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Small but Street-Legal
Older drivers can get around the neighborhood in a battery-powered cart
GOLF CARTS HAVE been used as basic transportation in vacation communities for years. But increasingly, a similar type of vehicle—light and low-speed—is being accepted across America.
Resembling golf carts but outfitted with required safety features such as speedometers and windshield wipers, low-speed vehicles (LSVs) or neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) are street-legal in 18 states and in many more municipalities in other states—provided they stick to roads with speed limits of 35 mph or less.
These can be an attractive option for older drivers who want to get around their neighborhoods easily, without traveling on busy roadways. They are also easier to enter, exit and maneuver than cars.
LSVs generally cost $8,000 to $12,000, are easy to maintain because they’re battery-powered and are less expensive to insure than cars. They plug into a standard wall socket and can travel up to 40 miles after a five-hour charge.
Valued at $2.59 billion in 2025, the LSV market is expected to nearly double in the next decade to $5.75 billion. “People want to keep up with the Joneses. Your neighbor gets one, you get one,” says Jared Stokes, owner of Tigon Golf Carts in Hatfield, Pennsylvania.
Some might worry about colliding with a car, but advocates say the risk of injury is reduced by keeping LSVs on side streets, and with a top speed of about 25 mph, they’re less likely to be involved in a serious crash. Plus, their open-air styling has no vision-blocking quarter panels.
Lynn Sperling, 63, got a four-seat LSV to navigate her neighborhood in Margate City, New Jersey. Now, she and her husband, Neil, slip into what would have been tight parking spaces for cars and run errands with ease. “When the weather’s nice, we do not drive our cars.” —June D. Bell