Lithium Ion Power Cells
 

After reading recently in the Daily Sun about golf carts and Lithium Ion power cells and the huge increase in range per charge, I did a little checking and found the one company in The Villages that is doing the conversion on an existing lead based battery cart.

Advantage Golf Cars AGC, converted my cart from 6 lead based batteries to 15 Lithium Ion power cells with chargers. Here are the results:

weight decreased by almost 200 lbs.
distance per charge increased to over 130 miles!!
time to fully charge approx 5 hours

Since we live all the way "Up North" by Mullberry Grove the best I could expect from old battery setup was to go to Lake Sumter and back in the daylite. If I had to turn on the headlights, we were toast on the way home. The new system allows me to go anywhere anytime (including Brownwood) and still have plenty of charge left. I find myself charging the cart about once a week now instead of daily.

This is a new technology for carts in The Villages and deserves some recognition, especially if you don't like the smell and sound of a gas cart.

Cost ?

did you get information as to the life span of the batteries. Also is it comparable in cost to the lead acid type?

Batteries have a 10 year warranty and will last through approx 3500 charging cycles

It's not cheap, 7K for the conversion or a brand new cart starting at about 13K. In my case, the cart is already highly customized, so starting over again was not an option.

Lithium is a limited resource and so it is a consideration for leaders who are pushing their nations heavily toward battery operated cars. Once gone another material will have to be found/used

As to lithium for golf carts my research led me to believe that if you wanted quality batteries with a life of up to 5 years you were going to have to spend $4,000 plus. And the best claim for distance that I could find was up to 60 miles on a single charge. It was also suggested that if lithium batteries were used one should purchase a new charge made specifically for lithium; albeit you could get by with acid based chargers. They also suggested new battery cables made to work with the lithium batteries that are hotter.

I could not find any information if golf cart lithium had the over heating problem found in many jet planes.

I purchased a gas cart after hemming and hawing for about two years
I don't detect any gas odor. I don't like the noise but I can maintain a more consistent average per mile better with gas than I could with electric.

I opine others can decide

Range is a function of the AH rating of the batteries used. The OP didn't state the AH rating of the batteries he wound up with. I am assuming he has 12V Lithium Ion batteries. There is a wide range of AHs available for 12V Lithium Ion batteries, although I suspect space can become an issue as the higher AH rated batteries are larger. I would enjoy hearing more details about the install from the OP.

Help me understand, how old were your batteries when you had the limited range to LSL? What was your configuration, 4 x 12, 8 x 6, 6 x 8? How old is your cart? As I have mentioned on here before, I have 2 electric carts and both have a 60 mile range which is more than enough for TV. Since Trojans can be had for around 600.00ish and I expect max 3 sets over 10 years can't understand the cost justification for lithium so could use some help on that.

Seems that that hoverboard that burst into flames had lithium ion batteries. Amazon pulled them from it's site for the time being.

New battery technology may make the internal combustion engine obsolete in cars and carts. With Apple, Elon Musk, and Panasonic in the game it should be sooner than later. BTW, nice going Kahuna32162.

Cart is a year and a half old. Battery was 6x8. New system is 15 lithium ion power pack, each with individual chargers. As I stated earlier range is now 120+ Miles on a charge. New system is maintenance free, batteries do not need water and are warenteed for 10 years.

As I mentioned, this is a custom cart built on a club car frame. You might wonder why I did not seek repairs from where it was purchased from. The Villages Discount Golf Cart Man is, in my opinion, the worst buying experience that I have had in my entire life. I will never deal with them again on any issue related to the cart I purchased. Sometimes you learn the hard way and just have to move on....kinda like being a Service Smart customer!

I was advised that when the power cells were charging that I should do it in a well ventilated enviournment. I always lift the seat and prop it up when charging the system as it does put off some heat. The system does not have a separate charger, just plug the plug into the wall in the garage.

50 mpg, no worries.

The key to lithium ion battery life is the charger. Had an 06 Toyota Highlander hybrid. Bought used with 60k miles and traded it at 90k in 2013. Loved it. If I remember right, Toyota is very careful not to overcharge it and the system tries to keep it fully charged. I am thinking they charge to only 85 to 90% and maintain it there. You may want to rethink once a week charging. NYC hybrid taxi cab have run 300,000 miles.

Thanks.....so the short range was a result of the custom build and maybe poor design. I get that. Can't see an advantage for lithium at current price points...not sure there would ever be a payback. 120 mile range isn't an issue since my butt gets tired around 50. :icon_wink:

I use lithium batteries in RC cars. These produce about 7 to 11 volts but need a special charger and each cell has to be balanced while charging. You charge the cell in a charging bag for protection. You need good quality batteries and have to be very careful how you treat them. They are very good when used correctly.

Overcharging
 

Kahuna, if your batteries are off gassing during charge then whomever installed them may have set the charge cycle too high. Unlike lead batteries where off gassing is part of a normal charge process this is not good for lithium batteries.

I am making an assumption that you have LifePo4 batteries installed now.