The GadAbout is hi-tech, but still could be half the price of a normal golf cart. (Courtesy Gad Shaanan Designs)

New GadAbout promises to shake up ancient golf cart designs

By William K. Wolfrum,
Staff Writer

Imagine a golf cart. Not so tough is it? At this very moment the image of one of those little white numbers has settled firmly and clearly in your mind, all the way down to the little holes in the dashboard where you can stick extra tees.

It's about as easy to imagine a golf cart as it is to imagine a tree. Why? Well, because like trees, golf carts have maintained the same basic design for as long as anyone can remember.

This, however, could change as a result of the work being done at the San Diego-based Gad Shaanan Design and their new GadAbout golf cart. A prolific inventor, Gad Shaanan believes the market is ready for a modern, lightweight, single-person, battery-operated, hyper-compact golf cart.

"As a company, observational research is a big part of what we do," the 51-year-old Shaanan said. "When I would play golf, I would research golf courses and what I saw was that. You can look at the evolution of the game itself with new technology and improving equipment, but you look at golf carts and see they haven't changed at all."

Now Shaanan plans on changing the unchangeable, with the GadAbout. At 250 pounds, its weight will be nearly half that of a traditional golf cart. The GadAbout also will come with a lightweight gel-cell battery, as opposed to the traditional lead-acid batteries used by golf carts, and most automobiles.

"It really has a lot of features that make sense," said Shaanan, who is in the midst of relocating from Montreal to San Diego. "The whole management of the carts can be easier."

A feature that should resonate with golf course owners is that the GadAbout is collapsible, making for easier storage. Of course, the price tag may end up being the feature that puts the GadAbout in direct competition with golf cart manufactures such as Yamaha and EZ-Go.

While traditional golf carts have a price ranging from $4,000-$5,000, forcing most courses to lease their fleet, the GadAbout will come in with a much lower price tag.

"We are aiming that these will be in the $2,200-$2,500 region," Shaanan said. "We are trying to get the price point so that you can buy two GadAbouts for the price of one normal cart."

Shaanan pointed out that with the lower cost, courses can charge less for cart rentals, and that GadAbout's weight will help keep course conditioning costs lower. Plus, they are just plain neat and add to the enjoyment a golfer gets during a round.

To be fair, SoloRider offers a lightweight, single-person cart, while cart manufacturers such as Club Car have modernized their cart designs for user-friendliness over the years. Still, the GadAbout takes a broad step away from previous golf cart designs.

In keeping with the sci-fi look and feel of the GadAbout, it will also feature a "Follow-me" remote-controlled technology, allowing golfers to have the cart come to them, or allowing golfers to walk when they wish, with the GadAbout, which will be able to carry two bags, following obediently behind them.

"The technology is there and is even in the golf industry, with GPS systems," Shaanan said. "All we've done is use current technology to create a new product."

If there's one thing Shaanan and his company seem to know, it's how to create a new product - or at least to make an existing product that much better. Gad Shaanan Design has worked with the City of San Diego to redesign the city's trolley system; designed the Kyocera K400 series of cell phones; and has worked on products from such world-class companies as Hewlett-Packard, General Electric, IBM and Siemens, among others.

Currently, Shaanan is looking for investors in his new golf cart, though he said he felt that some of the large golf equipment manufacturers would be a natural fit for the GadAbout.

"We are looking at perhaps going to manufacturers like Titleist and Callaway because they are always looking for new product," Shaanan said. "If you stop and think of Callaway's history, they broke the status quo with the Big Bertha, so it may be a natural fit for them."

The GadAbout has been in design for approximately two years, and Shaanan said that with the right investor, golfers could be using the carts within two years. So by 2007, perhaps, the default image of golf carts we carry in our minds could change dramatically.

December 9, 2005