Charging my cart in the Finney Sawgrass Ezell area
 

I have a lithium cart I would like to test the range envelop on.
I think it would make a 40 mile trip easy.
But to ease my worried mind I would like to plug it in for an hour or two mid trip.
All I really need would be a 110v outlet that my 50' cord could reach.
If someone knows of one available...

Thank You

There are no public charging stations within The Villages. Perhaps you have a friend at the far end of your trip who could accommodate you.

Sent PM

Plug in at a rec center

Maybe you should call Sawgrass to ask permission it’s like gas stations providingfree fuel?

The great thing about having a gas cart, a hundred miles a day without worry.

If you think your cart can't make it, borrow a gas cart from a neighbor. Why should a rec. center or an other location managed by our CDD's pay for your "fuel"?

Be prepared to have someone accuse you of stealing electricity. It's been done.

I’d love to see them set up charging stations at the rec centers. In California they’ve taken to putting solar arrays over school parking lots. You get to park in the shade. The electricity that comes from the solar is used to power the school. And they add charging stations you can pay for with credit cards. Everybody wins.

I haven’t heard anyone looking for free charging stations. I’d be happy to pay for charging just like those with gas carts pay for fuel.

It is not difficult to test the range of your cart. Find a lovely 5 mile loop from your house and drive it over and over while watching your charge remaining. If you will be driving at night on your adventure, do your test drive with your lights on. You will get your answer.

I think a 50 foot cord is too long to charge a cart. It needs to be a heavy-duty 25 footer I believe otherwise there could be problems. I have charged my cart at championship golf course bathrooms for a short while. I charged once at a plug I found at the Lopez lunch pool bar for 1/2 hour while eating lunch there and low on charge before playing golf. Down by Sawgrass I would guess you may not find anywhere to plug in again except at a golf course bathroom that has a plug and that would mean you were playing golf at the time and ran low on charge. Another option is pay The Villages Golf Cars for a charge. Maybe they have an excelerated charger. Or ask at a friends house.

Arrival time. Will it go around in circles? B. P.
 

yes you will

fifty feet is not long enough to plug into a rec center as you will be blocking the entrance and the sidewalk in front of it. And hopefully no one will trip over the cord with their walkers and canes and sue you.

I used to live in Country Club Hills, I found that with an electric cart I could go to Brownwood, tool around down there and make it back home with no problem ... the first year. I could make it down and back without any side trips the second year. I could make it down there, but getting back was iffy at best. In the third year I might make it down. In the fourth year I would not make it down. In the fifth year I could only go to O'Dell and back. Then it was time for new batteries.

Join 24hr cart club if it goes dead they will come get you and take you and your cart home

We live in St. Catherine and drove to Lake Sumter and then to St. Timothy church at El Camino Real and back with our lithium Evolution cart with zero issues. Used about 55% of the charge. Having gone electric I highly recommend the lithium technology.

We live in Hammock at Fenney and have taken it to Sumters Landing and back and still had over a 50% charge left on our Evolution. The only comment I would make is don't trust the meter after 30%, it drops much more quickly below that.

You should have asked and taking a survey about what type of golf cart to buy. As the villagers get bigger you will not be able to travel an electric golf cart for a long distance. Gas was definitely the way to go.

lol:)

Even with our gas carts that get 250 miles on a tank of gas, after driving in it all day going here and there, we have not put over 25 miles. It would be extremely rare that you would ever get to the end of range in a day unless you were really trying to. The only exception would be at batteries end of life.

You know, I don’t know if the public charging stations that you have to pay but I’m thinking eventually you will but I still liked my gas golf cart, it got almost 240 mpg & I never ever put in over 4 1/2 gal. in it & that was only twice. Electric carts are nice but lithium batteries cost in the range of $150. Eventually I really think EV owners will see that electric carts & cars won’t be as cheap as combustion cars & carts! You watch & see!

Brownwood to Southern Trace and back is about 30 miles. My new EV cart has an estimated range of 60 miles. I don't see any real limitation at this point.

