Please educate me about golf carts!

[AMB444]

I know I'm going to get a lot of good information and advice here!

I know NOTHING about golf carts. Gas? Electric? One or Two benches? Do you plug them in at night? Do they have a favorite snack? :throwtomatoes:

Help please! :thumbup:

[dewilson58]

Hang On..................This is going to be a "ride".

:jester:

[CarlR33]

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/all-about-golf-carts-things-156/depreciation-electric-vs-gas-powered-golf-carts-347412/

[BrianL99]

I know I'm going to get a lot of good information and advice here!

I know NOTHING about golf carts. Gas? Electric? One or Two benches? Do you plug them in at night? Do they have a favorite snack? :throwtomatoes:

Help please! :thumbup:

It's simply amazing the amount of information that's available at your fingertips.

... one only needs to use a little ingenuity and that search engine thingie .... Goggles or something like that?

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/all-about-golf-carts-things-156/depreciation-electric-vs-gas-powered-golf-carts-347412/?highlight=carts

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/items-sale-villages-florida-407/2017-yamaha-gas-efi-quietech-347435/?highlight=carts

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/golf-cart-gas-347247/?highlight=carts

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/all-about-golf-carts-things-156/how-do-you-change-tire-golf-cart-do-yourself-347040/?highlight=carts

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/all-about-golf-carts-things-156/do-golf-carts-have-seat-belts-347109/?highlight=carts

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/items-sale-villages-florida-407/2020-yamaha-quietech-347097/?highlight=carts

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/golf-cart-insurance-346967/?highlight=carts

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/golf-cart-stolen-villages-hospital-spanish-springs-1-16-2024-a-346896/?highlight=carts

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/walmart-selling-golf-carts-466-down-automotive-345162/?highlight=carts

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/all-about-golf-carts-things-156/few-golf-cart-tire-questions-345196/?highlight=carts

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/all-about-golf-carts-things-156/will-apply-lithium-battery-golf-carts-346065/?highlight=carts

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/another-golf-cart-goes-ablaze-346058/?highlight=carts

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/broken-down-golf-cart-345991/?highlight=carts

[JerryLBell]

Gas-powered are more popular in The Villages by a wide margin as The Villages is huge and the range of electric carts is seen as limited (though that's not totally fair with modern electric carts).

One or two-bench seats? For me, the proper answer is "none". Two bench-seats means either having one mounted in the rear of the cart where passengers face the rear while riding or having a longer cart with the second row of seating facing forward. Neither are ideal. Nobody likes to ride facing the rear and they end up uncomfortably twisting around to see the front and talk to the passengers in the front. And standard golf carts really aren't built to handle the weight of four adults. The longer carts with two proper rows of seating are longer (duh!), can't park perpindicularly into parallel parking spots (which is how you park normal golf carts), are substantially more expensive and you'll probably rarely use the second row of seating. A lot of us prefer to have a cart that just comfortably seats 2 and then renting one of those longer, twin-rows-of-seating carts on the comparatively rare occaisions that you need one.

So why not a single bench seat? I know I was originally going that route as it'll save you close to $2,000 over the fancier bucket seats. I sat in a bench seat when I was shopping for our cart and it was just fine. Then I sat in one of the nicer, bucket-style seats and it WAS SO MUCH BETTER! It had WAY better seat cushioning, WAY better lumbar support, WAY more comfortable outer arm rests (as well as inner arm rests) and the driver seat was adjustable so my wife (who is not all that tall) could slide it forward and not have to use those stupid, strap-on pedal extensions.

Your mileage may vary. Offer not legal in all states. Substantial penalty for early withdrawal. Some assembly required. Do not take my advice if you are allergic to my advice. See your doctor if your erection lasts longer than three hours.

[Michael G.]

Here's my take.
Seriously.. buy a hybrid vehicle.
Sure you can't use it for golfing, but can go shopping all on battery power same as a cart, and in air conditioning
and a hell of a lot quieter.

[tophcfa]

I know I'm going to get a lot of good information and advice here!

