Golf Vehicles are Branching out to the Neighborhoods

It turns out golfers were a couple of decades ahead of the crowd when it comes to driving electric vehicles.

EVs are common on our highways. But for many years they’ve been quietly trundling up and down the fairways and paths of golf links.

Colorado Golf & Turf of Littleton has been part of that growth. An early provider of gas and electric vehicles for golf courses, Colorado Golf and Turf is now riding a wave of new EV development.

For Colorado Golf & Turf this is a year of taking advantage of some big moves the company made in 2023. Their new office in Grand Junction opened last year – just their third location after their home in Littleton and their Nebraska Golf & Turf affiliate in Lincoln, Neb. They also added some partnerships and new lines.

The company began as the region’s Club Car distributor and has grown to offer an array of vehicles and tools for the golf and landscaping industry. And as the personal use of vehicles that are increasingly misnamed ‘golf carts’ – the company has filled that need as well.

One of the growing segments that is coming to Colorado is the neighborhood electric vehicle. This is a category of EV that can travel at speeds up to 25 MPH and is legal on roads with up to 35 MPH speed limits. They are very common in sunbelt-planned communities in Florida, Arizona and elsewhere (think of the videos of the parade of carts you’ve seen from The Villages development north of Orlando).

Now they are being used in mountain towns like Aspen, Vail and Breckenridge. And newer master-planned communities, like Sterling Ranch south of Littleton, are candidates too.

“They’d be allowed in any gated community,” said Abbie Randel, Colorado Golf & Turf’s vice president of operations.

Vehicles available through Colorado Golf & Turf include Club Car’s CRU brand as well as the luxury Garia line from Denmark – think stitched leather seats.

Club Car’s CRU is a six-seater, low-speed street-legal EV that can be outfitted with all manner of couch-style or other seating. Prices start at around $25,000. Garia’s start at around $22,000 for the starter two-seater and around $29,000 for the six-seat option. The on-board mini-refrigerator is an additional $1,000.
The EV industry for golf and utility vehicles like those from Club Car and Garia is going through the exact same technological advancement that the Teslas of the world are also going through. Battery life and range are increasing with each new model.

Colorado Golf & Turf also offers an array of equipment and tools for the turf industry from Husqvarna, Cub Cadet and other brands.