Golf Carts -- Gas vs Electric
 

Have not yet invested in a golf cart but the time has come to do so. It seems most of the carts we see on the course are gas. We planned on getting an electric for charging convenience at home, noise, fumes, etc. But are rethinking our position on electric vs gas. I get that personal preference is key but I'd value any comparative input on this decision. Anyone transitioned from one to the other? Thanks in advance. Tim


ANY EXPERIENCE WITH TOMBERLIN??

I have one of each. If I only had one cart it would be gas. Both have their pro's and con's. If buying a new cart which I will do sometime in the next year, I would buy a new gas Yamaha EFI Quiet Tech and I would buy it from Carts and Clubs in Ocala because of the better Sunbrella enclosure. I have toyed with getting a Sleekline cab, but it is an advantage only when caught in the rain which only seems to happen 3 or 4 times a year.

there are pros and cons on both electric and gas carts and you are going to hear it from very vocal supporters of each. If you do go gas I would go with a Yamaha EEFI

Ditto on all of the above! If we had to choose it would be gas because of how big The Villages is getting. Do a search on this site for gas vs electric carts. You will find many threads with a lot of different opinions on which is better. Good luck!

They only had to say 8 batteries to me to decide on gas

Oh boy Timothy, you're certain to have touched some nerves...with this very legitimate question. :D


Ya better hang on. :popcorn:

I never had a gas cart but I did have a Columbia Par Car for 5 years and it truly went a long way before I had to charge it. I had only one minimal problem with the car, an electrical switch which was replaced under warranty but otherwise it was perfect. That being said, 7 years have passed since I purchased that one and things I'm sure have changed. I am ready to buy another one now and inclined to stick with electric because of the smell and noise from the gas cars and don't think I would like going to a gas station in one but I have not totally made up my mind yet. Price wise I don't know if there is an advantage either way as I have not gotten that far in my search.

The biggest downsides to electric carts: short distance vs. gas/slower up hills/replacing batteries every so often runs into the $100's of dollars. The quietness of electric is great...the newer gas carts(yamaha for sure/not sure about Par Cars or others)are much quieter.

For all the above reasons (batteries $700 -800 every 3 or 4 years) we switched to Yamaha EFI. There is no smell/stink with EFI (VS carbearator machines).
And the all important factor of distance concerns eliminated.

Check out the EZ go Elite. It comes with lithium Ion battery packs Which are guaranteed for 10 years against everything! Smooth riding, long distance ( I test drove one and at 50 miles the battery pack wasn't even down to half! I put it on the charger for 1 hour and it was almost fully charged!), This cart goes the same speed up hill and down hill about 22 mph. No parking brake. I was all set to buy one but the extra cost for the lithium batteries ( almost $5,000) drove me away. I did buy the Yamaha Quiet tech EFI, but sure wish I could have afforded the EZ Go. No gas stations, noise (yes ALL gas carts are noisy!). I also think the EZ go is smoother riding.

Gas. The carts you see sitting immobilized on the side of the paths are electric.

If you would like to read more; here is a link to the last 134 threads on this subject;

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...rchid=14241741

I have had 3 electric carts and none of them required batteries before 5 years including the Par Car. It averages out at todays prices $10.00 month for batteries plus whatever it costs to charge them. Not much other maintenance to worry about with them. I still might try the EFI gas units but 3 o 4 years is not the case with decent batteries, it's more like 5 to 7 years.

It is like so many questions... it depends on that what you like and more important your requirements...

There is no one answer that is right. I have never owned anything but electric and never (albeit never is a long time) will.

It is right for us, does not mean it is right for you...

If you want electric, then post again and there are things you can learn for range anxiety... and it is far from rocket science.

Carts
 

[QUOTE=Timothy;1465369]Have not yet invested in a golf cart but the time has come to do so. It seems most of the carts we see on the course are gas. We planned on getting an electric for charging convenience at home, noise, fumes, etc. But are rethinking our position on electric vs gas. I get that personal preference is key but I'd value any comparative input on this decision. Anyone transitioned from one to the other?


