Kids at Lincoln's Foskett Ranch Elementary know Will Honeywell as the third-grader whose parents drive a funny-looking car.

"He gets a lot of attention," said his father, David, who, with his wife, Seana, owns a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle.

Though their NEV can still prompt questions from strangers, the Honeywells are one of more than 600 families in Lincoln who drive them as part of their everyday life.

The vehicles are growing increasingly common in Lincoln, part of what city planners see as a trend, spreading particularly among younger residents, such as the Honeywells, who are in their mid-30s.

And as the drivers turn to NEVs as an alternative to costly, polluting conventional cars, they find in Lincoln a city that welcomes them with miles of designated lanes.

Today, state officials and numerous cities see Lincoln as a model of how to design communities to accommodate and even promote the use of energy-saving NEVs.

Lincoln unknowingly prepared for the NEV trend years ago when it redesigned its streets to welcome the golf carts driven by residents of a then-new Del Webb retirement community.

More than 400 golf carts are still used around town, but the versatility of NEVs has gradually made them more popular.

Slightly larger than golf carts, NEVs can seat two additional passengers and travel 10 mph faster. They are equipped with seat belts, brake lights, rear lights, headlights, mirrors and a windshield. Unless prohibited, they can travel on any city street with a maximum speed limit of 35 mph.

NEVs come in all shapes, sizes and styles, but most look like oversized bugs on wheels. They travel no faster than 25 mph but can fit four people and achieve the electrical energy equivalent of more than 150 miles per gallon of gasoline.

They use about 1 cent of electricity per mile and can go 20 miles to 30 miles on a full charge from a standard electrical household outlet.

For all their advantages, NEVs are not cheap. Some new ones sell for $18,000. Used ones can go for $5,000 to $6,000.

Most families that have NEVs use them in the city and turn to conventional cars when going out of town.

Lincoln city staffers have included NEVs in the city's growth plans and hope the city will have 5,000 NEVs by the time its population reaches 115,000.

City planners and police also credit NEVs with calming traffic: By slowing traffic flow, they reduce accidents.

Lincoln officials have spent nearly $1 million in making their streets more NEV friendly. To date, they have 30 miles of roadways dedicated to NEV travel.

Linked to grocery stores, banks, restaurants and medical centers, the NEV routes foster a sense of community while keeping dollars local.

Some new shopping centers have dedicated parking spots for NEVs and have installed electrical charging stations.

The special lanes and other amenities for NEVs have drawn delegations from as near as Sacramento and as far as Seoul, South Korea. The visitors want to travel on Lincoln's NEV lanes and to hear how it became the first city in the state to have a comprehensive NEV transportation plan.

"We have been doing this since 2002, but it is not until recently that people are starting to take notice," said John E. Pedri, public works director for Lincoln.

The story of Lincoln's NEVs began about eight years ago with the building of three subdivisions set in a retirement community featuring a golf course.

The city's population was about 9,000, about a fourth of its present size.

The city negotiated developer agreements calling for a community designed so residents could use golf carts from their homes to the putting greens.

About a year after construction started at the retirement community, city officials started seeing a new vehicle in town: The NEV had arrived.

The new mode of transportation had been authorized earlier by federal legislation, but it was soon apparent that the city needed dedicated NEV lanes, Pedri said.

But altering a California street for NEV use requires special state legislation.

So, working with local legislators, a state law was passed in 2005 giving the cities of Lincoln and nearby Rocklin permission to have special signage and street striping for NEVs.

With more California cities looking to install NEV lanes, state transportation experts want to ease legal requirements. Staffers from the Senate Transportation Committee visited Lincoln two weeks ago to explore ways to overcome that hurdle.

"If we can make state legislation based on the lessons learned in Lincoln, we can move forward with a plan for the whole state," Pedri said.

"I can see them in Sacramento's Old Town and parts of midtown Sacramento," he said. "I can see them in just about any place we now have bicycle routes."

GOLF CART VS. NEV

Some of the typical differences between golf carts and NEVs are highlighted below.

Number of wheels

Golf cart: At least three wheels NEV: Has four wheels

Speed

Golf cart: 15 mph max. NEV: 25 mph max.

Maximum weight

Golf cart: Less than 1,300 pounds NEV: Less than 3,000 pounds

Maximum passengers

Golf cart: Two, including the driver NEV: Unspecified

May drive on city streets

Golf cart: Generally, no NEV: If posted 35 mph or slower

May drive in golf cart lanes

Golf cart: Yes NEV: Yes

May drive in NEV lanes

Golf cart: No NEV: Yes

Must meet U.S. safety standards

Golf cart: No NEV: Yes

Source: www.lincolnnev.com

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