The Pimped Golf Carts Of The Villages

Wired Magazine has an article this month on the golf cart culture of The Villages—that huge retirement community in Florida that boasts “free golf for life” in its cable television advertising.

Interestingly, the entire development was built around the idea of golf cart mobility. Retirees can take quick jaunts from their homes to the local course, WalMart, drug store and so on. Since a cart gets around 40 miles to a charge, it’s all most need.

We stayed in a hotel at The Villages on our way to Disney World this past summer, and I was astonished at the vast fleet of carts buzzing around. Now I know why.

I can’t see this catching on everywhere, however. Open golf carts, with their light weight and lack of traction will never work in a foul weather climate like Michigan. In addition, the batteries will quickly lose their power in the cold.

And if we all go to electric cars, I wonder where all of that electricity will be generated. The power has to come from somewhere. If its not being generated by individual cars with internal combustion, it’ll have to be generated at plants, and then transmitted to homes and charging stations. That’s going to require an enormous amount of infrastructure. Nuclear plants are theonly way to go. But the same people who are working to get rid of the auto also have effectively killed the nuclear plant.