Drivers on the bubble find a way to beat high gas prices

Last modified 8/7/2008 - 11:07 pm
Originally created 080908

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More of the "low-speed vehicles" are turning up on roads at the Beaches.

By DREW DIXON, Shorelines

As gas prices continue to hover around $4 a gallon, more "low-speed vehicles," also called bubble cars, are popping up in Beaches traffic.

Owners use them to run errands, see friends and go on short jaunts to the beach.

"I use mine all over," said John Widdows, who lives off Dutton Island Road in Atlantic Beach. "I drive it to Jacksonville Beach. We go to dinner in it. We cruise the Beaches area."

It's hard to miss Widdows when he's cruising in his six-seat burgundy Gatormoto mini-car. There are no doors. The vehicle runs on electricity, not gas, which is why he bought it.

"People everywhere I go stare at us," Widdows said. "They all wave at us."

Beyond getting attention, Widdows said his low-speed vehicle has turned out to be the perfect vehicle for quick Beaches connections without resorting to a regular car.

"It really is [perfect], we can find parking spaces that are easier to find. The newness has kind of worn off and now it's just enjoyment. I'm very, very happy that we got it. I think you're going to see more and more of them," Widdows said.

The low-speed vehicles are among the latest in a trend of alternative vehicles Beaches residents are turning to to avoid high gas prices.

Motor scooters are also taking off in sales and they remain more popular than the low-speed vehicles. "Florida has been the No. 2 state in the country for new scooter sales for the past several years" behind California, said Mike Mount, spokesman for the Motorcycle Industry Council, a nonprofit national trade association representing manufacturers and distributors.

Widdows said he acknowledged scooters are the bigger trend and it may take some time for low-speed vehicles to catch on. But people who drive the vehicles now remain close and are forming their own connections.

"There's a lot of scooters out there but they're gas-driven and they're kind of dangerous. But when we run into other people [low-speed vehicle owners], they're talking about how it's good on the environment," Widdows said. "It doesn't put out any kind of residue and we're saving money. We're kind of like pioneers. It's very cool."

The Gatormoto cars' electric engines take about four hours to charge by plugging into an outlet.

Ted Jackrel, president of Gatormoto Utility Vehicles and More on Mayport Road in Atlantic Beach, said he's sold about 150 of the low-speed vehicles this year. Many of the small electric-powered cars have been sold at the Beaches, he said, but he also delivers the vehicles, which are manufactured in China.

Low-speed cars get about 40 miles per electrical charge, each of which costs about 50 cents. They have a futuristic look and have a starting cost of about $7,500, Jackrel said.

"They are continuously growing on the private side," Jackrel said.

By law, low-speed vehicles are basically small cars, Jackrel said. The vehicles sold at Gatormoto are mostly open air and seat two to eight people. They have a roof but few have doors on the steel and fiberglass frames.

The law requires their speed not exceed 25 mph and they have to have a windshield wiper, seat belts, mirrors, lights and turn signals. They even have to have a vehicle identification number and license tag, he said.

Low-speed vehicles can travel only on streets and roads that have a maximum speed limit of 35 mph. They can cross roads that have higher speed limits but can't drive on them, Jackrel said.

By contrast, the typical idea of an errand-running vehicle is the golf cart. By law, they must have a top speed of about 13 miles per hour and are allowed on few streets, said Artie Notaro, owner of Ponte Vedra Golf Carts on Sawgrass Drive West in Ponte Vedra Beach.

Still, with the gas crunch, Notaro said plenty of Beaches residents are asking him about buying golf carts to drive around their neighborhoods.

"If someone has a need for family use or recreation, what we'll do is convert carts over to four passengers with seat belts," Notaro said.

But Notaro said most of the inquiries he has for golf carts diminish after he points out the limitations. The bulk of his business remains golfers who want their own private golf carts to drive on courses at their country clubs.

"There is a need for it and there is a desire for it," Notaro said. "But when you have a two-car garage and you want to put a recreation vehicle in there, you've got to eliminate one of the cars.

"When you leave a golf cart outside or anything like that kind of vehicle you're talking about outside, in a couple of years they're not worth anything because they're not made to be left outside," Notaro said. "Is there more of an interest? Yes there is. But people buying? No they're not ... when they find out there's certain things they can't do with it."

Still, Notaro said, more orders are being placed for the golf carts, which sell for about $7,500, coming from people moving into Nocatee west of the Intracoastal Waterway.

"That's who's interested now because they need a car to get around the property," Notaro said, noting he expects business to increase from that development as it remains cloistered with enclosed roads.

"You will get a small percentage that will buy that's out there because it's a prestige thing and it's a really fun thing," Notaro said. "But I wouldn't want to take my wife out to a restaurant in it."

Drew Dixon can also be reached at (904) 249-4947, ext. 6313.