I know NOTHING about golf carts. Gas? Electric? One or Two benches? Do you plug them in at night? Do they have a favorite snack? :throwtomatoes:

Help please! :thumbup:

One person’s advise, in the order of your questions. Gas. One. No. Ethanol free gas.

[dtennent]

How are you going to use it? I live in Osceola Hills and can get to either top or bottom of The Villages, play 18 holes of golf and get home with my electric cart. Now that I have done that, I prefer to drive my car to the extremes rather than spend all that time in a golf cart. So the comments that electric golf carts won’t go all that far are wrong. I prefer the convenience and the very quiet drive of electric. However, I am not a person who thinks driving 100 miles in my golf cart every day is fun.
As far as depreciation goes, my cart is 10 years old and is running fine and is in great condition. However, I take care of it and plan to keep it for at least another 10 years. At that point, very few carts are worth all that much.

Go with bucket seats. If you have friends coming to town, rent a cart for a week. You will be happier in the long run.

[golfing eagles]

I know I'm going to get a lot of good information and advice here!

I know NOTHING about golf carts. Gas? Electric? One or Two benches? Do you plug them in at night? Do they have a favorite snack? :throwtomatoes:

Help please! :thumbup:

That's true. But on TOTV, all that "good information and advice" will likely be contradictory :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

[Papa_lecki]

Hang On..................This is going to be a "ride".

:jester:

What’s Vegas saying about the over/under on number of posts arguing gas vs electric?

[Papa_lecki]

I went with a gas cart in the hopes that the oceans rise, cover the east coast of Florida, and I end up with a beach front property.

[ThirdOfFive]

Sort of like the question posed to a well-known golf pro some years back...can't remember the name. Gary Player, maybe? Anyway, the question: "What is the secret of golf"?

His answer: "Just tee it up and hit it. And when you find it, hit it again."

Golf carts seem to be something like that. Our history with our cart (2013 Yamaha gas powered):

- Get in.
- Turn the key to "on".
- Go.

We've owned it going on four years now, and never a problem. Just get the oil changed once a year and replace the spark plug. I did add seat belts to the thing but that was with a kit from Amazon and maybe a half-hour with a drill and socket set. Check the tire pressure now and again when the wife imagines this tire or that looks a bit flat. Wash with windshield from time to time. Really, not much more.

[rjm1cc]

I think you have to tell us how you think you will use it. Replacing a car, short trips, under 30 or 40 miles a day, does operating cost matter (replacement of batteries) etc.

[MorTech]

Like everything else...Bacon.

A Corolla hybrid is a far better value and for about the same money :)

[AMB444]

Hang On..................This is going to be a "ride".

:jester:

:gc:

[AMB444]

Thanks everyone!

I like reading about the personal experiences, how to maintain, gas vs electric.

What's is like driving on the roads next to cars? The designated paths have walkers as well? What's parking like... same lot as the cars?

dtennent & rjm: Good question to consider! I don't golf (yet) so would probably use to get to stores, pools & rec, sunset drives, etc. Probably would not drive it for more than half hour to get anywhere and would take my car for any outing over 30 minutes. Ideally, good quality but no pricy extras, 2 bucket seats (thanks Jerry Bell) and no back seating.

If you take your cart grocery shopping where do you put your bags? :icon_hungry:

[MrChip72]

If you take your cart grocery shopping where do you put your bags? :icon_hungry:

https://www.golf-carts-etc.com/images/golfcartbagforgroceries.jpg

[AMB444]

Thank you MrChip!!

[shaw8700@outlook.com]

You’ll never get the answers you need from in here. 50% go one way while 50% go the other. If you won’t use your golf cart that much, don’t mind paying for batteries, don’t mind hurting the environment, like to drive noiselessly, go electric.

If you plan on driving for long distances, don’t mind stopping for gas often, don’t mind the noise, and you don’t mind hurting the environment, go gas.

It’s really that simple.

[MrChip72]

If you plan on driving for long distances, don’t mind stopping for gas often, don’t mind the noise, and you don’t mind hurting the environment, go gas.

No one with a gas cart is stopping for gas "often". I'm getting well over 200 miles per tank. We put lots of miles on our cart and can go a month sometimes on a tank of gas.

