Electric golf cart charging portals
 

Hi all,
we have been to The Villages several times and will be renting in Spring 2021 for 3 months (yea...finally). Our rental house comes with an electric golf cart.

Are there any places in the town squares where electric carts can be recharged? We're aware of the golf cart gas stations....thx

There aren’t presently. However, if you charge the cart every night that should not be a problem. A cart can go at least 40 miles on a charge. It is 15 miles from Nancy Lopez Golf Course to Brownwood. You should be able to get from one end of our present Villages to the other with a round of golf thrown in. And at 20 miles an hour you probably don’t want to spend more than two hours a day in a cart anyway.

Once my neighbor played golf at Orange Blossom over the bridge in the historic section. That's about 10 miles from us in Tamarind Grove. After 18 holes and on his way back his cart died just as he was passing Mallory Country Club. He pushed it down to the starter shack and the attendant told him he could charge his cart there. In fact, he said any starter shack will let you charge but you'll need your charger and cables. He called and had his wife bring him his charger.

There is a sort of AAA for carts, there's about 3 of them. I've been with Kart Aid since 2011, and they are $60 for two years. I believe they are the biggest and have no limit on the number times you'll can call in a year, the other big company is 3 times a year. I've got a gas cart, so I've never had to use them, mostly my concern is over a flat tire. My neighbor got rid of the electric and bought a gas Yamaha like mine.

Kartaide home page

Shoot me now if I ever had to travel THAT far in one day in a golf cart. I have a Yamaha electric cart with all the bells and whistles, including a luxury seat with arm rests and lumbar support. It also has bright headlights and self cancelling turn signals. Such luxury!!! Still, I would never travel that far in our golf cart in one day.

So, my question for all the must have a gas cart owners........Why the need for a gas cart if one can travel from Lopez all the way to Brownwood and also throw in a round of golf on one charge in an electric cart? I know, I know, as the batteries age, they do not perform as well as when they were new, but still.....who travels THAT far in a day?

My cart is always plugged in when in the garage so I always start the day with a full charge of the batteries.

Just wondering if your neighbor started out his venture with a full charge on his batteries. Also....how old were the batteries and did he maintain them properly (ie: keeping them watered properly)?

You answered your own question with your statement that batteries do not perform well as they age. Electric carts with batteries that are over 3 years old are unreliable and with those you best have a road service plan. People in TV own gas carts for reliability, not to mention the resale value is so much better.
Ask the cart rescue company's how many electric carts they pick up verses gas carts. That will be the real answer to your question. Happy Carting!

He bought the cart used in 2011 and it was suppose to have new batteries. We started playing golf together in spring 2012 and this happened right before we started playing, so they were less than a year old. I don't know anymore of the details, after he started playing with me, we always took my cart because of that problem until he bought a Yamaha two years ago.

In a gas cart, we play Lopez with no problem, and we're in Tamarind Grove by Sterling Hgt Rec Center. We make it there in 40 minutes, play 18 and return, last time was just a couple of weeks ago. We go to Glenview quite often, that's only 25 minutes. We have real good central location, can reach 7 championship courses within 20 minutes.

Well most of that isn't true.....but if it makes you feel better great! The bulk of the calls are for gas carts that have run out of gas or a mechanical breakdown. Most electric cart owners know their capabilities and how to mange them....but there are those that won't charge them or will drive them past the battery reliability life. Yes, you do need to change them about every 4 year years depending on how far you drive. Several in our neighborhood are dumping their Yamaha's and moving to electric. Those that aren't suffer from range fear and that's ok, nobody should drive in fear. 10 miles and a round of golf is user error, no different than running out of gas.

You have provided a classic example of trying to mislead with statistics. The bulk of the calls are probably for gas carts but that would be because there are many more gas carts than electric carts. The only meaningful statistic, which I doubt you have access to, is the rate of breakdown. If I had to guess, I would say that most breakdowns are flat tires. I don't know of a single person who has gone from gas to electric but I know of several that have gone from electric to gas because they got tired of replacing batteries. I don't currently know a single person with an electric cart. The people I know bought gas carts because of lower operating costs, better resale value, and less maintenance.

