Drivers this summer are feeling the pinch of rising gas prices. And some village officials in north suburban Wheeling believe they’ve got just the solution—electric golf carts.

Bill Hein doesn’t call them golf carts. To him, they’re neighborhood electric vehicles and he wants them zooming down the streets of Wheeling.

HEIN: They’re very economical to run. You don’t have to change the oil. You have no pollution from them whatsoever. And it’s just a great neighborhood vehicle. It’s going to the grocery store, going to church, going to pick up the kids from school, going to the library, dropping them off at the park district.

Hein, a former village president, says the vehicles can get up to 25 miles-per-hour and cost a lot less than a car to run. While Hein says the vehicles are great for the environment, some village officials are concerned about their safety.

For Chicago Public Radio, I’m Hunter Clauss.