[kkingston57]

That's true. But on TOTV, all that "good information and advice" will likely be contradictory :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

True but about 95% of the responses will be opinions and around 5% will be objective information.

[BrianL99]

... don’t mind hurting the environment, like to drive noiselessly, go electric.

.... don’t mind the noise, and you don’t mind hurting the environment, go gas.

It’s really that simple.


It's that simple. If you use a golf cart, you're hurting the environment.

So protect your environment! Stay home and enjoy your life in an Active 55+ Community, from the comfort of your living room.

[mcloud]

Here's my take.
Seriously.. buy a hybrid vehicle.
Sure you can't use it for golfing, but can go shopping all on battery power same as a cart, and in air conditioning
and a hell of a lot quieter.
Electric vehicles are way more expensive to maintain very unreliable. In my opinion the ones I’ve had both gas and electric gas ot performs easily. Electric golf carts suck.

[bowlingal]

if you get an electric cart, be aware that adding water to the batteries can destroy your driveway if it overflows. I didn't know that when I moved here. Added water in my driveway and eventually the acid from the battery ate into my beautiful painted driveway. Had to have the whole thing sandblasted and repainted. Now I have a gas cart.

[BrianL99]

if you get an electric cart, be aware that adding water to the batteries can destroy your driveway if it overflows. I didn't know that when I moved here. Added water in my driveway and eventually the acid from the battery ate into my beautiful painted driveway. Had to have the whole thing sandblasted and repainted. Now I have a gas cart.

I tried adding water to my battery and couldn't figure out how to get the water in there ... poured it on top and it splashed all over the driveway. Luckily, it didn't hurt the paint.

[Vermilion Villager]

Hang On..................This is going to be a "ride".

:jester:

The over/under is 7 pages!!!!

[GATORBILL66]

Gas only!

[bigeasy]

When you get one use an apple air tag. Many carts have been stolen.

[Bill14564]

Electric vehicles are way more expensive to maintain very unreliable. In my opinion the ones I’ve had both gas and electric gas ot performs easily. Electric golf carts suck.

It sounds like you've never had an electric vehicle or an electric cart.

I have had HEVs (Prius hybrid - great car) and currently own both a gas and electric cart.

Initial costs were similar for both automobiles and carts. EV and PHEV automobiles cost significantly more than HEVs - I won't be buying one of those for just that reason.

Maintenance cost is similar for HEV automobile compared to ICE automobile. Maintenance cost is nonexistent for electric cart compared to oil change, spark plug, air cleaner, and drive belt for gas cart.

Based on my experience actually owning and operating both, my future purchases will be HEV for automobile and electric for carts.

[Bill14564]

I know I'm going to get a lot of good information and advice here!

I know NOTHING about golf carts. Gas? Electric? One or Two benches? Do you plug them in at night? Do they have a favorite snack? :throwtomatoes:

Help please! :thumbup:

Based on my experience: 2-seater electric cart, upgraded bucket seats, plug in every night.

I like the zero maintenance of the electric cart with no need to go to a gas station. I plug mine in every night and have about a 60mile range in the morning. 60 miles is about four hours which is longer than I want to spend in a cart seat anyway.

The upgraded seats are just really nice.

We only bought 2-seater carts. These fit into our garage better than a 4-seater and feel more comfortable when we are driving them by ourselves. If we have company then we have a cart for our guests to use and we can split up and go separate directions if we want. Yes, two 2-seaters are far more expensive than a single 4-seater but it is much better suited for our needs/desires.

Electric cart vs hybrid auto: The cart is fun to drive. I don't golf but own two carts so we don't have to argue over who gets stuck with the car. If you need a financial argument, the cart will cost less initially and likely last longer than the car (much lower lifetime cost), the cart will cost less to maintain than the car (lower yearly cost), and the cart will cost 3-5 times less per mile than an efficient hybrid vehicle (lower per-mile cost).

[LoisR]

Golf carts are traded in sooner than regular autos. So, with that in mind, think about purchasing one that is popular with the majority of Villagers.
One sees more Yamahas and Club carts than any other brand. As for gas or electric, the majority purchase gas carts.

