Here's the deal: To prevent climate change, we need to make some major changes to our personal transportation. Cars are getting too big and too heavy. While full-size electric vehicles are great, we believe that low speed electric vehicles, given their miniscule energy requirements, are the real key.
However, if LSVs are going to replace cars, they need to actually function like cars. That means they at least need locking doors and climate control, and if we're being honest, some kind of stereo system. When we say "True LSV," we mean a low speed electric vehicle that can truely replace a car. You can't expect people to go from a living room on wheels to a street legal golf cart.
Unfortunately, while the majority of our favorite LSVs start at under $13k, by the time you add these kind of features you're looking at the cost of a real car. While that's fine for many LSV enthusiasts, we firmly believe that companies need more transparent pricing. We've taken our four favorite models on the US market from GEM, Club Car, Wink, and Yamaha (which you can get more info on here) and broken down how much it will cost to upgrade them to a True LSV, if it's even possible.
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​Model | GEM E2 | Club Car Villager | ​Wink Mark 1 | Yamaha Drive2 |
Base Price | $13,182 | $13,545 | $11,995 | $9,481 |
Doors | +$2,318 | Not Available | Included | ​+125 (Fabric only) |
AC/Heating | +$643 | Not Available | Included | Not Available |
Sound System | +$740 | Not Available | Included | Not Available |
True LSV PRICE | $16,883 | Not Possible | $11,995 | ​Not Possible |
As you may have noticed, there aren't a lot of options on the US for True LSVs. It's mostly golf carts that manufacturers are rushing to make street legal. Asia and Europe are years ahead on this front, and as more make their way into the US market, we'll update the chart.
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