FAIRPLAY ELECTRIC CARS, LLC IS NOW EVERGREEN ELECTRIC VEHICLES, LLC
Fairplay Electric Cars, LLC today announced their corporate name change to Evergreen Electric Vehicles, LLC. The new name reflects the wider scope of products offered under the multiple brands manufactured by the company in its assembly facility in Southern California.
The President of Evergreen Electric Vehicles, LLC, Keith Andrews, explains, “When our company began 7 years ago, we imported electric golf cars under the Fairplay brand. Since then we have moved our assembly to the United States. In 2009 we introduced our EVE LSV street legal electric vehicles. We have expanded our HOSS Extra Duty Utility Vehicles for commercial and industrial use in the spring of 2011 and are in the final development stages of our new GOAT HV line up of off-road vehicles.”
“Our move to assemble in the United States reflects our commitment to quality and timely delivery,” adds Andrews. “The Fairplay name is still synonymous with an imported product, therefore in addition to the corporate name change, our golf and recreational product line will be renamed LEGACY. The LEGACY name will better define our new golf products that are made right here in America.”
Evergreen Electric Vehicles, LLC is a Colorado Company with assembly facilities in the Long Beach, California area where it produces 100% electric vehicles. The 4 distinctive brands owned by Evergreen Electric Vehicles, LLC are; HOSS Extra Duty Utility line of commercial vehicles, LEGACY Golf and Recreational, EVE LSV street legal low speed vehicles and is developing an off road hunting vehicle under the GOAT brand. Evergreen Electric Vehicles, LLC sells through its network of authorized dealer throughout North America and the world.
For additional information about any of the vehicles offered by Evergreen Electric Vehicles, go on line to visit us at www.evergreenev.com
CUSTOMIZED GOLF CARTS HIT THE ROAD
Don Ware needs to update his “Don’s Battery” sign on west Venice Avenue to include “And Custom Golf Carts,” but he has been too busy building the low-speed vehicles to get around to the task.
Ware’s tinkering to get more mileage out of golf-cart batteries a few years ago has evolved into a booming business building Jaguar versions of carts that can move at a jacked-up 44 miles per hour. Call it America’s love of the automobile meets the realities of aging.
“A lot of people on Venice island are driving them to the grocery and the doctor,” said Ware, 48, who has owned Don’s Battery for about 12 years.
Florida’s older demographics and its gated golf-course communities make it — and other Sunbelt states — hot markets for zipped-up carts that some seniors use as their only vehicle.
The three major golf cart manufacturers — E-Z-Go, Yamaha and Club Car — sell combined about 300,000 new carts each year, said an industry expert. But those numbers do not capture the customized market that is made up of mom-and-pop builders, such as Ware who strips down old carts to the frame and rebuilds them into dream carts.
By law, people driving street-legal carts on public roads have to have a driver’s license. The carts, considered low-speed vehicles, can travel on streets with speed limits up to 25 mph but can cross busier streets.
At The Villages near Orlando, it is oft-repeated that “first you buy your house, and second your golf cart.” The Cart Man sells thousands of battery-powered Cadillac and Hummer carts to residents in Florida’s largest retiree community.
In Southwest Florida, Ware competes with a handful of small cart builders. Ware assembles about three dozen customized Jeep and Mustang carts each year and now gets orders from as far away as Arkansas.
“Usually it’s a buddy who sees his friend’s cart and says ‘I wants one too,'” Ware said.
Ware’s bread-and-butter though, comes from people who see the carts in the parking lot of his battery shop.
Many customers come in to make their cart “street legal,” which costs about $1,200 in lights, blinkers seatbelts and a high-speed motor. Then they fall in love with one of the blinged-out carts.
Among the most coveted is a pearl-white Mercedes Benz that sells for about $10,000 at the top end. A standard street-legal cart runs about $5,000.
Ware will take a trade on a Club Car, because they have solid aluminum frames, and then strip it down and rebuild it into a Florida Gator cart, or his latest invention, a camouflage four-wheel drive hunting buggy.
There are a myriad of colors, tires, rims and options, many Ware inventions.
A woman who wanted to haul things in her cart prompted Ware to invent a rear seat that folds into a cargo hauler – a golf cart version of a pick-up truck.
Ware created a carbon-fiber dash board to withstand heat and sun; a custom-mounted stereo in the drivers’ side glove box “so its hidden away and out of the elements,” he said. Ware and a Punta Gorda firm that makes canvas car tops invented a convertible top that unsnaps and folds up. A nearby upholstery shop customizes the seats.
To make a golf cart street legal requires that it be weighed and licensed. Ware has to take the cart to the dump to weigh it and then the customer transports it to Palmetto, the closest state facility that inspects and licenses the vehicles.
Now, Ware has turned his attention to motorizing another vehicle popular with seniors – the trike. “I love building these things,” Ware said. “Your imagination just goes crazy.”
MARC DEFOUR NAMED PRESIDENT AND CEO OF CLUB CAR
Longtime Ingersoll Rand Executive Succeeds Gary Michel
Marc Dufour has been named president and CEO of Club Car, an Ingersoll Rand brand. Dufour will have overall responsibility for the operational performance and strategic direction of the golf car and utility vehicle manufacturer.
Dufour is Club Car’s fifth president in the company’s 53-year history. He succeeds Gary Michel, who recently was named president of Ingersoll Rand’s Residential Solutions Sector.
The 30-year Ingersoll Rand veteran has spent his entire career in the company’s Industrial Technologies Sector, which provides products and services – from compressed air systems, tools and pumps to material and fluid handling systems and small task-oriented vehicles – that enhance energy efficiency, productivity and operations. After joining Ingersoll Rand in 1981 as an application engineer, Dufour has held various positions with increasing responsibility. For the past five years, he has served as president of the America’s Region of the Industrial Technologies Sector. Previously he was president of Ingersoll Rand’s global Air Solutions business.