[HORNET]

What do you do when you need to purchase a new vehicle? What are your needs and what does that vehicle need to ????????

[HORNET]

Most Villagers hange on to the golf cart for a long time

[AMB444]

True but about 95% of the responses will be opinions and around 5% will be objective information.

:wave: That's okay too! I like to hear personal opinions as well!

Thanks everyone!

[AMB444]

Golf carts are traded in sooner than regular autos. So, with that in mind, think about purchasing one that is popular with the majority of Villagers.
One sees more Yamahas and Club carts than any other brand. As for gas or electric, the majority purchase gas carts.

I see there is a list of golf carts for sale here on TOTV.

Does anyone know of other websites for purchasing carts from TV area? I'm thinking that shipping charges from other areas would add on too much cost.

[shaw8700@outlook.com]

It's that simple. If you use a golf cart, you're hurting the environment.

So protect your environment! Stay home and enjoy your life in an Active 55+ Community, from the comfort of your living room.

You’re hurting the environment no matter which way you go. I say pick which one you want and go have fun with it!

[Southwest737]

Log into Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/4502104993348072/)
Buy a good quality used EZGO like this one with old lead batteries. Then spend another 3 to 4 grand on lithium batteries. For around 8 grand you will have a reliable maintenance free cart for ten years with operating cost a fraction of a gas one. Range of 80-90 miles is more than adequate. I live near Lopez (way north). Yesterday carted to Southern Oaks, played 18, drove to Sumter Landing, then to Spanish Springs, then home. No range issues. 55-60 miles and still had 45% battery reserve. Quieter, more torque, zero smell. Gas is the past. Go ⚡️

[golfing eagles]

Log into Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/4502104993348072/)
Buy a good quality used EZGO like this one with old lead batteries. Then spend another 3 to 4 grand on lithium batteries. For around 8 grand you will have a reliable maintenance free cart for ten years with operating cost a fraction of a gas one. Range of 80-90 miles is more than adequate. I live near Lopez (way north). Yesterday carted to Southern Oaks, played 18, drove to Sumter Landing, then to Spanish Springs, then home. No range issues. 55-60 miles and still had 45% battery reserve. Quieter, more torque, zero smell. Gas is the past. Go ⚡️

Sounds like a VERY optimistic assessment of electric range----far in excess of what the manufacturers claim. Count me as suspicious as to the validity of that claim.

[BrianL99]

Log into Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/4502104993348072/)
Buy a good quality used EZGO like this one with old lead batteries. Then spend another 3 to 4 grand on lithium batteries. For around 8 grand you will have a reliable maintenance free cart for ten years with operating cost a fraction of a gas one. Range of 80-90 miles is more than adequate. I live near Lopez (way north). Yesterday carted to Southern Oaks, played 18, drove to Sumter Landing, then to Spanish Springs, then home. No range issues. 55-60 miles and still had 45% battery reserve. Quieter, more torque, zero smell. Gas is the past. Go ⚡️



Sounds like a VERY optimistic assessment of electric range----far in excess of what the manufacturers claim. Count me as suspicious as to the validity of that claim.

I have a 210 Amp Electric (which is as large as generally available).

I couldn't come close to making the trip as described, unless maybe if I drove the cart at 5 MPH. There's not a human alive, who could stand to drive a golf cart from OB to Southern Oaks, at 5 mph.

OBH to Southern Oaks is 16 miles each way + 7 miles to play a round of golf. At a cruising speed of 20 mph to get there and back, I'd be sweating out the ride home. I'd sure as hell not have enough charge to include a side trip to Brownwood and still have almost 50% charge left, when I got home.

[Southwest737]

Sounds like a VERY optimistic assessment of electric range----far in excess of what the manufacturers claim. Count me as suspicious as to the validity of that claim.

I have two 48 volt 120 AH running in parallel. Cruise at 22 mph. Navitas blue tooth programmable controller on my Ezgo also has regen braking. I also have Curtis cab which adds weight. Without that I could probably go 110-120 miles. General rule of thumb is range of cart in miles is half the amp hours.

