Andy Miller

Those are the questions to be considered B4 Making the purchase. May we ask total height and what did dealer stated/Manuel for approximate travel distance?

If they're driving on the MMPs, they are LEGALLY driving no more than 20mph. They might be ILLEGALLY driving faster than that.

With 14" tires - probably not.

No idea about the battery.

Next time you buy a novelty vehicle with the intention of driving it in a specific area, maybe check and find out if you can, before pulling out your credit card.

I've got a 2024 D5 with the 205ah battery and stock 14" radials.

I get about 8 miles per 10% of battery, if its a linear comparison (possibly likely) you should get about 40 miles per charge. That's about as far as I like to ride in one day so you might be ok.

We heard the same about tunnels on the north end, 2 in particular but I don't recall where they were. We were in the northern section a few days ago and the tunnels did seem very close, my wife jumped out and found that we still had about 18" of clearance. I'd suggest as you get to the ones that seem low just hop out before you commit and see how it looks.

So far we love our cart, about 300 miles in and going great. Also top customer service from Hidden Creek carts in Wildwood near Brownwood square.

I have a D5 Ranger and live in the North end. The standard D5 WILL NOT go under the two shortest tunnels. Not even close. Have no idea where "18" of clearance" came from - that's a foot and a half! The tunnels at Buena Vista Blvd at Talley Ridge Dr (north near Belle Aire) B04 and under Buena Vista Blvd at Saddlebrook Recreation Center B07 are nearly a full 2" shorter than the roof on the standard D5. I had my cart delivered with smaller tires (12" rims with 205/45r12 tires) and that lowers the cart by 2.3". I can get through the shortest tunnel (B07) with a little less than 1/2" clearance on the passenger side of the roof. Having said that, I have heard that Hidden Creek will lower the back of the roof by 2.5", so perhaps that is what they did for you - otherwise no way your cart will go through those two tunnels.

I have yet to see a D5 with a 110ah battery get more than 30-35 miles on a charge, and the 205ah will go about 65... assuming you drive it at less than 23mph. These distances assume you are leaving 10% in the battery for safety (it is not recommended to drain the battery lower than 10%). I've got 1,300 miles on my cart and these distances are quite accurate.

You will only be OK with 110ah battery if you live in the middle of The Villages. If you're farther south or north, then you will be limited in how far you can go. I would never buy this cart with the 110ah here in The Villages. I waited for the 205ah to come out as I have zero range issues.

110 is not enough. I had a130 and wished I'd gotten the 180. Now they are over 200.

If you read my post you would know exactly where it came from, reading is hard so I'll say it again.

We came upon a tunnel we haven't been through yet and it seemed lower than the others we've been through. I asked my wife hop out and see how close it was. She did, held her hands about a foot and a half (!) apart. I did some quick math and multipled 12 x 1.5 and got 18, later I posted it here on totv.

I will be there first to admit it wasn't a very scientific exercise. She was a bit rushed as there are tee times nearing and we don't want to intefear with that! Lastly her estimate could be severely impacted as I've been telling her this |-------------------| is 6 inches all her life so her measurements are often based on faulty learning.

I wanted to ensure that folks know that this could not have been any of the short tunnels in the north. There are very few tunnels here that have 18" of clearance for a Yamaha, much less the D5. I wouldn't want someone to purchase a D5 thinking they could go through any tunnel in The Villages and then find out afterwards that they couldn't.

The standard D5 is 9" taller than a Yamaha. I think it is a far superior cart in every way. But if you want to be able to travel anywhere in The Villages, then you need to either get smaller tires installed or have the roof lowered in the rear - it's not possible to lower the front, but the rear is good 2+" higher than the front.

Here's some published info I could find so we don't have to rely on MrsLeRoy's poor measurements. Based on the web page I pasted there are 4 tunnels I would try to stay away from. You might make it if you could hog the center of the tunnel but I wouldn't ever bet on being alone in a tunnel in the north end, pretty common to be alone in the south. Your equipment being 2" shorter than mine would certainly help in this instance :pepper2:

2024 Evolution D5 dimensions 114.6×55.8×79.5 in
2024 Yamaha Drive2 dimensions 93.6 x47.3x70.2 in (with suntop)

https://www.districtgov.org/departme...%20HEIGHTS.pdf

B4 Under Buena Vista Blvd at Talley Ridge Dr 74" 82"
B7 Under Buena Vista Blvd at Saddlebrook Recreation 74" 82"
M4 Under CR 466 near Morse Blvd 75" 86"
M1 Under El Camino Real near Morse Blvd 76" 86"

Oh yeah hogging the center of the tunnel is the perfect thing to do. You should always wait until you have other carts behind you also entering the tunnel. Endless entertainment and fun times when someone coming from the other direction enters the tunnel, with a few carts directly behind them. Everyone from one side will now have to back out of the tunnel, so that the guy who thought it was a brilliant idea to hog the center with his too-tall cart, can get through.

/sarcasm

For real: Don't do this. Ever.

can you imagine the Fury and Strife you'd bring on if you had 3 or 4 carts backed up in each direction

cane marks on your head and dentures hanging out of your forearm

Exactly! Which is why I highly recommend lowering the cart if you're travelling into the north end of The Villages. In the case of Saddlebrook, even if you "hog" the center, you still have to get over on your side at the east end due to the cement divider in the center of the tunnel at that end. At that point, it's too late, and you're in serious trouble.

By the way, it's not just Evolution carts that have an issue - the Star EV's, and the new Liberty 4 seater by EZ-GO have the high roofs as well. I honestly don't understand why they need such high roofs - I've got 12" above my head in the front, and 11" in the back... and that's after I lowered the roof 2 1/4" in the back!

With the smaller tires and the lowered roof, my roof is now 74.5" high in the center, and only 72" high at the outer edge.

Perhaps measure the ground to the top of your roof?

Depending on your speed, expect 20 miles and be thrilled with you get 25 and make it home. Most Electrical gauges in golf carts are not "linear', in my experience.

I've found my mileage actually gets a little better as it gets lower on charge, could be fact or it could be that as I get lower on charge my foot gets lighter.

You are correct, the range does not decrease as the battery gets lower in charge. I've got over 1,300 miles on my D5 and my experience is that the charge is extremely linear. I get the same distance in 10% of charge at 20% as I do at 100%. The amount of charge shown is highly dependent on the BMS (Battery Management System) in use for the battery. Every company has their own BMS - some are far better than others. Once the BMS "learns" your battery on the D5, it is very accurate.

Evolution only makes lithium carts and always have - so they are very good at designing a good BMS and continually update it. Many other cart makers buy a BMS from someone else, or design their own when most of their experience is in the combustion area and they are new to lithium technology.