Since Mount Horeb became the first of four Dane County municipalities to allow neighborhood electric vehicles on its streets, the roar -- or, more accurately, the hum -- of the golf-cart-like conveyances hasn 't exactly been ear-splitting.

In the nearly 11 months since Mount Horeb 's ordinance was passed, exactly one person has registered with the city to drive a NEV around town.

In Monona, there 's been some "minor interest, " but no registrations, according to Police Chief Walter Ostrenga. And in Sun Prairie and Stoughton, three vehicles in each city have been registered by the owners of Ozee Cars, a Stoughton NEV dealer. Stoughton 's utilities department also has one of the vehicles.

Conspicuously absent from the approximately 15 cities statewide that have approved the use of NEVs is environmentally conscious Madison.

An ordinance to allow NEVs on Madison streets was introduced last year by former Ald.Austin King. Since then it has been bogged down in committee as police and streets officials try to work out details of where the vehicles would be allowed to go and how police and the public would be made aware of those restrictions.

Ald. Mark Clear, 19th District, said Friday he 's in the process of rewriting the ordinance to make it similar to the ones passed in other Wisconsin municipalities.

"My goal for this thing is to really try to simplify it, " he said -- something along the lines of: If the street has a speed limit below 30, you can drive an NEV on it.

Separately, the state Legislature is considering a measure introduced by state Rep. Sheryl Albers, R-Reedsburg, to have the state Department of Transportation take over registration of NEVs, handling it similarly to the way the state licenses mopeds, Albers spokesman Kurt Simatic said.

Clear said he hopes the council won 't wait for the state to act before it takes up his ordinance, which he said could go before the Pedestrian/Bicycle/Motor Vehicle Commission and the Public Safety Review Board in September and the full council in October. Any city NEV registration system that is implemented should be simple enough to easily dismantle, he said, should Albers ' bill become law.

The so far limited use of NEVs in Dane County hasn 't dampened backers ' enthusiasm for the vehicles, even as they acknowledge their use may take a while to catch on.

"I know a number of people actually that are interested in buying one, " said 10th District Alderman Brian Solomon, a cosponsor of the Madison ordinance. He added that it could be "a perfect second vehicle " for him and his wife.

Still, "I would be shocked if we registered more than 10 a year " in Madison, he said.

A fiscal analysis of Albers ' bill 's effects anticipates a small number of NEVs would be registered initially and bases calculations on 1,000 registrations every two years. At $23 per registration, that would bring in $23,000 in state revenues, the analysis says.

Simatic said Albers ' office has gotten calls about the legislation from three constituents, while Janesville has sent a letter in support of it.

"Based on the contacts we 've gotten ... they 're waiting for clarification before they proceed, " he said.

The legislation, Assembly Bill 339 and Senate Bill 186, has been passed out of committee and could be taken up in the fall session, Simatic said.

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