[golfing eagles]

I have two 48 volt 120 AH running in parallel. Cruise at 22 mph. Navitas blue tooth programmable controller on my Ezgo also has regen braking. I also have Curtis cab which adds weight. Without that I could probably go 110-120 miles. General rule of thumb is range of cart in miles is half the amp hours.

Sounds like a lot more power than the average off the showroom floor electric cart

[BrianL99]

General rule of thumb is range of cart in miles is half the amp hours.

According to whom?

I've never seen any real life results, that come remotely close to that "rule of thumb", particular in an environment like The Villages.

Perhaps on a golf course, where the Controller is programmed not to exceed 10-12 mph and it's primarily flat ground.

I've got $100 for anyone who can get their Lithium powered golf car range to 50% of the Amperage, on Villages MMP's at normal Villages cruising speed of 19 mph.

[biker1]

I prefer to do the calculations in watt-hours per mile. My 9k watt-hour battery pack is good for 60 miles or 150 watt-hours per mile. The guy who posted has an 11.5k watt-hour pack. I think that should be OK for about 80 miles. Perhaps his cart draws less that 150 watt-hours per mile?

According to whom?

I've never seen any real life results, that come remotely close to that "rule of thumb", particular in an environment like The Villages.

Perhaps on a golf course, where the Controller is programmed not to exceed 10-12 mph and it's primarily flat ground.

I've got $100 for anyone who can get their Lithium powered golf car range to 50% of the Amperage, on Villages MMP's at normal Villages cruising speed of 19 mph.

[BrianL99]

I prefer to do the calculations in watt-hours per mile. My 9k watt-hour battery pack is good for 60 miles or 150 watt-hours per mile. The guy who posted has an 11.5k watt-hour pack. I think that should be OK for about 80 miles. Perhaps his cart draws less that 150 watt-hours per mile?

You're way over my head, now.

All I know, is I've driven 105 Amp, 150 Amp & 210 Amp carts and I can't get close to 50% of the Amp rating, in miles. All the carts were brand new. I actually ran the 105 Amp out of charge, at about 18-19 miles, the first time I used it.

[biker1]

Was that a 48V system? If so, 18-19 miles seems pretty low. Using some percentage of the amp-hour rating can be problematic because the voltage isn't being specified. My electric is a 60V system so 150 amp-hours at 60V is more energy that 150 amp-hours at 48V. Regardless, the 60 miles that my electric can do is more than enough. In 10 years, the most miles we ever put on a cart in one day was about 30 miles.

You're way over my head, now.

All I know, is I've driven 105 Amp, 150 Amp & 210 Amp carts and I can't get close to 50% of the Amp rating, in miles. All the carts were brand new. I actually ran the 105 Amp out of charge, at about 18-19 miles, the first time I used it.

[Bill14564]

According to whom?

I've never seen any real life results, that come remotely close to that "rule of thumb", particular in an environment like The Villages.

Perhaps on a golf course, where the Controller is programmed not to exceed 10-12 mph and it's primarily flat ground.

I've got $100 for anyone who can get their Lithium powered golf car range to 50% of the Amperage, on Villages MMP's at normal Villages cruising speed of 19 mph.

My 100Ah battery gives me 60miles. That seems to be 60% of the amperage on Villages MMPs at normal cruising speed which is more than 50%. Where can we meet so I can collect?

[BrianL99]

My 100Ah battery gives me 60miles. That seems to be 60% of the amperage on Villages MMPs at normal cruising speed which is more than 50%. Where can we meet so I can collect?

Anytime you're ready, you can meet me at Sumter Landing and then again, 3 hours later, with 60 additional miles on your cart.

$100 is cheap to find out I can replace my 210 Amp with whatever kind of battery you have and get 120 miles out of a charge.

[Southwest737]

Range varies of course due to cart type, weight, driving technique, etc.
This from ************** article in 2015.
A golf cart has traveled 114 miles on a lithium charged battery here in The Villages.

