Quote:
Originally Posted by raggedy-andy
Ok, let's think about that on a routine maintenance level. And for the sake of argument, let's say that you're an average guy who isn't necessarily handy and won't do the maintenance on their own in their garage. For your gas car, how often do you need the routines -- oil, fluids, engine parts, etc.? Every 3 months? 6 months? What is that cost? Then what is the cost per mile for each? Even if I tank with gas and do so at Villages Golf Cars -- non-Ethanol at say $4.60/gallon -- and I get as high as the 50 mpg stated elsewhere, how does that compare to the cost for the kWH for home charging? (Hint: The Electric will likely be less on both of these counts).
If you roll that cost forward for X years -- meaning however long it takes to either replace a gas engine or a Lithium battery -- you are probably going to find that the up-front cost of the electric cart is more due to the battery cost, but the ongoing running cost for the gas cart will be more over time because of the required additional maintenance. And the cost for electrics or Lithium/LFP batteries will likely follow the standard technology lifecycle where the price decreases as the technology improves.
Not trying to make this a "Gas vs. Electric" argument, but I think Blueblaze had the costs aligned backwards in that the Electric will require a larger up-front investment and a lower ongoing cost until you reach the replacement point for a Lithium battery (3,500 full cycles? Are people driving 60 miles every day where a Lithium will require a full-cycle to charge?)
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My brand-spankin' new 2020 gas Yamaha hasn't needed anything since I bought it in March '20. I got it cheap for $14, 000 at that place down in Webster, when they were asking $16k at The Villages. "Discount Golf Carts" wanted $14K for a used cart, two years old.
Meanwhile, if I'd wanted electric, I could have had a new Club Car electric from that dealer in Lady Lake for $10K -- or go on the waiting list for gas, for $12K.
On every cart I looked at, unless I insisted on Lithium, electric was cheaper, and you can replace the lead acid batteries a bunch of times for the price of lithium. Look at used carts -- electric is always thousands cheaper. Part of that is people just prefer a gas cart. Part is because the batteries depreciate so fast.
Frankly, I don't see much difference in the long run, although the convenience of plugging it in instead of driving to a gas station once a month would be nice. But I prefer to pay now and forget it, rather than pay $500 every four years. 10 years from now, given inflation, my Yamaha will probably we worth MORE than I paid for it. So I flipped my coin and made my choice.
But maybe your experience is different. Who cares. I'm just pointing out that it's dumb to make trip distance the deciding factor. Nobody is going to drive a golf cart 40 miles.