I'm in the market for an upgrade from my refurbished Club Car I've had for 8-9 years. I need 4 wheel drive, 4 wheel breaks and a good suspension that doesn't beat me to death. I've heard all the horror stories of the BBB's, haven't heard much about Polaris nor have I heard much about the other options (stealth, hunt v, etc.) I've spent a lot of time on line and can't get much updated info. there.

For those of you that have one of these (new models) or have experience I'd love your feedback.

Thanks

You wanting to stick with electric? All I know is our BBB is not that good. Can't speak to others.

yea... have a 4 wheeler for work, etc. but after almost a decade of using an electric vehicle it would be very hard to not have one...especially for turkey hunting

Are you talking about the newer models or the older ones?

polaris ev are nice, ride like a dream but are super heavy.

if u want to stay with a golf cart, I'd get a beast 4x4

do you have any experience with the beast 4x4? Do you know if it has 4 wheel breaks, etc.?

don't know abt the brakes, they have a website

I have a 2012 Polaris Ev. Bought it new and it's got low hours cause I mainly just hint out of it. Absolutely love it but be warned it is what it is. I use it for hunting and will go anywhere between 2-5 miles to and from stand and afterwards battery is 1/2 to 3/4 drained. Now this is on rough ground during colder times but it is not a vehicle someone would want to buy to use for all day farm outings or chores. To be electric it turns very well, is extremely quiet and quite capable of handling rough roads/off roads. All in all I like it; I also use it around my house to do small chores and it works very well for this.

I'm going to guess our BBB is a 2010. Just not real impressive.

I've been in 2 BBB and neither of them worked.

thanks Bamacamp....yea that's about right on expected battery life... if you can get 8-10 miles on a charge you are doing well, with any electric buggy. that being said, that's all most people need for deer and turkey hunting, assuming your not hunting more than a couple thousand acres.

any experience on climbing steep terrain?

2010, I think was when BBB was at an all time low. I've heard they were bought by a new company and are now much better than they used to be.

The Beast doesn't have front breaks, which is a deal breaker for me. When coming down really steep terrain the regenerative breaking and rear breaks are not enough to keep the buggy from locking up and sliding.

I've had mine in some nasty clear cut with 30 degree type slopes, stumps, blow overs you name it. As long as you've got it in 4wd low I've never had an issue. And this is with hauling myself, gear, and deer out at the same time. I haven't done that often but it's never been an issue. The only issue I've ever had is navigating thru tight quarters in the woods and that's self explanatory bc of its size.

I think someone mentioned it's weight, it is quite heavy weighing around 1700 lbs I believe so you have to invest in a good sturdy trailer if you've got a long distance haul. I primarily use mine on our lease in Kentucky. The roads are nasty and I don't like to booger up my Tundra.

I truly believe it makes a difference. If I can slip up there during the week during bow season and there aren't a lot of trucks or 4 wheelers around I can slip in and out a lot better/quieter.

I am on my 4th season with a 48V Beast. It has been great as far as maintenance, but it will get stuck in the real nasty stuff. I was looking into the Polaris EV also, but people have said it weighs more than a battleship.

The beast just has rear brakes, I would go another route if you have steep terrain.

I have had 2 BBBs. They both sucked. I have a Polaris EV and it is tough. You can't hardly stick it without bottoming it out.

The EV rides MUCH smoother than a BBB as well.

The EV will be my next ride when the batteries in the beast crap out.

The 2010 and 2011 Polaris EVs suck.... Google the issues...get a 2012 or newer. They will climb some steep stuff, not sure about mud. Or find a cheap 2010 and pay $5000 for the aftermarket lithium battery upgrade kit..... supposedly gets 60 miles per charge on flat ground and batteries last 10 years and it's about 600 lbs lighter

It better last ten years, it's over 20 grand!

For a new one, yes...but for around $10k you can build one.

Only 10 years?? BS it better last the rest of my LIFE, bro. For $20k, I could gravel all the roads on my land & ride my damn 4WD truck (in 2WD) to pickup deer, and have tons of $$$ left-over, to boot... I'm sorry, the pricing on some of these ATV's has reached an insane level...

BGD

I bought the wife a 2013 Ranger EV. It has been down more than up. This may not be a fair evaluation of the machine since it was bought used. The first time it went down was because a battery stud stripped out. I was able to remove the battery and tap a new battery connection. All was good for a while. About 2 months ago, she was riding it when she heard a noise and had smoke come from under the seat. She was able to ride it home. I found a battery had exploded, sending shards of plastic from the housing and caps all under the undercarriage of the machine. It has been down since waiting on me to clean up all the steel that was exposed to the battery acid.

A few points about these things:
1. They are very heavy. Extremely difficult to push around without help.
2. IMO, they require more routine maintenance. You need to check the battery connections often. I also clean and re-coat the posts at this time. (I'd like to know if others that own EV's have similar opinions about this.)
3. Batteries can be purchased much cheaper at places other than the dealer. In my case, the savings was 50%.

I bought this because the wife had a really bad habit of running her old Ranger out of gas. We really like it. So, I'm hoping this latest problem was a defective battery or other rare problem. But if these issues continue, this one will be for sale.