LithiumBoost Ultra battery system with 200ah lithium cells and 20a chargers, was installed by Advantage Golf Cars in an E-Z-GO RXV golf cart, replacing existing lead-acid batteries. After performing comprehensive tests and working closely with the Lithium Boost engineering team to enhance the battery system features, Advantage Golf Cars mechanics drove 114 miles per charge at an average speed of 17 miles per hour. This record was accomplished in one day, utilizing multiple drivers taking turns in driving each one hour shift.

[Southwest737]

Watts per mile. Hmmm. My Tesla averages 250 watts per mile so figure a golf cart might be half that?

[golfing eagles]

Range varies of course due to cart type, weight, driving technique, etc.
This from ************** article in 2015.
A golf cart has traveled 114 miles on a lithium charged battery here in The Villages.

LithiumBoost Ultra battery system with 200ah lithium cells and 20a chargers, was installed by Advantage Golf Cars in an E-Z-GO RXV golf cart, replacing existing lead-acid batteries. After performing comprehensive tests and working closely with the Lithium Boost engineering team to enhance the battery system features, Advantage Golf Cars mechanics drove 114 miles per charge at an average speed of 17 miles per hour. This record was accomplished in one day, utilizing multiple drivers taking turns in driving each one hour shift.

That's all well and fine as far as record distances or customized additional batteries goes. For the rest of us, we are more concerned with the average distance on the average electric cart.

[biker1]

Perhaps half, or close to half, of your 250 watt-hours per mile. My electric uses about 150 watt-hours per mile so my range is about 60 miles. The charging process is not 100% efficient and we use about 180 watt-hours per mile to recharge. Your Tesla may have those ridiculously efficient SynRM motors plus a lower Cd.

Watts per mile. Hmmm. My Tesla averages 250 watts per mile so figure a golf cart might be half that?

[Nana2Teddy]

How are you going to use it? I live in Osceola Hills and can get to either top or bottom of The Villages, play 18 holes of golf and get home with my electric cart. Now that I have done that, I prefer to drive my car to the extremes rather than spend all that time in a golf cart. So the comments that electric golf carts won’t go all that far are wrong. I prefer the convenience and the very quiet drive of electric. However, I am not a person who thinks driving 100 miles in my golf cart every day is fun.
As far as depreciation goes, my cart is 10 years old and is running fine and is in great condition. However, I take care of it and plan to keep it for at least another 10 years. At that point, very few carts are worth all that much.

Go with bucket seats. If you have friends coming to town, rent a cart for a week. You will be happier in the long run.
Except don’t rent your cart from The Villages Golf Car Stores. Horribly uncomfortable, stripped down, no seat belts, and maxed out at 16-17 mph. We rented for a week when we had family here and used it for only two hours. $175 down the drain. There were no better carts available to rent anywhere thanks to snowbird season.

[Bill14564]

Anytime you're ready, you can meet me at Sumter Landing and then again, 3 hours later, with 60 additional miles on your cart.

$100 is cheap to find out I can replace my 210 Amp with whatever kind of battery you have and get 120 miles out of a charge.

At an average of 15mph it would take at least four hours to put those miles on a cart. I have mentioned already that I have no desire to sit in a cart that long. Plus, I suspect if I did then there would just be one more reason to not hand over the $100.

It isn't the kind of battery that is affecting the mileage, it's the kind of cart. The efficiency of the motors, the friction in the drivetrain, and the additional electronics using battery power all matter. Clearly, one or more of those are different between your Star and my EZGo. I have no desire to spend time trying to figure out which it is.

[PoolBrews]

I have a 210 Amp Electric (which is as large as generally available).

I couldn't come close to making the trip as described, unless maybe if I drove the cart at 5 MPH. There's not a human alive, who could stand to drive a golf cart from OB to Southern Oaks, at 5 mph.

OBH to Southern Oaks is 16 miles each way + 7 miles to play a round of golf. At a cruising speed of 20 mph to get there and back, I'd be sweating out the ride home. I'd sure as hell not have enough charge to include a side trip to Brownwood and still have almost 50% charge left, when I got home.