Dufour assumes leadership of one of golf’s most respected brands as Club Car expands its reputation as a leading manufacturer of small task-oriented vehicles that serve a growing number of industries.
“Marc has demonstrated strong leadership skills throughout an impressive career at Ingersoll Rand. He is extremely well qualified to take on this important role within our organization,” said Robert Zafari, president of the Industrial Technologies Sector.
“I’m thrilled and honored to lead a company as respected and well positioned as Club Car,” Dufour said. “Throughout the Ingersoll Rand enterprise, as well as anywhere in the world where its people and products serve, Club Car is known for its innovative spirit, dedication to customers and unique culture. This is a very special opportunity for me.”
For more information, go to clubcar.com.
GOLF INDUSTRY SHOW SELECTS SAN ANTONIO FOR 2015
San Antonio has been selected by officials of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) and the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA) to host the 2015 Golf Industry Show and education conferences. The dates of the trade show are Feb. 25-26 and the education conferences are Feb. 23-Feb. 27.
Feb. 29 – Mar. 1, 2012 Las Vegas
Feb. 6 – 7, 2013 San Diego
Feb. 5 – 6, 2014 Orlando
Feb. 25 – 26, 2015 San Antonio
“Based on attendee feedback we selected San Antonio for the 2015 Golf Industry Show,” GCSAA Chief Executive Officer Rhett Evans said. “It is a new location that attendees and exhibitors want to go to and do business. It is a great addition to the Golf Industry Show lineup and another outstanding destination.” The 2012 Golf Industry Show (Feb. 29-March 1) and education conferences (Feb. 27-March 2) will be in Las Vegas.
“San Antonio is a perfect complement to the next three Golf Industry Show locations: Las Vegas, San Diego and Orlando,” NGCOA Chief Executive Officer Mike Hughes said. “San Antonio is an easy city to travel to and typically features pleasant weather that time of year. We are very optimistic about the networking opportunities available there with the convention center being located on the Riverwalk, where there are so many hotels and restaurants.”
The Golf Industry Show is an innovative trade show designed for the owners/operators of golf facilities and the professional members of the golf course industry. The event combines education, networking and solutions for golf course superintendents, owners, operators, architects, builders, equipment managers, appraisers and others.
The Golf Industry Show is presented by GCSAA andNGCOA, along with participating partners the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA), the Golf Course Builders Association of America (GCBAA), the United States Golf Association (USGA), the National Golf Foundation (NGF), the International Golf Course Equipment Managers Association (IGCEMS), and supporting partner the Society of Golf Appraisers (SGA).
E-Z-GO PROMOTES JOHN COLLINS TO VICE PRESIDENT, INTEGRATED SUPPLY CHAIN
E-Z-GO, a Textron company and a leading global manufacturer of light-transportation vehicles, announces the promotion of veteran executive John Collins to Vice President, Integrated Supply Chain.
In his new role, Collins will be responsible for all aspects of E-Z-GO’s operations, including the functions of sourcing, manufacturing, logistics, quality control and facilities. He will report to E-Z-GO President Kevin Holleran.
Collins succeeds Ron Draper, who left E-Z-GO to join sister Textron business unit Cessna Aircraft Company as Director, Production Control and Logistics. A native of Augusta, Ga. and a 1995 graduate of Hephzibah High School, Collins has worked at E-Z-GO for more than 12 years in numerous roles. He was program manager for development of the company’s RXV golf-car platform, and subsequently served as plant manager. Most recently, Collins was Director, Sourcing and Materials.
Collins holds a bachelor’s degree in Technology Management from Clayton College and State University in Morrow, Ga., and a master of science in Quality Control Systems and Management from Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, Ga. Collins is a Textron Six Sigma Black Belt. In 2009, he was named one of Augusta’s Top 10 Young Professionals to Watch by the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce.
“John is a talented strategist, an experienced motivator, and a dynamic and accomplished leader,” Holleran said. “Those skills, and his extensive company knowledge and industry experience, will serve E-Z-GO well as it designs and builds new products and enters new markets around the globe.”
“I am honored to have this new opportunity at the company where I have worked for my entire career,” Collins said. “I am excited to lead E-Z-GO’s Integrated Supply Chain organization and these talented, skilled and dedicated employees who make E-Z-GO an exceptional place to work and grow as a leader.”
More information is available at www.textron.com
CURTIS INDUSTRIES INTRODUCES IMPROVED SNO-PRO FRONT END LOADER PLOW BLADES
Built tough for farmers, landscapers, ranchers, contractors and homeowners
Curtis Industries has introduced a line of Sno-Pro front end loader plow blades which offer major advantages over bucket plowing. Designed for snow removal and general purpose use, Sno-Pro blades are ideal for pushing snow, aggregate materials, livestock feed, and silage. Built tough for farmers, landscapers, ranchers, construction companies and homeowners these unique implements give an added versatility to your bucket loader.
These blades feature 30 degree hydraulic angle for efficient and productive plowing, four heavy duty trip springs for added protection against blade damage from surface obstructions, easy-adjust depth shoes, and highly visible guide markers fro easy location of blade edge/corners. Sno-Pro front end loader blades are made with heavy-duty 11 gauge powder coated steel, an extended four foot push frame for added durability, and a high carbon steel reversible cutting edge. Blades are available in five through eight foot models and are recommended for tractors and skid steers up to 47 HP with quick-attach front mounting adapters.
For more information on Curtis products please visit www.curtisindustries.net
