electric golf carts,any good?

I've always had a gas golf cart around, but last winter I bought a nice electric one at an estate auction. I'm just wondering what you guys that own one think of them. I'm trying to decide if I should keep the electric or sell it. It has the rear passenger seats that my gas doesn't. How long should an electric run before needing a charge? I charged it back in the winter when I got it and have played with it some, but have charged it a couple times. I though I could get away from the gas smell in the garage and having to mess with it,but charging
the electric looks like it might be a hassle to.

As with any thing powder by a battery the y only last so long and in many depending on the brand of the machine the batteries can cost a lot when and if you have to replace them. Or in other words many are good till you have to put out the $$ to replace the batteries

You're probably hauling around six 6 volt batteries which adds up to a lot of weight if going on soft ground. The batteries probably will last 5 to 6 years and cost around $700 to replace. They're deep cycle so you can run them way down. The advantage is the quiet operation.

Ray we have 4 of them here at work, they are used daily in the summer time batteries last about 5 years. usually have to charge them once a week. but when the batteries start to get weak it is a daily thing. We get Interstate blemished batteries for ours -- last ones we got were 2 years ago, cost $65.00 each at that time .

Arizona and Florida vehicle law loophole has some electric golf carts on city streets- one feature is the roof has solar panels to keep up battery charge, might be part of loophole, some EPA exception. Recharge of electric grid average of once a month, some times two and mileage of better than 500 miles between charges. Greeny article for Neighborhood Electic Vehicle had those featured- Yamaha models with a roll bar and solar panel roof $2000.00 over base price, 20-30 mph(?) top speed. Auto body shop in Chicago had old 3 wheeled unit with forklift battery pack, very useful for pushing cars around and was legal to go on streets for parts-motorcycle license plate- recharged overnight couple times a week.
RN

I have old antique T-Bird that is used as daily runaround vehicle. I use 3 group 32 12 volts. I get 4 yrs battery life. Winter use not so good. Takes lots of charging if used much in cold weather.

I like mine but I went electric because of the honey bees. I can drive right up to the hive with a load of gear without disturbing them at all. No fumes. No noise. Easy peasey.

My grandmother had an electric one and we had one too. My experience is running on the road you can get about 10 miles out of a charge with new batteries. I have since went to a gas cart and put a chinese diesel in it. Now I can go days on a tank(5gal) of fuel.

I know of a golf course that got rid of the electric carts and bought gas. Because of batteries not lasting

when I golfed a electric cart would go about 3 rounds on a 7000 yd. golf course

In laws have one they keep trying to sell me for $200. Needs batteries. Also have also had to rescue them on the side of the road more than once. Ventured a little too far on not a full charge. Don't think I'd take it if they gave it to me. It'd end up going dead in the same place, except with my wife driving instead of them. About half way between our house and theirs.

Yes, they are good. And yes, you will have the typical battery maintainace, keep the water level up and don't let the connections corrode. Keep the battery compartment clean of leaves, grass, sticks, and so forth. The batteries should last up to 8 years. Keep the batteries charged over winter. If you use it around the farm place, a charge could last for days. You will notice when the charge gets weak, you will have plenty of time to get to your "charging station". They work best on the driveway or lawn and maybe the garden. I don't recommend picking rock in a field. They are quite. Dad loved his.

I am bias I am a Gas man... I can fix any issue with a gas engine its in my blood... Electric has there fine points but they are there best with new battery's and its all down hill from there... For my use I can not see the exspence of battery's over the life span of the cart...

I tinker with a few of the locals electric carts the first thing I do is install a battery charge indicator on it so they will know when its time to charge the bats...

I can rebuild the engine for the cost of 6 bats.. My carts 22 years old I rebuilt the engine in it one time at a cost of $500 (I brought the parts from the dealer I wanted them rat now) Its had one starter and one voltage regulator. The coil went bad I put a used GM DIS coil on it at a cost of nuttin...

Did i mention I bias towards gas... Side note it does have a battery but just one....