A comment.
Well, we did a lot of shopping. I am biased because years ago in college, I converted a gas engine from a truck to run on Propane and Natural gas. I measured the emissions and wow, how clean. So with gas, consider this. You take one pound, a pint of gas, and mix it with 14 pounds of air and then combust it, and then it goes out the exhaust,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 15 pounds of stuff, some of it very poisonous. CO2 etc. ( 8 pints in a gallon). So, we bought an Electric EZ GO from AGC carts, they are in Wildwood, they used to be near the Bone-fish Grill. Quiet, clean and very dependable. My wife plays golf with a ladies group. When they ride in our cart, they are really impressed. So do the shopping and remember, there are some good reliable Cart shops that are NOT in the Villages. IF you want the noise and the odors and the gas to breathe, well, OK. Do you hold your breath in the tunnels where it takes awhile to clear the air? Sorry, yep we are biased, very.
Go Electric.
Twice a week, we charge it for about 2 hours. Be sure to get automatic battery watering, a sunbrella, 10 inch tires, minimum, Good quality seats, and be sure the dealer will come out to your house on warranty items, AGC does that. Be sure the dealer sets the governor at 20 MPH max. Also, do your shopping, take your time. You can rent one with J and J carts, not sure if they have electrics though. Please do not reply, gear heads. And, have heard that Toberlin and Merge and Par are good too.

:sigh: :wave:

[QUOTE=bbbbbb;1465521]I guess there's no reason to debate this further, everyone will buy electric. Now the prices will go up.

Re: Battery warranty
 

I do not own an electric golf cart but have sold expensive rechargeable equipment.

Re: battery warranties.
It is usually a prorated warranty and is based on a fictitiously high LIST price. What I am trying to say is when you crunch the numbers it is far less than the stated 10 years.

On a lead acid battery the voltage falls off as the battery discharges making it easy to set up a battery gauge. As the voltage falls off so will the speed and ability to climb hills. A lithium ion battery has a flat voltage curve. So you will have the same speed and power till the end. But the end of you power comes suddenly with little advance notice.

RE: Gas
We have a 2013 fuel injected Yamaha and we use it more than our automobile. The tank when empty is 6 gallons.
We fill it about once a month when it is down 4 gallons.

The EZ go Elite is 10 years! No prorating. Anything wrong with the pac, it gets replaced.

One advantage to gas carts is they are always available. Had an electric cart and encountered events where the cart was needed, but had to be charged. I agree the EFI carts emit less odor.

I am not sure I follow the $5K difference in price. On the EZGO website, the price difference is $1700 (presumably for a minimum lithium-ion battery configuration compared with a lead-acid battery config). Some additional details would be useful. I was thinking of stopping by the golf cart store in Brownwood to take a look. Thanks.

The one I drove had the 120 amp (3 pacs) battery system. I think the 90 amp package would suffice. Not sure about the 60 amp. I would be interested in hearing about the range on the 60 amp. I am not in love with my Quite Tech EFI. I hate the slowing down on hills, trips to gas stations, slow acceleration and the so-so ride.

Yes, those gas station trips almost every month are a real pain. :)

Because we have a case of "running out of juice anxiety", we opted for a Yamaha gas and love it.
We can make two round trips to Disney on a full tank.
So, if you see a guy driving down the turnpike in a green cart wearing mouse ears, toot and wave!

Gas vs Electric
 

Gas vs Electric. Well, we hear of the limited miles to drive with Electric. OK, so fully charged, 2 hours of charge is about $1.80 according to SECO. So, we take off to the Farmers Market in Brownwood, then go to Colony Rec Center and then to the shopping center near Colony. Then to Laurel Manor Rec center, then to the Polo Grounds, then to Ace Hardware near the shopping center, then to Buffalo retirement, then to Churchill and then to Pimlico and 9 holes of golf and then to The Red Lobster.. Then we go home near Sumter Landing. OK, we are home and the power gauge is down to ALMOST HALF Gee, is that something to worry about? Guess we need to panic over that gauge down to a bit over half?
Now, on the reliability of those who seem to be so popular and stalled along the road? Well I would like to see the statistics and the superb monitoring ability and the documentation of someone who while driving along the MMP can see that the stalled cart is Electric. Is that because there are no poisonous odors nearby?
bbbbbb :wave:

How about every 5 to 8 days? sometimes more often. We use our cart a lot.

