Company News

Nivel Holdings – At the end of 2009 Nivel Holdings completed their acquisition of Jake’s Carts, a leading provider of lift kits for the golf car market.?? The company has become a subsidiary of Nivel Parts.?? Learn more:?? Golfcarnews.com

Kandi Technologies Corporation –has entered into an alliance with China Potevio/CNOOC New Energy and Power, Ltd. and Tianneng Power International, Ltd with a goal of mass producing electric vehicles. The alliance combines the IT equipment and service of CNOOC, battery production from Tianneng Power International, vehicle production from Kandi as well as governmental support.?? Kandi produces the COCO LSV.?? Part of vehicle concept focuses on easy battery removal and replacement and battery rentals.?? Learn more:?? Worldmarketmedia.com

Ameritex – will supply canvas doors for GEM vehicles.?? The company is a division of Taylor Made which designs and manufactures windshields.?? Ameritex is trying to diversify their business which has suffered from the downturn in the marine industry and is investigating the resort, consumer, recreational vehicle and golf cart industries.
Learn more: Tampabay.bizjournals.com

Illinois LSV Goes Into Effect

On January 1 a new LSV law went into effect in Illinois.?? There are two basic parts to the law:?? first LSVs will now have to be titled and registered with the state; the second and more interesting part is that LSVs will be allowed to travel on any roads with posted speed limites of 30 mph or less unless specifically prohibited by a municipality.

This essentially creates LSV road access as the default policy.?? I believe this is the first state to do so.?? Other states have allowed similar access but with the added step that municipalities had to pass ordinances to explicitly allow LSV access.?? This requires a certain level of initiative and interest by local officials to write and pass the ordinances.?? The law should provide a boost to LSV sales in Illinois and may spur other states to adopt similar legislation.??– Marc Cesare

Learn more:?? www.connecttristates.com

Road Use Regulations Roundup – December

Some trends in this latest regulation roundup:

  • Continued passage of ordinances allowing?? LSVs and/or golf cars on local streets
  • Municipalities considering regulations that will allow the use of LSVs as taxis or rental vehicles
  • Trends towards expansion or restriction, depending on the locality, regarding the use of UTVs and/or mini-trucks on public streets

Illinois – Effective January 2010 Illinois will allow low-speed vehicles on any road with a posted limit of 30 mph or lower, effective January 2010. Previously, individual communities had to adopt laws to permit the use of low-speed vehicles on local roads.

Orting, WA – Passed an ordinance to allow golf cars on city streets as part of a one year pilot program.

Manhattan, KS – Amendment allows citizens may operate golf carts and ???work-site utility vehicles??? on city streets marked with speed limits of 30 mph or less.

Austin, TX – City officials considering legislation that would allow the use of LSVs as taxis in downtown area.

Austin, MN – Responding to farmer requests, Mower County officials drafted an ordinance that allows the use of mini-trucks on county and township roads.

Ocean City, NJ – City council voted to allow local business to rent out LSVs.

Wisconsin – Two representatives from the state legislature are sponsoring a bill to allow the use of light utility vehicles on some public roads for agricultural purposes.

West Vancouver, CA – City officials pass ordinance allowing NEVs to be used on roads with speed limits of 50 km/hr or less.

Hamlin, West Virginia – Town council approved the changes to the town’s ordinance dealing with ATVs, utility-terrain-vehicles (UTVs) and off-road motorcycles that specifically prohibits the operation of the vehicles on any streets.

Oregon – Rule change requires that as of January 1, 2010 anyone under 18 years old riding in an off-highway vehicle such as a side by side will have to wear a helmet.

Oklahoma Supreme Court Rules On Electric Vehicle Tax Credit

Oklahoma’s Supreme Court recently ruled that the Garfield County District Court, which had ruled in favor of LSV dealers and customers in October, did not have jurisdiction in the case and vacated that court’s order.?? For dealers and customers this means that the Oklahoma Tax Commission’s previous letter rulings on qualified vehicles now apply again.?? Some vehicles purchased with the understanding that they would be eligible for the state tax credit are no longer considered eligible.

It appears that the bulk of the rulings by the commission are not in favor of the manufacturers.?? For example, the Badboy Buggie XT LSV, the Stealth Patriot LSV, the Fairplay EVE, Fairplay Goat, American Custom Golfcars Hummers H3, American Custom Golfcars Escalade, American Custom Golfcars Roadster Limo and Titan UTV Hunting Buggy do not qualify.?? Per the commission they do not qualify because…

The term ???qualified electric motor vehicle property??? shall not apply to vehicles known as ???golf carts,??? ???go-carts??? and other motor vehicles which are manufactured principally for use off the streets and highways.

Some of the vehicles that do qualify include:

  • Most but not all Bigman models
  • Club Car Carryall 2 & 6 LSVs
  • Columbia ParCar Mega Truck models and Summit models with enclosures
  • All the GEM models
  • A few of the Star models
  • Wheego Whip

The complete set of ruling letters for twenty-three manufacturers can be found here.?? Learn more:?? EdmondSun.com

Comment: When I first spoke with the Oklahoma Tax Commission after their initial ruling they?? talked about trying to clarify the law and that revenue concerns were not the issue.?? When they appealed the district court’s ruling they noted that the tax credit could cost the state upwards of $40 million. In my opinion they are trying to avoid losing revenue from tax credits. It would be interesting to see, in detail, how they are deciding which vehicles qualify and which ones don’t. – Marc Cesare