I've been wondering, which is better...gas or electric?


:duck:

:p


:D

Just not hanging with the right people :). We have several in our neighborhood that switched from gas to electric and there will be more. Everytime the electric guys drive the gas guys they start to "get it". Not sure how gas carts have a lower operating cost, unless you include batteries but the gas guys carts (yes, the Yamaha F-1s) seem to spend a lot of time in the shop (of course getting an appointment with The Villages is not easy. Just admit that the guys that have electric are happy with their decision and the guys that have gas are happy with theirs. Same with cars, notice there are more electric cars on the road every year but there are guys here that would never give up their gas cars? Personal preference is just that personal preference. Why do either side try and convince the other that their decision is the only right decision.

You will find the charging stations right next to the place that gives out free gas to people whose golf carts are low on gas :bigbow:

Of course the operating costs include the battery replacements. I don't know anyone who has issues getting appointments for maintenance. I don't know anyone whose gas cart has had any issues. I don't care what type of cart people drive but I will address wrong information when posted.

JoMar. I am sorry but you do not know the true facts but of course you have your right to an opinion. I have personally been involved with the cart business for 10 years. Yamaha Quiet Tech and non Quiet Tech Fuel Injected carts outsell electric carts 9 to 1. As far as cost to operate goes it really is a wash when you factor in the cost of battery replacement verses fuel and maintenance of a gas cart. You stated that getting an appointment for service is not easy. Not sure what you mean by that as 9 months of the year you can get into at least one of the Villages locations with in a day or two after you call or stop by. If you have an emergency you can drop off the same day and always get a free loaner cart.
The bottom line is we all will get what makes us happy. Sometimes it just takes some unhappy to get there.
No I am not an employee of The Villages in any way.

I took a trip back to my hometown in California, a few miles from where the first Teslas were built. Now all school parking lots are covered with solar panels. about a third of the spaces under the solar panels have charging stations for electric cars. The charging stations are fed by the solar panels.

That would be a great thing to do here at the big rec centers and squares. It would give covered parking, and allow electric carts and cars to recharge.

Lithium
 

I have a lithium powered cart- EZGO Elite - really a super piece of machinery. 8 yr on battery and no maintenance. I'm actually very surprised nobody is complaining about the smells of gas carts. (instantly gives me a headache) I wipe my windscreen down once a week with plexus plastic polish and the micro fiber cloth is black (from the soot of gas carts) - long story short I'm the guy wearing the face mask.

No charging stations.. YET but suspect they will be here soon.

Lithium carts go a long way on a very quick charge. :boom:

How is the charging of electric cars paid for in California?

Electric
 

Love our electric, can’t stand the gas smell . We had a Yamaha that stalled while on our lifestyle. Hmmmm....
Love that we have options.

A lot of us prefer gas carts so we don't have to worry about plugin into a charger, a tank of gas will last about 2 to 3 weeks and cost less then $10, when your batteries reach three years old their distance and power are reduce. New batteries could cost $1000 and you have to maintain them. I guess its like apples & oranges choose what you like.

back to the original subject. Would a cart charging station even be feasible? I know my lead acid batteries take several hours to charge when they are below 50% . How long does it take to charge the new (and relatively rare) lithium batteries?

Tesla should design a golf cart.
 

I am wondering if electric golf carts would be more popular if they were designed like a Tesla. There are plenty of Tesla's driving on the road with the range of up to 300 miles. I know a golf cart is much smaller but if they could just get range of a hundred miles it would be terrific along with the go get them acceleration and speed. I know there's a speed limit for golf carts so that would extend range even further. I know when I drive my Tesla too fast the range goes down.

gas.

None

Free gas at all town centers!

Have an electric car for over five years and got superior batteries for it when purchased. Keep it plugged in and check water levels all the time and never had a problem. The charger is a trickle, so can leave it plugged in when I am not here. My garage doesn’t stink like the tunnels after all those gas carts go through. Gas carts are big polluters because they do not have the emission controls that autos have. Just doing my bit for the environment and have been very happy. To each his own.

