Cost of Electric
 

We gave the model number on our Charger, to the SECO tech and he said our charger would run at about 75 to 90 Cents an hour maximum. You could be right at 60 so I can see where the SECO rep would quote a bit higher in order to be safe and not be criticized by the gear heads who prefer gas. Either way, whether it is 60 or 70 or 90 is no problem to me. No fumes, no gas cans no trips to get gas, just come home, plug in that little jewel, charge it and grab the automatic watering can afterwards and it is SO convenient, awesome, quiet and we love our EZGO for sure.
I have a wire shelf on the wall, by the plug, the water jug with hose is there, it is so easy to hook up the quick disconnect for the automatic filler. No problem and always after the cart is cool and charged. Thanks
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:ho:

I believe the way most chargers work is they draw more amps when first plugged and then it ramps down with time. My estimate of 60 cents is probably too high by a factor of 2. 60 cents would represent drawing 20 amps for 2 hours (which is not what actually happens). A good rule of thumb for electric golf carts is they use 2 cents of electricity for each mile you travel. YMMV.

Lithium is a compelling story for electric carts, but I never can get past the cost. Last time I looked (minimal research) I could buy 5 sets of 8-T105 packs for the same price as one set ( 4 12v) of lithium (close to $5k). That should change at some point I would think, maybe it even has since I last looked?

Again whether you own gas or electric you still have to do pre operation inspections once in awhile. Both can be ticking time bomb or an inferno mostly after years of use. With routine maintenance done by company or yourself if you have the skills Very High percentage nothing will happen without spotting something first. If you feel comfortable with electric why change?

It looks like you are Fenney? If so, electric would make more sense since it could be a bit of time before you could ride to a gas station. Going to a gas station in a golf cart is not a big deal: pull up, lift the seat, put in some gas, and go. We are pretty close to a Marathon station plus we only go there once every 3 weeks or so.

I’m not a militant in either camp...heheh. But substitute ‘gas’ for ‘electric’ and that’s exactly what I say about our cart. :)

I am in Fenney however the lack of accessible gas stations down here is not the reason I would at this point prefer electric and as a matter of fact most of the ones running around down here are gas. In thinking about it, there really aren't all that many gas stations south of 466 and there is a lot of dead space between them so many people have a long ride to get to one. I have always found the electrics to be simple and pretty much maintenance free other than charging and water. I used to like working on cars and tractors, etc., but over the last several years I gave up on doing all that. Just a personal thing I guess. I'm going to do a little research on the lithium batteries.

Thanks to all for your responses. After much deliberation and research I've decided on the Tomberlin (electric). Will let you know how it goes. Tim

There are 4 (soon to be 5) locations to get gas for your cart "down south". The cart store at Brownwood, the Colony Shell, the new Walmart Neighborhood Market gas pumps, and the Marathon at Pinellas Plaza. There's also another Marathon at Lake Deaton Plaza which will be opening soon. How many more do you want?

If you happen to be in the center between Colony and Brownwood Square or farther north, you only have Pinellas Plaza. Walmart is just across from the Shell so they service the same area and I would count them as one. So currently there are 3 places to get gas accessible by golf car and there are one heck of a lot of golf cars down south.

Tim. Please do keep us advised as Timberline is one on top of my list and I would really like to know what you think about it. I would be getting the 4 seater model if I go with them.

We will be renting next March and it comes with an electric cart. We were thinking of renting a gas cart. How many miles can you typically go with an electric cart?

Depends on the age of the batteries

Club car 48 volt with 3 year old batteries could easily go 40 to maybe 60 miles on charge. But around 40 I was getting battery remorse and weak uphill pulls

You could debate this all day long and the decision in the end will be yours based on your needs and $$. If you do not want to worry about how far you are driving and will you have enough range to get there, buy a Gas Cart. If your not traveling that far buy an Electric Cart. As for the pollution aspect ask yourself this: How do you think that electricity you used to charge your cart was generated? It did not magically appear. Every time you transfer energy from one type to another there is an inefficiency part of the conversion. I have an electric cart because it will travel as far as I need it to travel. Its 14 years old and on the 3rd set of batteries. Also at the time Gas Carts just stank as they burned the fuel. I do not smell the new ones like the old technology. Then here is the $$ value. How much do you spend on a cart before its better to just buy another car? Don't over think this.