It depends on your demands. I have an old square fender Ez Go electric for running around the two building sites that is used nearly every day the year round in northwest Iowa. There is no choke, no sputtering, i just hop on and go. The first thing i added to it after i bought it was a charge indicator, like a gas gauge. Without a gauge we tend to over charge the batteries because we dont know how much charge is left. It is parked in the shop by the charger every night but i only need to throw the charger on once or twice a week. I figure it costs me $350 per year to own, including batteries, charging and maybe a relay or switch or whatever.

Now after i am done buttering up the electric cart i will admit I have my eyes open for an old gasser for more driving range for checking crops and rain gauges. If you ever need to crank wrenches on your cart there is an online parts source called Buggies unlimited that carries parts and accessories for most carts. It is an amazing website. You can get a higher speed motor, different rear end ratios, darned near everything.

(quoted from post at 07:43:25 04/21/16) It depends on your demands. I have an old square fender Ez Go electric for running around the two building sites that is used nearly every day the year round in northwest Iowa. There is no choke, no sputtering, i just hop on and go. The first thing i added to it after i bought it was a charge indicator, like a gas gauge. Without a gauge we tend to over charge the batteries because we dont know how much charge is left. It is parked in the shop by the charger every night but i only need to throw the charger on once or twice a week. I figure it costs me $350 per year to own, including batteries, charging and maybe a relay or switch or whatever.

Now after i am done buttering up the electric cart i will admit I have my eyes open for an old gasser for more driving range for checking crops and rain gauges. If you ever need to crank wrenches on your cart there is an online parts source called Buggies unlimited that carries parts and accessories for most carts. It is an amazing website. You can get a higher speed motor, different rear end ratios, darned near everything.

Click to expand...

Whut he said

I went from gas to electric. Works a lot better in cold weather. Mine runs 18 MPH and I usually put it on the charger every night. Also it is a lot easier to sneak up on my BIL and goose him from behind.

Look at Cartsgowild.com

Bought a new one in 09. Replaced a gas one. Really like it in winter. Great to take to shows and pulls. It will pull my 4500 lb antique puller. 435 JD. This spring we sprayed alfalfa with it. It has big tires, 12 acres 2 miles from home had the battery guage flashing. Put new batterys in last year. Rural king had them for 69.99. Each. But electric was $500 cheaper than a gas. We park it in shed and plug.in every time even if just drove a little. I think will go 15 miles if you putter along. But if go 20 is supposed to go 10. I like it being quiet.Vic

I worked at the local golf course for 8 &1/2 years and we had gas service vehicles, but battery ones for playing the course. The gas had their place, but it was not on the course. There would be oil leaking on greens, gas dripping on the greens and of course they would be out of gas every time you turned around. They require oil changes, oil checking, gassing them up and all the usual maintenance items.

I am very partial to the electric carts my self and own 2. One is a 1988 Yamaha G-2 series 36 volt resistor coil unit, (Read old school) which I use for my tow and push vehicle. If I burn up the control mechanism overloading it, the whole resistor coil unit is only about $50.00 max. The other cart is a 36 volt,1990 Ez-Go with the electronic controller set up. This unit is a little faster and goes much further on a charge, but I don't do any pushing or pulling with it because a controller for it is $400+ if you let the magic smoke out of it. So it is more for running around the place or granddaughter and her friends to ride on. I just replaced the batteries in the Yamaha. They were 7 yrs old and still able to go, but got weak very quick. Yes,batteries need regular maintenance such as cleaning and applying a terminal corrosion protector to terminals and cables and anywhere the acid starts corroding. Batteries need the water level checked and replenished after you charge them and not before so they won't overflow. At this monthly battery service, you need to check to see that all connections are tight and not corroded. One of the most misguided errors of owning a battery cart is the notion that you only need to recharge them occasionally. Using a deep cycle battery to the point of being 50% discharge does it great harm and may shorten the life of it by about 10% each time it is done that way. Battery carts need the P&P rule adhered to faithfully. That rule is that when parked, you need to plug it in if you are going to be stopped for more than 20 minutes plug it into the charger. The rule at my place is if you use it more than 5 minutes you plug it into the charger when you finish. I limit children to 30 minutes continuous ride time before charging again. Riding children would be definitely easier with the gas carts. Another mistake people make often is taking off in the cart and not letting the charger charge till it cuts off. Chargers whether 36 or 48 volt units have a voltage sensing board that decides when the batteries are fully charged and it shuts the charger off. Most chargers also have a timer that limits the charger to around 16 hours to prevent more damage. As batteries age they do become weaker and it will take longer to charge than the new batteries will. Batteries benefit from specific gravity testing also. If the gravity is low, they sometimes need a little extra charging from an automotive charger on that individual battery to bring the S.G. reading to around the 1.250 point.

