What in the hills of Kentucky is "rocksnap"? :a20:

We have a STAR electric golf cart and have plenty of range for The Villages. We did a "1-day tour" of The Villages in our cart and traveled over 70 miles from North to South on 1 charge. We've never gone that far in 1 day again. Most of our trips do not exceed 10 to 20 miles, with 30 miles being a "long trip".

Absolutely
 

I have a star. I went through same anxiety. I have travelled from citrus grove to Spanish Springs and back and still had over 50% charge.

He (or she) is one of our well meaning forum peers that evidently has golf cart maintenance experience. He made a kind of emotional post or 2 about gas vs electric and I was poking fun at him (or her).

I was trying to be funny, I hope I didn't hurt any feelings. If I did I apologize.

BTW, not a chance I'm swearing off beer even if I have to chew the bottle open.

We've had both, and they both have their advantages and disadvantages. With the electric cart, which was a new lithium cart we were told that it had an 80 mile range when in reality if we used it for just golf and running around during the day and forgot to plug it in at night, we weren't going anywhere in the morning. Yamaha gas carts are quiet, customizable and you'll never have to think about range.

Love Electric Cart
 

We love our electric cart and get 100 miles per charge. Using the air conditioning or heat lowers the range a bit, but is well worth it. We love windshield wiper, electric windows and not dealing with wet canvas. Doors are not a problem when golfing. The only disadvantage is not having the canopy on the back to pull over golf clubs if it starts to rain.

Stretching it
 

Keep in mind, that’s 37 miles, you may have to drive back from where you started? Also, that is with new batteries, not batteries that are a year or two old. It may be a better option as a backup cart? If you are a golfer, forget it.

Buy gas you will never regret it.

When you 1st move here, you won’t know where the functions you want to attend and you won’t for a year or longer. When you move here, you know nothing about the 3000 clubs inside the villages, where you might be playing golf, archery, cards, pickleball, tennis, etc until you live here. We tried the 1 car 1 golf cart scenario and 1 of us was driving an hour or more 1 way in the golf cart to get to a function because your spouse is going in a different direction.
As for electric vs gas, range is only 1 item to look at when deciding. Look at the long term costs of replacing the lithium battery every so many years (thousands of $$$), disposing the hazardous waste lithium battery, compared to normal fairly cheap maintenance of the gas cart that is almost as quiet, gets 4x the range, and if happen to run out of gas, there are dozens of nearby gas stations to fill up, whereas there are 0 charging stations for electric

You’ll be fine
 

LOL
You’ll be within 25 miles of any course in the Villages. So, of course, 75 mile range is plenty.

Down south probably. Up north definitely

How much range is necessary, that’s debatable. What’s not debatable is that there are zero range issues with a gas Yamaha starting out the day with at least a half full tank of gas.

Hilarious
 

LOL, as if batteries still hold a charge for that far after a couple years!

What makes you think they will not? I'm closing in on two years with no noticeable degradation; others have had lithium carts longer than that. What is your experience with lithium carts?

Normal is referring to the pre lithium technology, where the batteries ability to retain a charge (range) steadily declines over time, kind of like riding down a hill until you reach the bottom. Lithium batteries are different, they hold their charge very consistently over time, right up until they don’t. More like riding along on level ground and then going off a cliff.

I recently experienced that with a lithium battery that runs my electric tools. Last week it worked almost like new, now it doesn’t work at all.

Fair enough, and I should be careful to note that my comments are about lithium-electric carts and not lead-acid carts.

Gas is the way to go as TV covers so much territory - WARNING - DO NOT BUY A CART FROM THE VILLAGES - they are the most costly and are also scammers when it comes to maintenance- check prices in Ocala and Webster!!

We have a gas and electric, new gas cart is $20k new electric Evolution is $12k. The electric was upgraded to the larger batteries giving us a60 mile range. The batteries are warranted for 8 years. I can buy 2 electric carts for just about the cost of one gas. I took the chance. The gas is 2 seat the electric cart is a 4 seater.

If you want Electric, you can find them always for sale as people find out they are not reliable and are limiting

In over three years we have run out of charge one time. We were about two miles from home, late in the day and had literally been driving in the cart all day. We actually wanted to challenge the cart that day to see if we would make it home after a very long day. We waited about 20 minutes in a rec center where we played a game of pool for 24-hour cart club to come and bring us home. It was really no big deal and now we know our true range. I love electric and breath easy without the terrible gas fumes all day.

I'm sure that's why Electric out sells gasoline powered, 2:1 and there's hardly a community in the USA, that allows residents to own a gasoline power golf cart for use in the community.

I know it will never happend, but just ONCE, I'd like to see someone come on here and say:

"I bought a Lithium powered electric cart with a 50 miles range and it $uck$. I'm going to trade it for a gasoline powered cart".

In what way are lithium electric carts unreliable?

If I never drive more than 40 miles in a day while my cart has a range of 60 miles then how is that limiting?