I have owned 3 electric carts and 3 gas carts. Have never had
an electric cart towed, Have had the gas carts towed twice.

I thought we used our cart a lot too. You must use your cart...well...a LOT!!!

I play golf a couple times a week. It's the 2nd vehicle for me and my wife. It's out of the garage every day, usually more than once. We've filled up 7 times since mid-April. And to be fair, we're about to fill up again. So 8 times in 6 months.

By my very rough calcs, it sounds like you drive your cart over 150 miles every week? Really!!??!!

I will put 150 to 200 miles a week. I do like to travel TVs! I like the gas, Dad and Mom prefer the quiet of electric.

Yup

I stand corrected. I guess I don't use my cart a lot...at least compared to some of you maniacs!! ;)

$1.80 for 2 hours of charge sounds too high. Assuming you are using a 20 amp circuit, the most you can draw is 2.4 kW per hour. At approximately 13 cents per kWh, the cost shouldn't be higher than about 60 cents (and probably less since you won't draw 20 amps). That should get you about 25 miles.

I think I'm going back to the electric Par Car. They get up to speed rather quickly and going 5 years with virtually no problems with my first one is weighing heavily on my decision. All my life I've been storing gas in my garage for various pieces of equipment and I never liked filling the containers, now I can eliminate doing that. I really don't see the need to have a gas golf car and that is strictly a personal feeling, not disagreeing with anyone on here.

I've had both, each preformed great. You have to decide what you plan on using the cart for and how long in day. If you live in central location electric works fine. But it does cost and if does put out odor when charging and charging not free or green, some where coal being burned or radioactive wastes being used to produce electric, then, there the disposal of all the hazardous batteries.

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. Now if you can afford to replace the cart ever 3 or 4 years you can avoid the long term care of cart. But, (always a but) electric cart normally don't hold trade in value due to all the problem mentioned above???

Now gas; gas also come with price mainly gas and oil changes. For the first few years they run fine, then wear starts to take toll especially if you didn't change the oil enough. Now you got oil burner and leaker form lack of oil changes and overheating which harder seals. Now you have to check the oil weekly or less and add oil. If your forgetful and run it out or very low on oil you will start hearing hammering clanking sound which basically means engine about to give up the connecting rod. If your avid pre-maintainer gas engine will last and last and last. I have never worn out gas engine.

So both have there advantages and disadvantages. Pick your poison?

Easy answer, Gas. Why? Because nobody sells a diesel.

Obviously batteries have to be replaced, but the rest of that paragraph leaves me at a loss for a rebuttal :shrug:

From the previous owner I have the spot on the garage floor. Now for those who maintain the problems are minimum. But, lead acid batteries eventually causes corrosion, weaker the get more sulfuric acid H2SO4 vapor they produce. Which they release sulfuric acid, hydrogen, and sulfur dioxide. IMO when charging in garage there should be vent to alow fresh air while charging, window or garage door open some for vent if your smelling sulfur.

Do a little history research. There have been numerous fires caused by charging batteries in enclosed garages. People will say I don't want a gas cart in my garage. So what are they doing with their cars? Golf cart barns on golf courses have burned down for the same reasons. BTW... Been here over 16 years so I know of what I speak.

I just don't want to have to have a can of gas i my garage in case I'm running low and can't get to a gas station. I don't think I would like going to the gas station with a golf car either. I do like the simplicity of an electric cart, what could be easier.

Like I said earlier, check out the Ez Go Elite Lithium Ion carts. No gas, fumes, water, oil, noise, parking brake, belts ..... etc. These are the same type of battery packs that are used in hybrid and electric cars. Completely warranted for 10 years with full replacement. 90 - 100 miles between charges for the 120 amp pack.

I was reading about the EZGO lithium-ion golf carts on the EZGO webpage and it states a 5 year warranty. Is that only for golf course fleets and individual buyers would have a longer 10-year warranty (presumably because of less use)?

Ooops, You are correct. 5 years! I stand corrected. It was about 4 months ago I drove one. My research on that type of battery pack said they should last around 8 - 10 years.