Columbia Lands Another Government LSV Order

Columbia ParCar announced today that the company had been awarded an order for 192 vehicles by the US government.?? This follows on the heels of a previous order for the US Army of 799 vehicles.?? The vehicles for the latest order are destined for U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine installations, as well as certain FAA installations, Kennedy Space Center and numerous National Parks.?? The mix of LSVs include a four passenger vehicle for transporting personnel and a utility vehicle that can carry cargo and two passengers.?? Both orders are required and expected to be fulfilled by March 2010.?? The Army reports an annual energy savings of $740 for each vehicle compared to a gas powered car.?? Learn more:?? AMTOnline.com

Comment: I find two aspects of this order that are significant.?? First, the speed with which the government has followed up on the previous order I believe is an indication that they are pleased with how well the vehicles fit their needs.?? Second, that some of the vehicles are headed for other branches of the Armed Forces points to a much greater market potential.?? The Army originally noted that beyond their initial plan for 4,000 vehicles they could envision ordering another 6,000 vehicles, and 10,000 vehicles each for the Navy and Air Force.?? This order could be an early sign of those projections coming to fruition, and driving growth in the LSV market for a number of years. – Marc Cesare

Tazzari Zero Revealed At Bologna Auto Show

Tazzari Zero

Tazzari Zero City Car

The Tazzari Zero city car debuted at the Bologna Auto Show earlier this week. Aiming at the high end of the market, the stylish and sporty Tazzari Zero features a 160 Ah lithium battery pack, a range of 88 miles in economy mode and an MSRP of $29,900. The Italian made vehicle has a top speed of 56 mph which can be electronically reguated and operates on a 72 volt system. Standard features include a radio and CD player, leather seats, heating system and anti-theft device. The vehicle will be available in the US in 2010 as an LSV, and will be distributed by Verdek-EV. Learn more: Autoblog Green

Comment: At that price for an LSV it will probably be purchased more by collector types or higher end buyers willing to tinker with the speed controls. If medium speed regulations are adopted, and that’s a big if, the vehicle becomes more viable but still limited to the higher end of the market or perhaps a younger demographic willing to spend extra money for the “cool” factor. – Marc Cesare

Garia Premieres Golf Car; LSV Version Will Launch In March 2010

Garia Luxury Golf Car

Garia Luxury Golf Car

Targeting the luxury golf car segment Denmark based Garia had their world premiere for their Garia golf car.

… The Garia features a double wishbone front suspension similar to those found in sports cars and inspired by Formula 1 cars. The drive train is built by an Italian company that also produces Ducati gearboxes. The aluminum profiles in the frame are made by the same company that supplies aluminum profiles to Aston Martin, Jaguar and Volvo. Hydraulic brakes on all four wheels with discs in the front and drums at the rear. The Garia is manufactured at the Valmet Automotive factory in Finland, manufacturer of the Porsche Cayman and Porsche Boxster.

Top it all off with an in-built refrigerator, hand-stitched seats and an exclusive personalization program where you can choose to have The Garia painted in your favorite color or matched to your other cars.

The vehicle features a 4hp AC motor and is powered by six 8 volt Trojan batteries. The base MSRP for the Garia is $17,499.

In March 2010 at the Geneva Auto Show Garia will launch an LSV version of the vehicle for the US market.

Learn more: Garia.com

ZENN To Stop LSV Production; ZAP Phasing Out Xebra?

ZENN announced that it will be stopping production of their LSV in April 2010. As had been reported earlier the company is shifting it’s focus to the development of electric drivetrains based on EEStor technology. The company reports selling about 500 of their LSVs in three years.

Learn more: Reuters.com

In another story about phasing out a vehicle, a careful examination of ZAP’s most recent quarterly findings, seem to indicate that they will be phasing out their three-wheeled Xebra model. From their 10-Q for the quarter ending September 30, 2009:

The decrease of $1.5 million (in revenue) is primarily due to the phase out of our three wheeled Xebra vehicle with reduced selling prices.

In addition the company appears to be putting less emphasis on development of the Alias model.

Research and development expenses decreased by $57,000 from $138,000 in 2008 to $81,000 for the third quarter ended September 30, 2009. The decrease was due to less work on the development of the Alias prototype vehicle

Learn more: thetruthaboutcars.com

CT&T Still Looking For Plant Sites

Korean neighborhood electric vehicle manufacturer CT&T is still looking for plant sites in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas.?? The company plans to open 30 to 40 sales and assembly locations throughout the US eventually but has not yet broken ground on the first one.?? Previously the company had announced orders for 4,000 of their vehicles for California police departments and another 27,000 bound for the US in the short term. Learn more:?? PittsburghLive.com

Comment: It remains to be seen if these various plans and vehicle sales come to fruition.?? I recently checked the SEC filings of T3 Motion, the exclusive distributor for CT&T vehicles for the security market segment, and their most recent quarterly findings indicated no significant revenue from CT&T vehicles.?? I followed up with a phone call to T3 Motion’s CEO and founder Ki Nam.?? He confirmed that there have been no significant vehicle sales and that they have received only a small number of vehicles.?? They are currently working with CT&T to make some vehicle modifications to better meet the needs of the security market customer. – Marc Cesare

Efficiency & Renewable Energy Goals Drive LSV Sales

A recent story about the energy plans of a Wisconsin town highlight a continuing trend in the STOV market.?? Whether it is municipalities, universities or federal agencies, the drive to more efficiently use energy and/or be more “green” is increasing the demand for electric powered low speed vehicles.?? In this case, the replacement of fleet vehicles with NEVs is one of a number of initiatives that the town of Oconomowoc is using to reduce their energy consumption.?? Learn more:?? istockanalyst.com