[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Sail41

We have a 2012 ezgo electric and and 2017 yamaha. They both have strong points. The ezgo is better for my wife as she is 5' tall and fits better in the ezgo. She has to sit forward to reach the pedals in the yamaha. The electric accelerates far better than the gas cart and has no slow down on hills. We have upgraded seats in both carts. As for pure comfort, we had a 2000 Club Car ds and is was by far the easiest driving cart and very comfortable with just a standard seat. We use our ezgo for a lot of things, but mostly use the yamaha for golf as we usually go for food afterwards. We've driven almost 40 miles a couple of times and I feel more confident with the gas cart. That's not to say we haven't gone close to that in the ezgo or the club car we used to have. I wouldn't buy a 4- 12v battery configuration under any circumstances.

Sail41, I'm interested to know why you wouldn't buy a 4 12-volt configuration. I'm just starting to investigate carts and am interested in an electric. Appreciate if you would say why about the battery configuration.

[rjm1cc]

If you can drive on a concrete path. The spaces between each slab will tell you how good the suspension is. Driving on a road will not tell you.

[Fredman]

Originally Posted by CFrance

Sail41, I'm interested to know why you wouldn't buy a 4 12-volt configuration. I'm just starting to investigate carts and am interested in an electric. Appreciate if you would say why about the battery configuration.

The more batteries you have allows you more juice to go further

[fred53]

Contrary to everyones opinion...you can not rely on someone else's idea of what is good for your parents. They have to try them out. Personally I do not recommend electric unless you don't have long to live or like spending $400 every 3 or 4 years for battery replacement...lack of speed up hills and driving distance issues. There is no opinion that will fit your parents except trying them out. Everything else is just noise. Sorry, but that is the truth.

[Biker Dog]

Originally Posted by fred53

Contrary to everyones opinion...you can not rely on someone else's idea of what is good for your parents. They have to try them out. Personally I do not recommend electric unless you don't have long to live or like spending $400 every 3 or 4 years for battery replacement...lack of speed up hills and driving distance issues. There is no opinion that will fit your parents except trying them out. Everything else is just noise. Sorry, but that is the truth.

Fred, you should fact check your information before posting. Our 2013 EzGo with A/C motor and ranger batteries WILL go 55+ miles on a single charge. It will also be able to push any gas cart up hill. These are the facts.

[doran]

I have owned a Club Car Precedent and found it to be a smooth ride and durable. Most golf courses in the Western United States use these for their Country Clubs, you can handle the car easily. Only drawback is the distance per charge, between 27-32 miles. I currently drive a Columbia Par Car Eagle P5 which is sporty, long range, and built to last. Only drawback is the ride quality is the ride is a little stiff, but I love it.

Some things to consider on an electric cart,

1.) Plug it in every time it goes in the garage
2.) Invest in a single fill watering system, fills all batteries at once.
3) Get yourself a mat designed to catch any acid overflow on the garage floor.
4)The battery life is between 3-4 years, only replace them all at once, never one at a time.
5) When it is time for batteries, call Battery Boys. they deliver, haul away and do a fast, clean job, Trojan Batteries.
6.) Thank-you for doing your part to reduce noise, smell, and air pollution.

[rubicon]

Originally Posted by rjm1cc

If you can drive on a concrete path. The spaces between each slab will tell you how good the suspension is. Driving on a road will not tell you.

There is one exception and that is the section of diamond lane on St Charles that sits between Cane Garden and Buttonwood Road


There is a long section of that diamond lane that leaves the impression that you are rolling over a washing board

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by Fredman

Must be a reason why Yamaha is the most prevalent cart in the villages

I suspect that it's because there is some kind of connection between the developer and the Yamaha dealer.

Nationwide, Club Car has the highest market share. Also, nationwide, electric carts outsell gas by a huge margin. The general thought amongst golf cart experts is that Yamaha makes the best gas carts and Club Car makes the best electrics.

It might be that because we use golf carts as a means of transportation other than on a golf course that gas carts are more popular here, but that will be changing with the advent of longer life batteries and especially now that lithium-ion batteries have become available for golf carts.

There is a new cart, I believe that it's called Smart Cart, that has lithium-ion batteries. These batteries require no maintenance, last for 15 years and can go 100 miles on one charge. It also has a Toyota motor, built in speedometer and many other features.

