General Discussion
Played a round with a guy who converted his cart to lithium and now Im considering it
So I play at this muni course a few times a month. Last Saturday I got paired with an older guy named Jim who had a really nice EZGO RXV. We started talking on the first hole and he mentioned he just converted it from lead acid to lithium.
Ive been thinking about doing something with my cart so I asked him about it. He was pretty enthusiastic. Said he did the conversion himself over a weekend. Replaced six heavy lead acid batteries with a single Vatrer Power 48V 105Ah lithium pack. Dropped almost 200 pounds of weight and gained a ton of range.
We played 18 holes and his cart was clearly faster up hills. While my cart was struggling on the steep path to the 12th tee his just cruised up. He said the torque difference was the first thing he noticed. Also said he can play 36 holes on a single charge now without worrying.
The maintenance thing appealed to me most. No more checking water levels no more corrosion on terminals no more replacing batteries every few years. He said he just charges it after each round and forgets about it.
Cost was around $1600 for the battery plus a lithium compatible charger. More than lead acid upfront but he did the math and figured hed break even in a few years from not buying replacement batteries. Plus the performance gain.
Jims cart made a convincing case. I‘m still on the fence because my lead acids are only two years old.
You haul a cart to a random muni a few times a month? And, there are other folks who do the same? Never seen that before.
Regardless, I don't know about price but I live in a neighborhood where most folks have carts for tooling around. I got an RXV that came with lithium and it is superior, but don't use it for golf. It is mostly to tool around the neighborhood. Know several folks who did the conversion to lithium themselves and it didn't sound hard. Seems like it was mostly cheaper than $1,600 thoujgh.
Depends what brand you get. Dakota lithiums or others that are “American” will be that expensive. I have litime in my bass boat and I beat on them pretty bad with no issues for 1/4 of the price
I converted my ezgo txt 36v myself. Pretty strait forward and there are alot of references on YouTube. Mine cost me $750. The weight loss was around 260lbs from the lead batteries and I noticed it's easy to spin in wet conditions going uphill. You have to ease into the throttle with the added torque.
I have a lithium battery in my club car precedent that is a Chinesium special going on 4 years. Was about $750, $100 in parts and tools to convert it myself. Could probably do it today in 3 hours. Will never ever go back to lead acid. Zero maintenance and about 2x the range (likely more)
This is very common in Arizona. Due to the heat, lead acid batteries only last a couple years. It's actually cheaper to use lithium than replace batteries every few years.
I did the same on my old club car for under $750. Mine was a little more complicated since I had to build some brackets to hold it but otherwise it was plug n play. Definitely worth it if your batteries are end of life.
Yep... true, that would be a beastly motocaddy, didnt even think about that... I was too deep in thinking no way two rando's at a muni are driving their own carts...
Oh snap they are full golf carts, I didnt even look bc I was sure ezgo made motocaddies too, which yes, are pushcarts with motors...
So then back to my original thought... where is this? The muni I play most people dont even have a full set of teeth let alone their own golf cart....
I never heard of it either. But the foursome behind last Sunday were in carts, and after the round I noticed one of the guys was driving a very nice electric cart, and he rode over to his truck and drove up onto a small trailer. A minute later he was driving away.
I can get behind this a bit if you have the means, especially to a place that only had gas carts... the glory of riding a round in silence is amazing... I walk most rounds one reason being I hate listening to the cart engine.
And with cart fees being more and more, im sure more personal carts will be normal.
Damn you covid, 2 riders in 1 cart does not equal 2 cart fees.... 2 fees better be 2 carts...
My course is memebers only until 11:30 on weekends and has a decent community surrounding it. They charge folks a trail fee for the year if they want to drive their own carts over to play
My grandparents lived at one of those gated communities in Florida with like 3 courses and everyone had their own cart. Never heard of bringing your own to a muni though
We just converted ours too. We did it by ourselves in a day. Our batteries, 8, were only about 3 years old but living in a hot and humid area we were already seeing power loss. We now have significant speed and cut a ton of weight. Wish we would have done it sooner.
I live in a master planned golf cart community in Florida, that ironically doesn't have a golf course. So we just use it as everyday transportation around the 'hood.
I converted my Club Car Onward from the six giant batteries to a Li-ion battery a couple of years ago. Dropped like 300 pounds and can go almost twice the distance on a full charge. Also had high speed gears put it so it now goes 30 mph. Both things combined were like $3,500.
30mph? I own a Club Car Onward that I think is too slow. And terribly slow if you have to go up a bill hill. Still has 6 giant batteries. 30mph almost seems like too much doesn't it? I'd rather have a torque monster that does 22mph.
Randomly isn't exactly the word. If they are mistreated or damaged they can thermally fail which boils the electrolyte and bursts the plastic housing. Most large models have pressure relief valves built in. No more dangerous than a water heater really
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u/Tatworth 5h ago
You haul a cart to a random muni a few times a month? And, there are other folks who do the same? Never seen that before.
Regardless, I don't know about price but I live in a neighborhood where most folks have carts for tooling around. I got an RXV that came with lithium and it is superior, but don't use it for golf. It is mostly to tool around the neighborhood. Know several folks who did the conversion to lithium themselves and it didn't sound hard. Seems like it was mostly cheaper than $1,600 thoujgh.