Actually, gas golf carts are a major turn off to me. I am not a golfer so I had no experience with them until I used the one provided with my “lifestyle experience.” It was so loud & stinky! I had hoped to quietly cruise along so I could enjoy the beautiful vistas and animals there so that noisy, smelly gas golf cart was—surprisingly—a real let down.

I would probably prefer a nearly silent Tesla-like cart but at some point I might be happier to just buy the car & drive it on the regular roads. Why bother with a cart at all? Before I get attacked for not playing golf, many people there do not play yet want to enjoy the lifestyle. In fact, golf is waning in popularity everywhere.

dont you get TIRED of getting gas ?

About every other month when I stop at the gas station to get gas for my car, I take a plastic 5 gallon can along and fill it up with gas. That's the extent of getting gas for the cart. I only drive my cart when I play golf and they do get 40 mpg.

You're right, if that's all I had to drive was the generic white Yamaha provided by TV for a LSV that only go 15 mph, I wouldn't drive a cart either. In fact on my LSV 9 years ago, I left the cart in the garage and drove my car to Cane Garden.

The newer Yamaha's go 20 mph, they're very quiet with extra insulation and sealed bottom. They have very little smell, get about 45 mpg, and will last you forever with just normal yearly maintenance.

To drive on the roads, you would need a street legal cart with auto insurance and a Florida tag. They would capable of going 25 mph, and would have requirements such as seat belts, windshield wipers and would be electric, like you want. You usually can find them for sale quite often. I've noticed more people are moving away from the higher speed golf cart and going with the Atomic Vehicle. It has all the capabilities of a cart, drive on cart paths, drive on golf course, but they are fully enclosed and air conditioned. We have an actual dealer at Brownwood. It's across 44 on the extension of Powell Rd. behind Sparr Building Supplies. I saw about 3 Atomic vehicles for sale on TOTV last year. The used ones usually sell for about $8,000 and new ones are $10,000 to $15,000 depending the on the model and options.

Atomic Electric Vehicles 4 seat coupe with AC/Heat - YouTube

https://www.atomiccoolkartz.com/uplo...022873-n_1.jpg

that's why I use solar never run out of power

The charging stations at the school used an app similar to apps used in the cities for bike or scooter rentals. It’s called PowerFlex.

You joking right:boom:

Operating error?????

If we would ever buy a golf cart, it would be an Atomic/ enclosed .a/c & heat--90 mile range & appears to be the safest

We have been kicking it around for a while but someone just gave us an Electric Cart and I don't know now. I'm sure the Atomic has to be leaps and bounds above an old jalopy.

Maybe I'll surprise Momma for her Birthday, it has to be a certain color. I just can't remember which color that was. I think maybe it was white????

Our neighbor just got one and it's beautiful except they Golf and they hate to be opening the door 150 times every 9 holes, they stink at Golf. We'll see.

Charging Station at the Square. NEVER GONNA HAPPEN! :boxing2:

Where do you think that electricity comes from that charges your cart? It is either from a coal/natural gas powered generation plant or nuclear. I doubt there are any hydroelectric pants in Florida. Generating electric power produces pollution. Do some research on how dirty the process is to produce new batteries and to dispose of worn out ones.

If you're not crazy about the idea of street legal golf carts with auto insurance and car tags, and if you can live without the A/C and don't want ordinary, get a Lux. They're sold at Streetrods on CR 101, the same people that sell the fancy old time hot rod golf carts. Best price I've found is at Costco, $16,999 delivered to you.

https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b...3496d6~mv2.jpg

Costco Lux

The Villages Gets Preview Of New Extreme Golf Cart - YouTube

Have a friend that has an Atomic and loves it however, the range drops drastically when the heat or a/c is used. They still love it but were disappointed with how much was lost, especially with the AC in the summer.

A street legal cart has it's benefits, but mixing with cars has it's downfalls as well. This driver was killed in an Atomic Vehicle.

https://www.dailycommercial.com/stor...-309129979.jpg

Another patient at the ear doctor was saying the same thing. They look so cool and I was kinda thinking of trading in old Bessie for one. He said they are disappointing in that the air conditioning doesn't work and they don't go very far.