Lithium-Ion batteries are also available for pretty much all other electric carts as well.

As these become more and more popular, I would expect to see the Yamaha and the gas cart use diminishing.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by CFrance

Sail41, I'm interested to know why you wouldn't buy a 4 12-volt configuration. I'm just starting to investigate carts and am interested in an electric. Appreciate if you would say why about the battery configuration.

The fewer the batteries, the longer the range. I know it sounds funny, but eight 6 volt batteries will go a lot further on a charge than four 12 volt batteries.

Take a look at a new cart called the Smart Cart. It has lithium-ion batteries which are maintenance free, can go 100 miles on a charge and can last up to 15 years.

[Jack9696]

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr

The fewer the batteries, the longer the range. I know it sounds funny, but eight 6 volt batteries will go a lot further on a charge than four 12 volt batteries.

Take a look at a new cart called the Smart Cart. It has lithium-ion batteries which are maintenance free, can go 100 miles on a charge and can last up to 15 years.

"Fewer?"

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr

The fewer the batteries, the longer the range. I know it sounds funny, but eight 6 volt batteries will go a lot further on a charge than four 12 volt batteries.

Take a look at a new cart called the Smart Cart. It has lithium-ion batteries which are maintenance free, can go 100 miles on a charge and can last up to 15 years.

Would lithium batteries for golf carts have the same fire-hazard problems as they did on the hoverboards, though?

[Regor]

Originally Posted by CFrance

Would lithium batteries for golf carts have the same fire-hazard problems as they did on the hoverboards, though?

Nope, same type of battery packs as cars (hybrids and all electric like Telsa)

[autumnspring]

Originally Posted by CFrance

Sail41, I'm interested to know why you wouldn't buy a 4 12-volt configuration. I'm just starting to investigate carts and am interested in an electric. Appreciate if you would say why about the battery configuration.

As you are aware 4 12v batteries is 48 volts SO is 6 8V batteries. However, the 6 8 v batteries will or should have more amper hours. Think of it a a bigger tank of gas.

It is also true that when you need to replace the batteries it will cost you more to replace the 6 8v batteries than the 4 12v.

[collie1228]

I own two Club Car, 48 volt, with 6-8 volt batteries, and they are nearly perfect for me. The only downside is that they have DC motors, which slow down on hills. Driving south on Morse Blvd. between Mallory and Havana is not pleasant if a speeding gas cart is behind me (usually tailgating) - my cart slows down to just under 15MPH on those long hills. If keeping up speed on hills is important to you, I would suggest you consider an EZ-GO, which has an AC motor and doesn't slow down on hills. But generally, I believe most people would say the Club Car is a better quality cart. Personally I would not own a gas cart, due to noise, smell and vibration. Yes, the newer Yamaha's are quieter, but still nowhere near the quiet of a Club Car electric. Plus you can have a nice conversation with your partner on an electric cart.

[villagetinker]

Originally Posted by suesiegel

FOR MINE-sounds like your parents are quite capable of making their own decision. Do you really want to insert yourself into this debate? Riding in the nonexistent middle seat while they discuss you got the cart YOU WANTED AND........

None of the golf carts handle like a sports car or ride like a land cruiser car.

Having said that seats as well as tires make a big difference.

We've driven two 2017 Yamaha gas carts. They were loaners from Village Golf Carts. Once for an oil change, once for a repair. They were completely different. One was great handling the other was disturbing at best to drive. The bad one, went from understeer at the start of a turn to oversteer half way through a turn. REASON-I don't know. Tires???

Far are repairs form Villages Golf cart WE HAVE BEEN THRILLED. Great that they supply a loaner for a service as inexpensive as an oil change. The other time, our gold cart just stopped. They picked up our gold cart and brought it in charge was $20, The repair was a starter solenoid labor and diagnostic $18.00 part (solinoid-relay) abt $49.

Susiegel, did you have anyone check the alignment? We bought a used cart, and I noticed the steering wheel was always off center, after getting the service manual, I was able to determine the alignment was out. I was able to do the alignment myself, and the cart drives much better. The other item to check are the bushings on the front arms supporting the front wheels. If you have a helper, they can look under the cart while you twist the steering wheel back and forth, there should be very little or no movement of the control arms where they are mounted to the frame.
Hope this helps.