May want to double check those ranges. 3 year batteries are not going 40 miles unless the cart is on the back of a truck.

The rule of thumb is 40 miles when the batteries are new and start to lose range from there.
Now before I get jumped there are a lot of things considered when it comes to range.
Its all math really, you have so much stored power, and the cart uses so much power to run.

Yep, on target. How much weight yo hauling, how fast are you driving, tires properly inflated, etc, etc, etc. Even with brand new batteries I 'm no sure I'd count on 40 miles.

Gas vs Electric -- and the winner was....
 

I was the OP and I chose the Tomberlin electric. Though it has only been two weeks since its delivery I have tried to find the reasonable dying point of a full charge. We are north of 466 and have travelled to all three squares including some at night with lights on and side trips in between and have yet to approach depletion of a full charge. Surely battery performance diminishes with age (happens to the best of us) but I truly cannot imagine ever being at risk of being stranded so long as I am as mindful of charge status as one would be of a fuel gauge. Fortunately a great feature on the Tomberlin is an integrated charger so if we ever do need a little extra juice on the road all we need is a standard three prong outlet. Lets face it, this is not a long term investment so replacing batteries is well worth the overall convenience and cleanliness of electric. Regarding the cart itself acceleration from a dead stop to top speed is seemingly instant. The cart looks good, my cart enclosure smells good (as does my garage), I hear my music clearly, and it is a nice responsive ride. Oh yeah, many features standard include four wheel brakes, seat belts, self-cancelling turn signals, auto parking brake, lights aplenty, et al. Admittedly it is early in our experience, but we did a lot of research, so far so good, and I wouldn't change my decision given the chance. Tim

Tim: Thanks for a great thread....some really good advice here. Would you mind sharing where you bought your Tomberlin?

Columbia Par Car / Tomberlin on 441/27. They have a manufacturing facility in Leesburg.

We are transitioning on the weekend from electric to gas.
We are buying a gas Yamaha Quietech Yesteryear golf cart from Villages Golfcarts.
I hope it lives up to the promise of being quiet and fume free.

Fireboy has a passion for remote-control aircraft.
We had a garage fire in January as a result of FB charging a battery for one of his remote-controlled airplanes.

Its not fume free

Fires are a problem with those fancy Lithium Batteries. You must be extremely careful and do not over charge. They are spectacular when they fail.

Sounds like a winner. They do make a good cart at a reasonable price. You'll enjoy it.

It is important to some of us to know that when we get into our cart to go places that it won't quit on us. Gas is more dependable.

Do you have a new Yamaha QuieTech? I'm hoping that it's almost fume free.

You will be

happier than a

clam at high

tide. Phenomenal Choice.

Lobster High Tide. :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

Columbia Par Car electric rules.

Thank you Nucky; good to hear. :highfive:

Oops. Double post....deleted.

I had a 2017 Yamaha Quiet Tech as a loaner when I had the annual service done on my 2016 Yamaha electric. I had a strong odor of gas in my garage after parking the gas cart. I don't have those air vents in my garage so maybe that is why the odor of gas did not dissipate.

Driving the loaner cart, I found it has a very slow sluggish acceleration vs the very rapid acceleration in my electric cart. I felt as though I was driving a Fred Flintstone vehicle in the 2017 Quiet Tech. It is just too sluggish of a start for me. My sister also has a 2017 Yamaha Quiet Tech and it accelerates the same way as my loaner.

As far as an electric cart going slower up hills; my electric Yamaha has an AC motor so it takes the hills just fine. I see maybe a .2 mph slow down going up hill. That isn't noticeable at all.

I don't play golf so I do understand the rationale for owning a gas cart now that The Villages is expanding. To be honest, if I had to travel really far to get from one end of The Villages to the other end, I would gladly take the car. But...as I said, I don't play golf.