I live as far north and east as you can get in The Villages - In Phillips Villas just off hwy 42 near the VA. Until recently, I had a Yamaha Drive 2. I recently got an Evolution D5 Ranger with 4 forward facing seats. With a 205ah battery I can go to Southern Oaks (21 mile trip), play golf, and after getting home I have 25% battery left. Battery drain is fairly consistent at 7 miles per 10% of battery with a cruising speed of 24. Allowing for never going below 10% charge, my max range is in the 60-65 mile range.

Folks saying they can go 60 miles on a 100ah battery seems far fetched. I don't care how well engineered the cart is. My guess is that their speedometer is not set correctly and is not showing the correct mileage. I agree with the poster that offered $100 to see it done in real life - I would come to watch and document - as an engineer, I don't think it's possible.

[Bill14564]

...

Folks saying they can go 60 miles on a 100ah battery seems far fetched. I don't care how well engineered the cart is. My guess is that their speedometer is not set correctly and is not showing the correct mileage. I agree with the poster that offered $100 to see it done in real life - I would come to watch and document - as an engineer, I don't think it's possible.

It turns out the EZGo has a 120Ah battery (the data is difficult to find and not stamped on the owner-accessible portion of the battery).

The speedometer uses GPS which is older technology so I suppose it could be set incorrectly. The mileage it gives compares well with the speedometer in the other cart (though that too uses old GPS technology). It also compares well with mileages from google maps but of course, you can't trust google.

42 miles to 25% in one long ride and another 45 miles to 25% on a long and busy day. Maybe another 100 yards and it would have dropped from 25% to 0%. I still don't plan to sit on the cart long enough to find out.

[BrianL99]

According to whom?

I've never seen any real life results, that come remotely close to that "rule of thumb", particular in an environment like The Villages.

Perhaps on a golf course, where the Controller is programmed not to exceed 10-12 mph and it's primarily flat ground.

I've got $100 for anyone who can get their Lithium powered golf car range to 50% of the Amperage, on Villages MMP's at normal Villages cruising speed of 19 mph.


I live as far north and east as you can get in The Villages - In Phillips Villas just off hwy 42 near the VA. Until recently, I had a Yamaha Drive 2. I recently got an Evolution D5 Ranger with 4 forward facing seats. With a 205ah battery I can go to Southern Oaks (21 mile trip), play golf, and after getting home I have 25% battery left. Battery drain is fairly consistent at 7 miles per 10% of battery with a cruising speed of 24. Allowing for never going below 10% charge, my max range is in the 60-65 mile range.

Folks saying they can go 60 miles on a 100ah battery seems far fetched. I don't care how well engineered the cart is. My guess is that their speedometer is not set correctly and is not showing the correct mileage. I agree with the poster that offered $100 to see it done in real life - I would come to watch and document - as an engineer, I don't think it's possible.


It's not possible.

My mileage with 210 Amp is almost identical to yours. People believe their "power gauge" on their cart and start doing multiplication. After the 2nd time I ran out of power in a Lithium Loaner cart, I learned my lesson. I can get 40 miles or so on the first 1/2 of my gauge and about 20-25 on the last half.

No one wants to admit they actually ran their Battery dry, for fear of being called stupid. Instead, they extrapolate their mileage range by going 10 miles and reading their gauge.

Although if you notice, the last guy who boasted he can get 60 miles from his 105 Amp battery, has now amended his "cruising speed" to 15 mph. That's not exactly cruising, nor even "ambling". He'll be getting run over by bicyclists and walkers, right before he gets stranded at the 35 mile marker.

It's like a gas gauge on a 40 year old car. Accuracy is not a hallmark.

[Bill14564]

Although if you notice, the last guy who boasted he can get 60 miles from his 105 Amp battery, has now amended his "cruising speed" to 15 mph. That's not exactly cruising, nor even "ambling". He'll be getting run over by bicyclists and walkers, right before he gets stranded at the 35 mile marker.

It's like a gas gauge on a 40 year old car. Accuracy is not a hallmark.


Actually, he hasn't. He has driven over 4,000 miles on the MMPs here in the Villages and knows that while the cart travels at 20mph in open sections, but those sections always end at a stop sign for a gate crossing or intersection. 60 miles would take a little under three hours on a closed track but not on the Villages MMPs. In the real world, the speed over a long trip in the Villages averages to 15mph.

