These gas fumes are killers. Look for some law suits in the future in the vilages

Gas carts do smell & they are loud. And forget about passing them, if I'm going 19 & the gas cart ahead of me is doing 19, how am I supposed to pass? And going through tunnels? C'mon, 4 seconds maybe, but it still stinks to high heaven, and it tends to linger in the tunnel.

Give me electric any day. I have a 2003 with ok batteries. I can make it from the El Camino Real area to Brownwood and back. I can make it from El Camino Real to Bonifay, play 18 holes & still come home, and I don't have the best batteries in the world. Keep the batteries charged & filled, keep the tires up to snuff, and it will keep on going.

Gas cart emit more carbon than a car. So do gas lawn mowers. With all of these golf courses and new comers buying gas carts I would guess that The Villages is as much a contributor to global warming as the chinese:rant-rave::D

Seems like SOMEBODY should be able to design a gas golf cart that is as quiet, smooth-running and fume-free as a cheap enconocar from asia or elsewhere. 4-stroke, better insulation and sealed gas tank might do the trick. Sounds like what most people want. Maybe too expensive to build for a competitive price?

Most folks want a Eco friendly golf cart.......it's called electric.....

U know so future generations have air to breathe

Leaving a trail of battery acid burns on the concrete everywhere electric carts park and go doesn't fit very well at all with being Eco Friendly...:girlneener:


Just to keep it all fair and balanced....

Just to be fair to the gas carts you should go to any country club or other parking lot where carts park often and the golf cart trails on the golf courses and see all the many large rust looking spots which are actually spilled battery acid burns. Even notice street crossings where there is concrete and see if you want these acid burns on your driveway and garage floor not to mention the safety hazards of dealing with the battery refilling and charging over and over. Gas fumes if there are any last for a few seconds but it doesn't appear that it bothers some electric owners that they are leaving a trail of battery acid everywhere they go which will be there indefinitely.

Buggies Unlimited Golf Cart Forum
Batteries constantly leaking
Postby phankins » Mon Aug 24, 2009 8:32 am

The batteries on my 2001 PDS leak acid/water constantly through the vent caps. Even when not charging, they gurgle and the acid seeps out. Just the other day, I had all 6 batteries out to clean up the corrosion, and just sitting on the ground, disconnected, they leak acid and make noise. Is this normal? You can imagine what kind of corrosion problems I have to deal with. The batteries are Exides and are 2 to 3 years old and have done this since day one. I keep distilled water in them and they seem to be in good shape as far as taking a charge and run time. If this is normal I'm going to have to rethink owning an electric cart.
Thanks
phankins

Why is it no one else complains about this alleged battery acid here in TV with 25,000 of them running happily along

Check out any garage floor where an electric cart lives. I don't care how careful you are, you're going to have acid burns unless you have a pad to protect the floor. Like the noise of a gas cart, tis the nature of the beast.

Both gas and electric have their fans. Both gas and electric have pluses and minuses. Reading this thread is like listening to an old-time Dodgers fan harp to a modern-day Yankee fan. No comparison between the two teams; each has their good points and you'll never convince either party of the merits of the other team (even though they might be polite and agree to some points).

And we all know usable, economically feasible electricity just magically appears out of thin air.

No wait I heard electricity is grown on trees in Japan and shipped over in barrels.
You don't mean to say it's actually generated in those diesel or coal fired generation plants (over 96% in this country)? Many of which are the home to the largest CANCER CLUSTERS in this country. Oh but it's okay people are dying of cancer elsewhere while Villagers are tooting around in their ELECTRIC golf carts. As long as it's not in my backyard right?
Sorry folks but the one argument that you cannot make is that electric golf carts are in any way eco-friendly nor people friendly.

Maybe it's time for an entrepreneur to design a golf cart Depends...It could be called a "BAD" (battery acid diaper).
Seriously, a floor drip mat is issued with each new cart sold at The Villages Cart Store. That's a pretty good indication that it's going to happen. My preowned home's floor looks like it was sprayed with orange paint.

I researched a bit as what the exhaust gases are contributing to the air you breathe.

Princeton University reported on the possibility of reducing the amount of gas emissions from the University fleet. A total of 92 gas golf carts. on campus provided the largest amount of harmful emissions - carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and other gases.

Not to post a bunch of calculations and bore you with numbers but 1 gas cart produces about the same emissions as 6 Ford Taurus'

Go Green College, calculated based on their 100 carts half gas half elec the following;

50 gas carts generates 161,200 pounds of CO2 a year!
50 electric powered carts generates only 41,700 pounds of CO2 a year!

So about 4 times the about.

So here 25,000 gas carts produce 500 times that amount or 80 million pounds of CO2 a year!

80 million lbs

I really have no dog in this fight. But, just as an FYI, I own an electric cart. I love the cart... I hate the occasional distance anxiety. I have no problems with my batteries dripping all over the garage (that's sounds like some bad batteries if that is happening and I imagine you get oil leaks with gas carts) and filling the batteries is easy cheesy. I love the quiet and not having to find a gas station. That being said... because of the distance anxiety I seriously considered buying a gas cart. Went to the Villages Car sales this week and drove a gas cart - a 2014 Yamaha! Beautiful cart, but guys the noise was just too much for me personally... and to the tune of $11,000 (I need a four seater), I think I'm just gonna keep on keeping on with my electric cart. I will admit on my test drive that the smell was not a problem, at least for me... can't speak for the guy behind me! I think this is a personal decision for each person. You guys with gas carts... enjoy! They certainly have their advantages, but so do electric. This is going to be a never ending debate I think. I still say we need some really smart person to invent a HYBRID cart! Now that is something I would buy! Whatever you drive... please be safe out there!

We had electric carts in Michigan. But I love my gas cart here !!

So the bottom line is, Jimbo, they BOTH put out a helluva lot of carbon. When one considers the deafening, filthy trains crisscrossing this country to provide coal which has scarred the earth in it's removal for the production of electricity; the precious resource of water that is constantly needed to keep refilling batteries on a daily basis; disposal of the numerous dead batteries per electric cart with acid in them which require special handling and additional resources, there is no win-win with the environment even with electric.

DRIVE WHICHEVER TYPE CART YOU PREFER BECAUSE UNLESS YOU'RE RIDING A BICYCLE, YOU ARE HARMING THE ENVIRONMENT!

This is the same dumb argument over and over and over and over. DRIVE WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY! :mornincoffee: