hasn’t weighed in on if it is dog-worthy.
They will be on display again October 13-16 at the Solar Power 2008 show at the San Diego Convention Center.
