CAN NEIGHBORHOOD
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
BETTER OUR COMMUNITIES BY OFFERING A MORE
SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVE?
Ross Atherton
VP and GM Club Car Consumer Car at Ingersoll Rand
According to Betsy Tyler of Peachtree City, Georgia, the Environ-
mental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Ener-
gy (USDOE) the answer is yes. NEV’s provide both social and envi-
ronmental benefits.
ABOUT CLUB CAR
Club Car, one of the most
respected names in the golf
industry, is the world’s largest
manufacturer of small-wheeled,
zero-emissions electric vehicles.
The company offers a complete
line of new and used golf cars, XRT ®
utility vehicles and street-legal, low
speed vehicles (LSVs) for personal
use, all backed by Club Car’s 50+
year legacy of superior design,
manufacture and service. Club Car
is part of Ingersoll Rand, and is
based in Augusta, Ga. Visit www.
clubcar.com.
“The open nature of the NEV is more like a pedestrian experience than automotive experience”,
says Betsy Tyler, Public Information Officer and City Clerk of Peachtree City, Georgia. Tyler went on
to say that whether people are attending a community event, running errands or using their NEV
as an alternative to their car the NEV lets them slow down, experience the outdoors and actually
slow down and take time to greet and talk with their neighbors.
While the social benefits listed by Tyler may be evident, the environmental benefits of the NEV
are so often overlooked. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, every mile of automobile
travel displaced by an NEV results in better air quality and a 61% net reduction in (83% in Califor-
nia) electrical grid emissivity. While this figure is for California, there is a lesson here for all of the
country and across the world – personal mobility choices can have a big impact on our environ-
mental footprint.
Furthermore, the EPA has said that Americans drive an average of 13,500 miles per year of which
roughly 40% is travel to local amenities that could be accessed by an NEV. This equates to 5700
miles or about 238 gallons of gasoline that could potentially be saved. Per person! This reduction
in gasoline use yields impressive reductions in both carbon emissions and pollutants (EPA, 2018).
Imagine the impact this could have in Charlotte, a city of over one million people.
These facts and the growing popularity of NEV’s are creating a great opportunity for legislators
(local and state), city planners and developers to recognize the environmental and societal ben-
efits of NEV’s as an alternative to conventional automobiles. Above all, they help us lessen our
footprints and have fun while doing it.
Sources:
Alternative Fuels Data Center, USDOE, 2018, [Online] Available at: https://www.afdc.energy.gov/ ,
Accessed, 19 April 2018.
Average Emissions and Fuel Consumption for Passenger Cars, EPA, 2018, [Online] Available at:
https://nepis.epa.gov/ , Accessed, 19 April 2018.
DECEMBER 2018
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