Depends on where you live. I live in the Sawgrass area and make frequent trips up to Spanish Springs to visit family and friends. Did it with our lithium cart that gets up to 50 miles per charge and had about 20% left when we got back home.
I would definitely get one that has at least a 75 mile range next time. We use our gas cart for longer trips now but want to eventually have just one cart…it will be a lithium cart with longer range.

Live in TV for 4 years and live in the north end. Too far to drive a golf cart if I want to go to southern end(can be 45-60 minutes). Like the acceleration and torque in the electric cart. With a strong electric battery, should be no problem going with electric. Gas carts have a harder time on steep hills

The evolution cart doesn’t compare with the Yamaha quiet drive2. If you compare like carts, the lithium will cost you more. Then in 7 years or so, you will spend thousands for batteries.
Lithium does lose its strength over time. How does your iPhone work after a couple years?

Electrics outsell gas IN THE VILLAGES 2:1?

Please tell me where you got that information.

Plus, there's hardly a community the size of TV anywhere in the country...

We have friends that live in Marisol, in Palm Beach Gardens. Electric only golf carts. The entire development is the size of one or two Villages... Range is not an issue...

How about in 2 more years? Will that distance drop? Most likely will get worse each year. My 12 year old FI cart still get around 42 miles gallon. It’s cost me in parts not labor 2 quarts oil year, two tires, tie rod end, secondary clutch, 4, belts, and around 8 fill ups years. It still runs like it did when new. Most electric carts will probably had replace at least 2 sets of batteries in 12 years, but, do most don’t keep electric cart that long?

Priceless!
 

Your last sentence is accurate and priceless!!!

I too was concerned about how far south the Villages is growing and thought I should be able to take a cart everywhere and that's why I bought a Par Car with 70 mile range but when reality set in I quickly found out that although the cart would go to Brownwood and back, my butt wouldn't -
it's too uncomfortable to ride that far - I live near Lopez and my distance limit it 466A -- I wouldn't have a gas cart so I recommed buying the best electric with the best range- I like EZGO

Regardless of my feelings about gas versus electric, I would never buy a home in a community that dictated what kind of golf cart I could drive.

But owning home in a community that won't let you cut down a tree without their permission, change the color of your home or put shutters on your home, is a different story?

Everyone is entitled to their own priorities.

They do
My Elite is 6yo with 17K miles. I don't see a bit of degradation

Have them serviced regularly and running a fleet at 14 mph is not even close to the same as the beating they take running higher speeds in the villages. Apples to oranges dude.

I have an MGI Lithium Golf Caddie. It's 7 years old. It went about 47 holes on a charge, the week I bought it. It's gone 45 holes on a charge, twice this month. It's got about 3000 miles on it.

Only if You Golf
 

If you drove a cart from Spanish Springs to Southern Oaks or one of the newer courses near Eastport and played golf, then you might not make it home.

According to Google maps, Orange Blossom pool to the Southern Oaks course is 16.5 miles.
According to several sources on Google, a golfer would walk four miles to play 18 holes.
Putting that together makes for a 37 mile day, something a 50 mile cart could do (even on only 80% of it's range).

Yes, as the Villages gets larger it will be harder to drive from one end to the other. At the same time, someone who wants to travel that far may choose a 50 minute round trip in a car rather than a two hour trip in a golf cart.

Anyone dumb enough to spend over an hour driving in a golf cart to get somewhere, gets what he/she deserves.

Get in your car and drive. Splurge ... spend the $8 for a cart rental when you get there.

I guess that based on your opinion I’m very dumb. Every winter I make an effort to swim in every sports pool and play every Championship golf course. Last winter I took three very long all day golf cart trips from our home near Tierra Del Sol. One day I played Grey Fox (no Championship course in Fenney), swam at Spanish Moss, and had dinner at the Fenney Grill. Another day I swam at Ezell, played Southern Oaks, then drove well out of my way to get a Polk bowl at Brownwood and watch the band Relic. Another day I played Lowlands (again, no Championship course in the area), swam at Everglades, and had a nice dinner , with live entertainment, at Edna’s. I never even considered not taking my golf cart, it’s a big part of the overall experience and I very much prefer golfing in my own cart. And as you stated, I got what I deserved, which was three great, adventurous, and memorable days that wouldn’t have been nearly as fun if I drove a car.

Sounds like you had some great day trips...

What the naysayers keep ignoring, is that many, if not most of those "long trips" are broken up into smaller legs, as your experience shows...

I apologize. "Dumb" was very bad choice of words.

Perhaps "quirky" would have been better. I just fail to see the attraction of going anywhere more than a few minutes away, via a golf cart. I get the "I'd rather play golf with my own cart" part and I've occasionally driven 20-25 minutes to Lopez, but generally I'll get in the car and drive if I want to play there. I don't have any interest in playing Southern Oaks or the new course in the south, so that's not even a consideration.

I admit, after 4 years, I still don't understand Villagers attraction for golf cart transportation. When people visit, they love the novelty of it, but after the first 2 rides, they've normally had enough.

Maybe I'm missing something?