gas or electric?
 

Dear TV Folks,
Moving to the Villages, should we go with gas or electric golf cart?

This has been discussed several times in past posts. Please do a search on this site, you will find lots of opinions and information.
Hope this helps.

You are going to get more advice than you ever wanted. All of it conflicting. Try both and make your decision.

Dear OP You will find strong opinions on both sides and both sides have good arguments as both work and have their advantage.

I had an electric cart for 9 years liked the quiet. However did not like replacing batteries or charging them daily. Did not like the idea that after 2 years the battery power began to lessen.

The Villages growth is striking. I live on the south side of 466 and by cart the farthest golf course north, for me is six miles and south its about 9 miles. This caused me distance anxiety. so I bought a gas cart and never looked back .

you will hear people complain about the smell of gas. I have never smelled gas fumes in my garage and seldom if ever on the road.

You will hear some posters complain about the smell of gas as they trail behind a gas cart. If you do, then ask these posters
( usually electric cart owners) if they also drive an all electric car or a car powered by gas.

I know many people who would only own an electric cart. They travel where they choose and get long life from their batteries.

Again the defining difference for me was distance anxiety as The Villages expands rapidly and I didn't want to be confined.

Enjoy the comments as it will help you to make the best decision for you

Personal Best Regards:

Rubicon,

Excellent synopsis, of several hundred comments. Well done!

Electric pluses are that it is quiet, does not pollute, does not smell, less annual maintenance.

Electric minuses are, as Rubicon stated, distance anxiety, slight risk of catching fire while charging, constant need to recharge, almost guaranteed to get acid burns in garage, cost of battery replacement.

Gas pluses are 300 miles to a tank of gas, no worry about recharging, clean garage floor.

Gas minuses are it can be smelly if exhaust pipe not properly positioned, extremely noisy when they get old.

Still don't understand distance anxiety......have had two electrics for two years and have never had a place I couldn't go. We live below 466A and often go to SS for a show at the Sharon, have also played OB on the historic side and came south. As stated, I just don't understand it. Yes, we do charge it every night....it's really not that hard to put a plug in a recepticle. I have an auto fill on both carts and and use it every 3 weeks....that's 5 minutes each time....a lot less then driving to a gas station. As others have said, you can check the threads the battle fields but I also agree that you might want to rent both (for a month or two each) and see which you find environmentally compatible with your lifestyle.

I'm a fan of electric carts. I find gas carts noisy, even the new ones.
Perhaps gas carts aren't smelly from the driver's perspective, but I think they are smelly if you're riding in the back seat.
Or if you're driving behind one. And really smelly in tunnels.
Just one opinion, and you'll get many!

Own a gas and an electric. I prefer the electric.

If you wouldn't consider owning an electric automobile then buy gas. Just my 3 cents...

:agree:

I also find having a conversation, without raising your voice, is much easier in an electric cart.

At the same time, I also understand where some might have 'distance anxiety' and prefer to own a gas cart.

Being centrally located near LSL, I have yet to find a corner of TV that I couldn't drive to, play 18 with a passenger and still make it home easily.

But it really is to each their own. :shrug:

In our 2015 EFI Yamaha we have no problem having a quiet conversation. Only under hard acceleration is noise present and that lasts for 5 seconds. I happen to enjoy listening to an internal combustion engine, all gear heads do.:gc:

I too am a gear head, but the tiny engines in golf carts don't give me the quite the same feeling as the dirt bikes and snowmachines with expansion chambers...I raced in my younger days.

I've even thought about getting a gas cart just to play around with some mods (especially the clutching) and see what I could do with it, but decided the cost of one of those big tickets for running 35+ mph....probably isn't worth it. :D

As I said...to each their own. :shrug:

I understand the 2017 Yamaha gas carts with new technology is almost as quiet as an electric cart. The Villages Golf Cart stores have a couple you can test drive and order but there are none on the road yet. If true, that would be my vote. There is a thread about them if you want to do a search and read more.

Lithium ion batteries, 120 mile plus range per charge.