Golf carts have been sold in America since the 1950s. This list runs in order of when each brand arrived. In that time dozens of brands have appeared, taken people’s money, and disappeared. Some were household names. Harley-Davidson sold golf carts for nineteen years. Westinghouse sold them. Toro planned to build a thousand, built 250, and quit.
Every one of those companies had a factory, a dealer network and a warranty. Today nobody can get you a part for any of them.
| Brand | Sold in the US | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cushman | 1901– | Still trading | We sell it. Manufactured in Augusta, GA, USA |
| Columbia Par Car | 1946– | Changed hands | Now marketed under Tomberlin |
| Taylor-Dunn | 1949– | Left the cart market | Bought by Polaris; industrial vehicles now |
| Electric Shopper | 1950s–60s | Gone | One of the earliest electrics |
| Elektro | 1950s–60s | Gone | Vintage parts only |
| Hoffman | 1950s–60s | Gone | Vintage parts only |
| Motorette | 1950s–60s | Gone | Vintage parts only |
| Ride Around / Turf Rider | 1950s–mid 1960s | Gone | Hawthorne, California |
| Tripcoe Tee Birdie | 1950s–60s | Gone | Vintage parts only |
| Walker Executive | 1950s–60s | Gone | Vintage parts only |
| Westmont | 1950s–60s | Gone | Vintage parts only |
| E-Z-GO | 1954– | Still trading | We sell it. Manufactured in Augusta, GA, USA |
| Western | 1957–1985 | Gone | Twenty-eight years |
| Club Car | 1958– | Still trading | One of the big three |
| Marketeer | 1959–1982 | Gone | Twenty-three years |
| Nordskog | 1959–1980s | Gone | Later merged into US Electricar |
| Allis-Chalmers | 1960s | Gone | Farm-equipment maker; brief cart line |
| Capri | 1960s | Gone | Small US builder |
| Davis | 1960s–70s | Gone | Vintage parts only |
| Jacobsen | 1960s–70s | Gone | Turf equipment maker |
| Karrior | 1960s | Gone | Vintage parts only |
| Otis | 1960s–80s | Gone | Vintage parts only |
| Tomberlin | 1960s– | Still trading | Absorbed Columbia Par Car |
| Toro “Golfmaster” | early 1960s–1966 | Gone | Planned 1,000 units. Built 250. Quit |
| Westinghouse | 1960s | Gone | Household name. Exited anyway |
| Harley-Davidson | 1963–1982 | Gone | Yes, that Harley. Nineteen years, then out |
| Pargo | 1965–1976 | Gone | Its dealers started their own brands |
| Noland | 1970s–90s | Gone | Built Walt Disney World’s fleet |
| Yamaha | 1970– | Still trading | One of the big three |
| Melex | 1971– | Still trading | Polish-built |
| Legend | 1980s–90s | Gone | Vintage parts only |
| US Electricar | 1980s–90s | Gone | Absorbed Nordskog |
| Hyundai | approx. 1990–1995 | Gone | Short-lived US cart line |
| Ruff & Tuff | 2000s–2010s | Gone | Owners told to look for E-Z-GO parts that fit |
| STAR EV | 2003– | Still trading | Containerized import — Guangdong Marshell Electric Vehicle (bill of lading, Feb 2025) |
| Fairplay | 2005–2011 | Gone | US Customs and Border Protection issued a country-of-origin final determination on Fairplay Electric Cars, LLC in 2010 (Customs Bulletin vol. 45 no. 2). Per that ruling, Fairplay imported chassis, plastic body parts and trim from China and assembled them in the United States. Renamed twice, then sold |
| Evergreen Electric Vehicles | 2011–2012 | Gone | Fairplay Electric Cars renamed. Assembly moved to Long Beach, California. Lasted about a year |
| Evolution EV | 2011– | Still trading | Containerized import — Xiamen Dalle New Energy Automobile; Xiamen Triquality Supply Chain (likely a forwarder, not a factory). Records found run 2020–2022 only; US address moved from Chino to Ontario to Corona, California, then to Ocala, Florida |
| Legacy | 2011–2012 | Gone | Third name for the Fairplay line. CBP issued a separate determination concerning Fairplay Legacy Electric Vehicles |
| Bintelli | 2015– | Still trading | Containerized import — Dongguan Excar Electric Vehicle (Mar 2025); Alwayz Electric Vehicle (Chuzhou), same as Vivid EV (Sep 2024); Zhejiang Overfly Electric Vehicle (Sep 2024) |
| ICON EV | 2017– | Still trading | Containerized import — Guangdong Lvtong New Energy (bills of lading, Dec 2024) |
| Kandi | 2019– | Still trading | US arm is SC Autosports LLC, dba Kandi America, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kandi Technologies Group Inc. (NASDAQ: KNDI), Jinhua, Zhejiang, China. Began assembling carts in Garland, Texas in May 2025 |
| Vivid EV | 2019– | Still trading | Containerized import — Alwayz Electric Vehicle (Chuzhou), same as Bintelli (Dec 2024); Shenzhen Aoxiang Industries (likely a forwarder, not a factory) |
| Advanced EV | 2020– | Still trading | Containerized import. CPSC recall notice (May 2023) names the importer as LvTong USA Golf Cars LLC, dba Advanced EV, of Dallas, Texas, and the carts as manufactured in China |
| Coleman | approx. 2021–2025 | Gone | Built by Kandi; Lowe’s cleared them out nationwide in 2025 |
| Denago EV | 2022– | Still trading | Containerized import — Zhejiang Taotao Vehicles (bill of lading, Dec 2024) |
A grain of salt. As best we can tell these dates are accurate, but take them with a grain of salt. Some of these companies changed hands three times before they folded, and a few of the older ones left almost no record at all. The important take-away is not the exact year. It is that they were here for a bit, and now they are gone, and no one has parts, and no one can service them. Stick with the tried and true to avoid heartache and wasting money.
About the import records. Where we name a Chinese supplier, that comes from United States Customs bills of lading, which are public record. Those entries are accurate as of 2026 and may change. Brands switch factories, sometimes more than once a year, so a supplier listed here may not be the one building that brand’s carts today.
Ask one question before you buy anything. Who fixes it in ten years? If the answer is a website, a phone number in another state, or a badge nobody recognises, you already know how this ends. We have been at the same job in Arizona since 1983, and we stock parts for E-Z-GO carts built twenty years ago.
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