Gas vs electric golf cart?

Opinions on gas vs electric golf carts

Not that much difference in noise level to me. Gas is a lot more convenient to refuel and weighs less so will go through more mud. I have an ezgo express and love it.

There is a difference in the noise level and the type of noise each put off. The electric carts will have wheel noise just like any other cart/atvwill, but you will hear the motor winding. It get louder the faster you drive. The gas will have the exhaust noise, wheel noise, and smell of exhaust.

Gas is easier and quicker to refill if you run out. Batteries should last 6 years with proper maintenance and should run enough to last for a weekend of hunting, but it depends on the terrain and age of batteries.

I have always though the perfect setup would be to have both, gas for summer work, etc and electric for hunting.

I wouldnt have an electric one...gas is the only way to go

Gas. I have used both and gas is the best choice in my opinion.

I have electric, and wouldnt have a gas unit. I like the quiet of the electric, and no fumes, no gas in the basement ETC. I usually get a good life out of my batteries but I maintain them well, then again I get good life out of my gas powered stuff for the same reason I guess. I have had friends who have had bad experiences with electric and would NEVER have another one, and for those guys the gas carts are the only choice. I have not used a gas powered cart very much, maybe I never used a good one?

Jason

I've owned both and rebuilt both. I am not in the business of selling anything, so this isn't a promotion of any kind. The truth about electric carts is that they can be just as good as gas carts in going places and doing things IF you properly rig out and maintain your cart. You need the following to get long distance, or heavy load work: a heavy torque motor, 8 six volt batteries, not 6 8 volt, a lift kit, but prolly no higher than 4 inches, mud tires (but probably not bigger than 22"), and a rear seat. That will give you more miles and more hills than almost anyone I know drives on their lease in a morning or afternoon. I would tell you about controllers, but that would probably be Greek to most people.

The downsides to electric golf carts are (1) yes, they can run out of juice, (2) they can be more difficult to maintain, (3) a full water sinking of the cart/motor can be really expensive, although I have done some awful things to mine and haven't had to buy either yet (knock on wood), (4) you will have to replace the batteries about every 6 years, and (5) it is heavier than a gas cart UNLESS you really go high end and get lithium batteries. the upside is obviously noise. Deer and turkeys, don't seem to care about it. Gas they do.

Gas pros are (1) weight, (2) ease of use and maintenance, and(3) can be cheaper. They make a good bit of noise, and animals seem to care about it.


I have an electric cart and an inexpensive used four wheeler ($600), the latter for offseason work or getting to really grueling places.. There are very, very few times that I wish I had something gas that held four passengers, like a ranger. In a perfect world, I'd probably own one of those uber expensive hybrid Polaris Ranger gas to electric vehicles.

Bottom line, if you think the above description re: electric is good with you and you are concerned about noise, go electric.

Gas carts are pretty quiet. 3 of us use them on our lease and you can't hear them coming until they are less than 100 yds from you. A 5 gal tank of gas lasts weeks even when you use them every day. I've had mine for 8 years and use it about every day around the farm

Here is your best option






Im serious. I walk everywere. Slowly and quietly.



And a gas burner to go the the carcass out.

On the electric carts, how much does a complete bank replacement run?

We put 6 new 8 volt Trojan batteries in ours last year. It was right at $700. You can get cheap batteries for around $500 a set, but everybody said the good batteries were a better buy. The Trojans I replaced were 7 years old and still worked, but the range was short. I drove it probably 16 miles on one trip last week, and still had juice left.

I bought mine with a high speed motor. It has trouble with hills though. I'm going to swap it for a high torque motor as soon as I can come up with the money.

my dad got a hybrid Hunt-V buggy. best of both worlds.

Goodness, that is a lot more than I would want to spend in consumables.

Yep hunt v is good. They high as hell tho

he is smart- he is spending his kids inheritance on himself!

had both...electric by far is the best for me....spend the money get a real off road electric and never look back . my electric cart is 12 years old and I run the crap out of it, changed batteries 4 times in 12 years....only other problem was two batteries went bad and caused a low voltage issue with the motor.....pulled it and dropped it off at an electric motor rebuild shop...150 bucks later new motor and up and running again....

Lol that's one way to do it. I was really impressed with the hunt v tho, just about completely silent

I had the same question years ago and decided on electric for quietness mostly and secondly no need for gas/oil. I'm happy with my decision and upgraded earlier this year to a newer electric model.
I will say my Yamaha Drive was quieter then my new EZ-Go but both are much sneakier than most gas models I've heard.

If you are hunting or cruising an electric. If you are working gas. Do what I did, get one of both.No electric will do what I do with my Polaris when planting..

Very good description. Except even though it may be Greek, you gotta upgrade the controller or it's just a matter of time before it dies. Build it right to begin with, and do basic maintenance, and an electric cart can be very dependable. I've had best luck with an EZGO with a PDS drive system, Alltrax controller and an Admiral motor. It runs 25 mph and will climb anything.

I have a Beast 48. I love electric! Slip in and slip out. I ride up on deer and turkeys all the time.

AlFisher

How much do you think it would cost to convert over to a lithium battery setup? When these batteries go bad, thought about looking into it. Would it be very complex to change over?

My side by side is new now, so It’ll be a few years hopefully.

Thanks

I had a 48 ezgo a few years back. Not sure about controllers or anything but I'm pretty sure I had a high torque motor. It would pop a wheelie if you laid the hammer down. I really saw no negatives about having electric. I had the charger rigged up to where I could charge it sitting on the trailer. It was pretty quite too, ran up on deer almost every time i took it out. Now that I typed this out I'm kinda wondering why I ever sold it...........

Electrics are fine till you need to replace batteries.

That is a lot at one time. I have no idea how much $ you'd spend on gas in that time, but if you put $10 in gas in it a month, times 12 months, times 6 years, that's $720 in gas in 6 years. I figure it would be about the same.

Some kits I've seen were somewhere around $2000 if I remember right. They say they last like 10 years and weigh a lot less. They also say you get like a 50 mile range, but dang, 2K.

Also saw where folks were buying lithium batteries out of electric cars, but i bet it would still cost serious $.

My understanding is that it is about twice as much as a new set of lead batteries, with some additional costs for (1) new charger, (2) some new battery protection equipment. There's a long thread on buggiesgonewild.com about it.