I will gladly pay the price for new batteries when ever needed. To me, that is the price I am willing to pay for a smooth quiet ride with no odor. My sister has a 2017 Yamaha Quiet Tech gas cart and it does have an odor of gas. I smell it every time she leaves my driveway when I wave good bye to her.

[QUOTE=Topspinmo;1466565]....... it does cost and if does put out odor when charging ........

.......Over time the batteries will have to be replaced, once the batteries get some age on Them they may produce more liquid fog when charging which coats the cart and garage floor. It eats up metal, wiring, and concrete floors. Now you you have fight corrosion. [QUOTE]

Our 2016 electric Yamaha does not make any odor when charging. I have never heard of liquid fog when charging batteries. Does this happen on the newer electric carts? I had no idea this would be a problem. Yikes!

Are the garage door vents enough to prevent problems when charging batteries? I don't have any vents but will consider putting them in the garage door if necessary.

Gasoline carts suck in every way except for range and "charge" time.

gas - 200 miles on a 3 minute "charge"
electric - charges at about 6 miles per hour...30 miles will require a 5 hour charge

Rohan Rec to Mulberry Grove Rec is 15 miles

Just the savings in fuel (gas is 4 cents per mile more over electric) and extra maintenance costs (only maintenance on electric cart - $3.00 per year for distilled water) will pay for a new set of batteries after 3 years (assuming 10 miles per day)...And the batteries will easily last 5 years if you keep them fully charged and water them monthly. I will race any gas cart up a hill. While your cart is bleating away, I will be at the top will gobs of torque and perfect silence. ALWAYS go for a cart with an AC motor!

If I were to buy a cart today, I would go with the Tomberlin LE. You will have 70 miles of range every time you leave your house and like me, will never even bother to look at the fuel gauge. Tomberlin will be much cheaper than the Yamaha AC from the villages or C&C

As the world turns to electric vehicles as ways to slow down the warming cycle, we as villagers turn our backs on the rest of the world and buy gas carts with no emission control. I would assume there are 30k (mol) gas carts out on the village golf paths. Many bought for the reason of convenience and everybody else has them so why not. I would assume they don't care about global warming, like not recycling or not returning shopping bags back to the store or littering the golf cart paths with booze bottles and dog poop bags.
I can understand buying a gas cart when you first move here as it's great fun to see the villages by cart. I even advise my new neighbors to buy gas. After a couple of years why not buy a electric cart and see the villages in a different light. One with a quiet and refreshing atmosphere. Being able to talk on your phone (through bluetooth radio) . Carry on a quiet conversation with your passenger, or just smell the fresh air. How about listening to the stereo and not having turned up to 11.
Electric carts do not catch on fire for no reason they catch fire from lack of maintenance, dry cells, loose connections or not using distilled water for refilling. Newer carts have Smart Chargers that run algorithms for the batteries you have installed. They can desulfate batteries and recharge them due to their loss of charge.

If you put in vents in the garage door, you then make it hurricane in- effective.

Gas carts just don't "catch on fire". I think they are safer to own and as I get older and it becomes more difficult to walk home, I like my gas cart all the better.

Oh pullease.

Buy an electric cart or buy a gas cart. They both have their advantages. But don't make your decision based on this typical and false propaganda.

Yeah...electricity just appears in your wall magically. That's what so great about it. Who can argue with that?!?

At least there was one bit of accurate information in the post...electric carts catch fire for a lot of reasons, including some not listed.

Again, buy gas or electric. But do it for your own personal reasons. Don't be fooled into thinking you're going to save the world.

Ill jump in here from the repair aspect.
As someone stated, the argument of which is better will never end, both have there pluses and minuses for the job they are asked to do.

From a maintenance stand point, I'm glad to see the villages go gas, as more profit is made on a gas cart over an electric, sorry folks, I know you gas guys will jump all over me for it and say how your cart hasn't needed any work. Electric owners will say the same thing.
I can look at what comes through the shop and the profit per cart.