Golf carts

Golf carts aren’t just for golfers anymore. In fact, they’re getting much more use away from the golfing green as an alternative to cars in neighborhoods all over the US. Now Kandi America’s new collapsible mini golf cart is trying to reframe the concept of low-impact urban transportation.

Golf carts are becoming much more popular these days, even off of the greens, for their use as alternative transportation. But would you be prepared to give up your four-wheeled golf cart for a much smaller (yet still four-wheeled) electric scooter?

My regular readers will know that I’ve got quite a thing for golf carts. They’ll also know that I write a regular weekly column finding the coolest (and sometimes weirdest) electric vehicles in the massive online shopping catalog that is Alibaba. So when those things collide, well, that’s what we call serendipity, folks! And that’s exactly what happened this week with the discovery of this fun Jeep-like electric golf cart!

As American cars and trucks continue to bloat, growing longer and wider decade over decade while roads and parking spaces stay the same size, there may be hope glimmering on the horizon: tiny electric vehicles. I’m not talking about small cars. I’m talking about tiny ones – micro-cars, if you will.

They’re a small but growing category of motor vehicles in the US, and they may just save us from a future of massive, energy-guzzling vehicles that can somehow plow through a playground without noticing yet still struggle to wiggle into a parking spot.

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.

Club Car is one of the country’s biggest golf cart makers, and now the brand has just unveiled a slick new line of high-end electric vehicles that are more like open-air electric cars. Just don’t call the Club Car Cru a “car.”

You know that feeling, right? It’s Monday morning and you just barely have the energy to get out of bed to face the day. You groggily down your coffee just so you can open your eyes enough to drive yourself to work. But what if it didn’t have to be that way? What if there was an Uber service that could let you finish your sleep on the way to work? Well, my friends, it appears that’s exactly what the masterful engineers at Alibaba have come up with. And this primo specimen of ingenuity on China’s largest online shopping platform is perfect for the latest entry of the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week.

There’s nothing quite like a golf cart to bring out the kid in every driver. A combination of car-like operation, go-kart-like handling, and video game-like repercussions make them a joy to ride. But with the typical 2+2 seat layout, you’re normally limited to enjoying the experience with only three friends. For anyone who wants to bring the whole family, class, or friend circle along though, this 12-seater stretch limousine golf cart will likely better fit the bill. It certainly fits what I’m looking for in this week’s Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week.