Are you trying to test it to the limit when it completely runs out of charge? If you do that you're going to have to have it plugged in for at least six hours. With that said I have a lithium battery golf cart and I know at 35 miles I am just went below 50% charge. Most of us are getting between 70 and 80 miles on a total charge.
If you go to the villages golf carts website on the top click videos. There are two videos where they do a test of the range of a lithium battery powered golf cart. The EZ go got 70 miles and the STAR got 80.2 miles.
There is no doubt this thread will be turned into a gas versus electric battle and ultimately the administrator will close the thread. So I might as well get my word in now. I love my electric golf cart. A lot of people talk about range with a gas powered golf cart. I can say every morning when I leave I have a full tank of "fuel". Maybe some to talk then about how much coal is used in the power plants that provide electricity. What they fail to do is talk about how much electricity goes into producing a gallon of gasoline? Those refineries have power substations dedicated just for them.
On the flipside my electric golf cart can use solar power to provide the electricity. All the solar panels in the world will not produce a gallon of gas.
I asked the salesman at the villages golf cart about the percentage of lithium powered golf carts that are being sold in the villages. He said over 40% of the sales are now lithium powered. He also said that of the 742 lithium powered golf carts they have sold in the villages not one of them has had to ever replace the battery. The battery is good for 4000 full charge cycles. That's 10.95 years if you drained it every single day. Since a full charge cycle represents about 70 miles of range… Before you need to replace the battery you would have driven that golf cart 280,000 miles in 10.95 years. So how many gas golf carts out there have over a quarter million miles on them?
Let the war begin!!!:posting::throwtomatoes::throwtomatoes:

Electric cart travel limit.
 

[QUOTE=Tyrone Shoelaces;2179010]I have a lithium cart I would like to test the range envelop on.
I think it would make a 40 mile trip easy.
But to ease my worried mind I would like to plug it in for an hour or two mid trip.
All I really need would be a 110v outlet that my 50' cord could reach.
If someone knows of one available...

Why don't you take a round trip of 30 miles one-way, then a 32? miler, then keep increasing until you get back home "scared?"

You didn’t say what cart you’re driving or if it’s a conversion.
I’m running a converted lead acid ClubCar with a 96ah lithium and Silver Wolf a/c motor with a top speed in excess of 30mph. My range with the higher speeds is in excess of 40 miles, and probably more than 70 if it was set to 20 mph.
I recommend carrying a tow rope or strap. I’ve run mine out of power once and it’s a teaching moment to learn the discharge rate on a lithium pack is very different than a lead acid setup.
I recommend you find that point of no return by having a buddy follow you in another cart and use the tow rope in case you need to tow your cart home or to the next outlet.

Side note, I’ve used my tow rope to help other cart drivers and 2/3’s of those tows were gas carts that broke down, not electric.

While working at a regional rec center years ago, I allowed two residents access to an outside 110 volt outlet because their cart ran out of charge. I encouraged them to remove anything valuable before leaving it. the cart was gone the next day when I reported to work.

While this should not become common, wide-spread practice, I'm sure there are rec center whose directors would be happy to give a small boost to a stranded villager. I would.

I have gel batteries (no maintenance) and 40 miles is a no brainer. Most gas folks I know never exceed 40 miles a day (their butt is the determining factor). I'm not sure how many will even attempt Sumter to Middleton. Somewhere along this line, reality will set in.

I've witnessed fistacuffs over saving seats in the town squares. Can you imagine what will happen when they put charging stations in here.

240 mpg is pretty awesome. Most gas carts get about 50 mpg. What is your secret.

I have done over 100 miles a couple times. Lots of fun and it is all about the miles.

If you want to test the range, why would you charge halfway through.

Wow.....if you average 20 mph that's at least 5 hours.....you da man :)

Endless debate about electric vs gas. Reality, lithium batteries have a flat voltage curve the reason why unlike lead acid cells where the voltage drops, it is hard to measure accurately the remaining power.

Not poking fun but concerned about topping off your battery, you could carry a gasoline generator. That 40 mile claimed range is likely one thin person. Tires pumped hard and not into the wind or with the lights on. Oh and I will bet if you check temperature will effect it.

Map out a five mile route that starts and ends at your home and drive it eight times. However, I have a new lithium cart and made it 61 miles without it going into the reduced speed mode.

FYI, I have a 2021 Ez-Go lithium cart and live next to Brownwood. I regularly drive it to Lopez to play golf with two large men, play eighteen holes, and drive back home with no problem. I’ve logged 61 miles before it goes into the derates mode, half speed. Great cart and really surprised by the range and performance.

Just say no. Plugging in at any District property would be a theft without the approval of the District. If you want to be an explorer make friends with somebody down south first.

I hope the OP would not put gas in their electric cart!!

Power up
 

If you ever get stuck you can power up from my driveway in St Cats. Just PM me. Mike

Very short sighted of the villages not to put in pay on demand plugs for golf carts, especially in the new sections below 44 when infrastructure was being built. I probably do not use my cart the way most people do. Driving 20 mph for 60 miles does nothing for me. Get in the car. I doubt that anyone is getting 250 miles to the gallon in a golf cart, or anything else for that matter.

:ho: