Lowering speedometer on Electric cart
 

Has anyone lowered their speedometer on an electric cart so that it stays within the 20mph rules. If so how is it doing on the hills. Do you lose a lot of power? Thanks for any info.


LW888

Occasionally you need the speed to climb the hills in TV. My advise is to get you a GPS and hook it up in your golf cart so you can see exactly how fast you are traveling. With the GPS you won't have to be concerned about your speed and it has other uses too.

Speedometer?
 

I assume you are not really asking about the speedometer. I assume you are curious how modifying your cart to go slower on flats (20 MPH) affects the speed of the cart uphill.

It is not an easy answer and possibly not an easy fix. The first things folks will be curious to know is:

• type of cart, year, make model
• series motor, i.e., does it coast freely down hills
• speed on flats now
• other stuff?

[QUOTE=lightworker888;544918]Has anyone lowered their speedometer on an electric cart so that it stays within the 20mph rules. If so how is it doing on the hills. Do you lose a lot of power? Thanks for any info. QUOTE

One of our carts only goes about 18 mph with 2 people in it, slower with 4 people, goes about the legal limit (19.6 I think) with only a driver.

Yes, it is a little slower on the hills. You will arrive at the next stop sign or whatever about 3 seconds behind the person who passes you.

The cart is a reconditioned 2002 which currently can hit 25 or 26 on the flat. It coasts really well and I have been told that it is a great little cart. I put a speedometer on it and it works fine but the issue is really about how do I deal with the 20mpg limitation without compromising the speed on the hills, particularly the one on Bonita heading to Morse. I don't want to be worrying about making the hill every time I go that way, which is often. ANy ideas?


LW888

:read: You got me Lightworker?? If you already have a speedometer, and it is accurate, you just adjust your speed yourself as you go up a hill, down a hill or on the flat. Sounds like you may want cruise control like what is on a car. I have never seen one on a golf cart. If you put what is know as a governor on your cart it will slow down as you go up a hill but it can be set to only go 20mph on the flat. I would think, for a lot of reasons, you want to control the speed of your golf cart yourself.

Justjim & Ohiogirl
 

I do want to control the speed myself, but the legal ramifications of driving a cart that can go past 20mph is a bit risky if for some reason I get into an unfortunate situation with another vehicle. Ohiogirl, did you put a governor on your cart or did it come that way from the factory? I didn't know if a governor could be put on an electric cart. From what I have heard, an adjustment could be made but it is not exact so I might end up with less than 20 mph and could be down to 14mph on the hills. Not a really good solution I don't think.

LW888

Hard to know for sure as you have not shared the type of cart. It is an 02 and it coasts and goes 25, so I could guess that it is a Club Car series cart. There are alot of them in TV, I have two.

If it is then I suspect whoever rebuilt it put in a high speed motor to help it get up hills and be a bit peppier.

If it is the type of cart I am assuming it is, then it does not have the ability to measure the speed of the motor in the controller and cap it at a certain 'speed', like some carts do.

It actually sounds like a fun project, but I suspect you would need a new controller and motor, if it could be done at all, but I could be wrong.

I have always been interested to build a cart that goes 40 that with a flip of the switch or click of a remote will only go 20, so if you figure it out let me know :evil6:

They better have a big jail cell. I would say the majority of the carts in The Villages run between 21- 25 mph. Mine runs that range and I have been passed more than a couple of times.

It's not so much the jail cell, it's the insurance company that won't honour the policy if it is not a legal golf cart (which goes up to 20mph). The cost of insuring it as a lsv and all the other necessary adjustments is cost prohibitive for a PT villager. AJ it is a CLub Car and probably does have a bigger engine but are you saying that it can't be recalculated. (Sounds like my GPS) I am just about ready to live with the adjusted engine but I didn't know I would have to get a new one. Now that's costly.

LW888

As far as I know, the speed cannot be capped on this type of cart, but I am not a professional and love to learn new things, so if you find someone to do this, I would be very interested.

As far as insurance, try another company, it is better to have insurance and risk the minuscule chance you are not covered, then not have it. Of course it is best to have a legal insurable cart, but that cost may be more than you wish to spend. You also cannot insure it as an LSV, but both of these topics are a thread on their own.

Drive safe!

Lightworker it is probably too expensive to retrofit your 2002 Cart. You can sell it---a lot of Villagers would love your cart. It sounds like a nice golf cart---might just want to keep it and watch your speed.

AJ We have insurance on the cart. It is for a regular golf cart which is what I thought we had. Don't know what to call this cart if it isn't a lsv just a retrofitted club car? I do watch my speed but I can't be sure other guy is watching his. I have really learned to drive defensively!

The other day while I was driving up here on a side street, i saw a kid on a skateboard turning the corner and coming down the street towards me. I slowed down to a crawl and he kept coming and was texting! I had to honk before he saw me and then he gave the "yeh what?" look. Thanks goodness there weren' t other cars around.

LW888

When you are sharing the roads around TV, you cart is called an unregistered motor vehicle because it has been modified to exceed 19.6 MPH.

I am not trying to be melodramatic, just answering the question. You are also not alone in this predicament. Upgrading the motor is the simplest way to help this type of cart get up hills a bit quicker.

AJ Does it get insured as an unregistered motor vehicle and does that make it legal.


LW888

To my knowledge there is no such thing. I think the choices are:

1. Modify the cart to not exceed 20MPH
2. Insure the cart as is
3. Do not insure the cart

I was told by my insurance person that about half of the carts on the road fit into category 3.

Risk!
 

If your insurance co can prove your non street legal cart exceeds 20mph they may deny your claim. If you are at "fault" you are exposing your assets in the event of a lawsuit. If you lose the lawsuit you may not be able afford the TV life style! Is it worth the risk? What is the rush?:gc:

If you have an accident, I pray that you have insurance!
If you have an accident, I promise you that they will not take it for a test run to check it's top speed. If the accident was possibly caused by excessive speed (?) they might, but I doubt it.
Don

Speed
 

AJ I can think of a couple of ways to do this I'm pretty sure you have a club car That can exceed 20 miles per hour On your MCOR output Which should be 10 K to 0 Put a 5 K resistor in series With a switch that turns it off. Now to go 40 you're going to need another battery or 2, Maybe 3 or 4. There is a guy on gaminde.net that might be able to make a governor for you.

I missed this post yesterday....
 

Thanks for that link and the the MCOR thoughts. I wonder if the person at that site is the same person who was sharing how to build a DIY speedy link. I will look at the site and some old posts I saved.

My 40 mph comment was a bit tongue and cheek. If I was to ever do such a thing I would have to check out The Assassin. Alot less work and money than to drop in 6 or 8-12v batteries and change all required components :coolsmiley:

I have no intent to go 40, but thinking of the OP’s question, I have always wondered how one would build a solution where you could control the top end MPH of the cart based on motor speed (RPMs) in a series cart . Close to what you are talking about but instead of a manual switch have that switch be triggered by the input from some type or rotational speed sensor at the motor. When you hit this many RPMs, back off voltage to motor. That is as deep as I ever got into my thinking. I am not an electrical engineer and have no idea where to start. It is on my back burner though and one never knows.

Justjim, He is trying to do the legal thing. The golf cart is not supposed to be "capable" of doing over 20. If it can, it is not considered a golf cart, but an unregistered vehicle. If he is involved in an accident, his insurance company can refuse to pay because it is not a "golf cart".