[biker1]

The required power goes as the cube of the velocity. You will require about 70% more power to drive at 20 mph than 24 mph. Reducing your speed will increase your range considerably.

I live as far north and east as you can get in The Villages - In Phillips Villas just off hwy 42 near the VA. Until recently, I had a Yamaha Drive 2. I recently got an Evolution D5 Ranger with 4 forward facing seats. With a 205ah battery I can go to Southern Oaks (21 mile trip), play golf, and after getting home I have 25% battery left. Battery drain is fairly consistent at 7 miles per 10% of battery with a cruising speed of 24. Allowing for never going below 10% charge, my max range is in the 60-65 mile range.

Folks saying they can go 60 miles on a 100ah battery seems far fetched. I don't care how well engineered the cart is. My guess is that their speedometer is not set correctly and is not showing the correct mileage. I agree with the poster that offered $100 to see it done in real life - I would come to watch and document - as an engineer, I don't think it's possible.

[PoolBrews]

The required power goes as the cube of the velocity. You will require about 70% more power to drive at 20 mph than 24 mph. Reducing your speed will increase your range considerably.

I understand that driving slower will increase my range - but it won't change it considerably - I gain another 5-7 miles range (I took a long drive and kept the cart below 20 just to test this out).

My cart is set to a max of 24mph, because the normal driving speed for nearly every cart out there is 22-24mph. I rarely pass anyone (unless they are driving at 18mph), and rarely get passed. I typically drive at 22-24. If I drove at 20, there would be a long line of carts behind me, and the extra 5-7 miles is not worth it since my battery is large enough to get me anywhere I need to go.

An interesting fact is that range increases as tire diameter gets smaller. This was tested and documented by Tesla. For each 1" reduction in tire diameter, electric vehicles gain about 2.5% in range. Standard tires on my cart were 225/55r14. I went with 205/45r12. Diameter difference is 4.5", so I gained ~11% range. The lower tires also allow my cart to get under every tunnel in The Villages (Note: Saddlebrook tunnel is by far the lowest tunnel).

[Bill14564]

The required power goes as the cube of the velocity. You will require about 70% more power to drive at 20 mph than 24 mph. Reducing your speed will increase your range considerably.

The power required to overcome drag might increase with the cube of the velocity but is that a significant factor in a cart traveling 24mph? It doesn't seem likely but it will be interesting to investigate that.

[Loriemoms]

Gas-powered are more popular in The Villages by a wide margin as The Villages is huge and the range of electric carts is seen as limited (though that's not totally fair with modern electric carts).

One or two-bench seats? For me, the proper answer is "none". Two bench-seats means either having one mounted in the rear of the cart where passengers face the rear while riding or having a longer cart with the second row of seating facing forward. Neither are ideal. Nobody likes to ride facing the rear and they end up uncomfortably twisting around to see the front and talk to the passengers in the front. And standard golf carts really aren't built to handle the weight of four adults. The longer carts with two proper rows of seating are longer (duh!), can't park perpindicularly into parallel parking spots (which is how you park normal golf carts), are substantially more expensive and you'll probably rarely use the second row of seating. A lot of us prefer to have a cart that just comfortably seats 2 and then renting one of those longer, twin-rows-of-seating carts on the comparatively rare occaisions that you need one.

So why not a single bench seat? I know I was originally going that route as it'll save you close to $2,000 over the fancier bucket seats. I sat in a bench seat when I was shopping for our cart and it was just fine. Then I sat in one of the nicer, bucket-style seats and it WAS SO MUCH BETTER! It had WAY better seat cushioning, WAY better lumbar support, WAY more comfortable outer arm rests (as well as inner arm rests) and the driver seat was adjustable so my wife (who is not all that tall) could slide it forward and not have to use those stupid, strap-on pedal extensions.

Your mileage may vary. Offer not legal in all states. Substantial penalty for early withdrawal. Some assembly required. Do not take my advice if you are allergic to my advice. See your doctor if your erection lasts longer than three hours.

Omg you are so funny! I just had to tell you I enjoyed your post...