The batteries are in fact expensive and good ones start at over $100.00 each, but if you treat them good I find they give good reliable, quiet service and always crank when it is cold outside.
Parts for a gas cart are by no means cheap either. If you have to replace the ignition on a gas cart and use OEM stuff, because there are very few aftermarket parts available it will cost you in the neighborhood of $3-5 hundred dollars and the fuel parts are very expensive also. Drive belts are very pricey also. In closing I feel that both gas and electric have their own places, but mine is electric. I have had a couple of gas carts and eventually replaced them with electric. As for the question of gas vs electric, it boils down to personal preference and what you will use it for most times. Some people swear by one and swear at the other!

I have a 48 volt electric. It is made as an ATV with a dump bed on the back. It will go about 40 miles on a charge, with a top speed of about 25 MPH. It has 6 8volt Trojan batteries which are over 5 years old and still hold their charge very well. It has an onboard charger, so all I have to do to charge it is to plug the cord into the wall or an extension cord. I much prefer it to the gas models. It gets used every day and will pull trailers and lawn equipment with no problems. Just keep the battery terminals clean and use distilled water when they need it.

I get 3 to 5 years out of batteries. I have a gas cart too, but it sits because it needs an engine, and its no longer being made. I can convert it for a couple of grand, or find a good used engine for about the same price. I can buy 3 sets of batteries for that, so the gas one just sits there collecting dust. My electric has had some work to it, lifted, etc. ad I can run 40 up the road. My brothers has had some extra electrical goodies put on it, lowered and hes been clocked at 63, but that is WAY too fast for me.

Batteries last longer if you keep them charged and don't run them down too much. Running them down too far is the mistake I see people making way too often. It takes like 10 seconds to plug the charger in when you get back to the barn, and the charger is automatic. When it's full, it stops.

Mom's is on the same set of old/used batteries it had when they bought it 8 years ago. Granted she doesn't romp around on it for miles and miles every day. Only problem is once the corrosion starts you can't stop it, so you're always fighting with a bad connection or rotted off terminal.

This is 48 volt. I've had it for 7 years and it wasn't new when I got it. It has 8 6 volt batteries(Trojan t-105) in the bed and I added a second bank of 4 12 volt(Trojan j185) in the tool box. The batteries in the bed died last year. The ones in the tool box are going strong. I have them switched so you can charge or operate on either bank individually. During the summer, when it gets used daily(1 to 2 hrs.) I charge it once a week. It dose have a gauge showing charge status. I have taken it to tractor shows and run it around all day with no problem. I love the electric and figure the cost of batteries is off set by the cost of gas an maintenance on the engine.

We have a 2000 year model EZGO electric 36 volts. Love it. Charger stays by the carts parking spot so to charge just plug in the cart. Don't really know how many miles we get per charge. I run around the yard and neighborhood for several days before needing to plug it in. Battery life does suffer in cold weather. It has a utility bed on back, works great for hauling tools, mulch, and general stuff. It is not lifted but does have knobby tires on the rear, never had it stuck after a rain.

Brother had one in Phoenix , got rid of it . Batteries he said don't hold up in the heat. Cost to replace , and constant recharging due to premature drain after charge

(quoted from post at 16:42:25 04/20/16) Arizona and Florida vehicle law loophole has some electric golf carts on city streets- one feature is the roof has solar panels to keep up battery charge, might be part of loophole, some EPA exception. Recharge of electric grid average of once a month, some times two and mileage of better than 500 miles between charges. Greeny article for Neighborhood Electic Vehicle had those featured- Yamaha models with a roll bar and solar panel roof $2000.00 over base price, 20-30 mph(?) top speed. Auto body shop in Chicago had old 3 wheeled unit with forklift battery pack, very useful for pushing cars around and was legal to go on streets for parts-motorcycle license plate- recharged overnight couple times a week.
RN

Click to expand...

500 miles between charges ?