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Electric vs Gas Utility Carts

4 posts
  1. Rick Dauner
    Rick Dauner avatar
    0 posts
    12/1/2014 2:12 PM
    For those of you that use electric utility carts, how do you like them? Do they maintain enough power to get through a typical golf maintenance day. Wondering about pros and cons vs gas powered utility carts.



  2. Rick Dauner
    Rick Dauner avatar
    0 posts
    12/1/2014 2:12 PM
    Sorry, I put this under the wrong post(Diseases). I am wondering how you guys like electric utility carts vs gas ones. Pros vs Cons. Will they maintain power throughout a typical maintenance day. Do they have the power to pull a brush drag for 2 to 3 hours etc. Thanks for any input.



  3. Dustin Riley
    Dustin Riley avatar
    8 posts
    12/1/2014 2:12 PM
    I have 9 Club Car Carry-Alls within my fleet. Only 1 (mine) is electric. The rest are gas. IMO this is the perfect mix as I can quietly manage through play without too much disruption. As for normal staff use, I would only go with gas. In the long run, it'll cost you less, expect a battery bank every 4-6 years ($$$). Controllers and computers also a costly replacement. If a gas cart runs out of fuel, add more and it runs immediately. If an electric cart dies, then tow it through the course, plug it in and you get to use it tomorrow. On days of heavy running (aeration, syringing etc, the electric carts may start to peter out by 10 am.

    The main positive about the electric is it's quietness. Otherwise, Gas carts are much more reliable and usefull throughout an entire workday.



  4. Keith Lamb
    Keith Lamb avatar
    3 posts
    12/1/2014 3:12 PM
    I have 3 gas Cushman Hauler 800x's for me, my assistant and my equipment manager. Great carts with 10" tires, better clearance and a good Kawasaki motor. No problems in the 2 years I have owned them. I just did a demo on the Cushman Hauler with the 72v battery set-up. That cart is great. Lasts a couple days per charge and talking to a couple guys that have bought them, they can do anything....including pulling brushes for 2-3 hours. One of the bigger courses nearby just ordered 15 of them. If you do the math, [u">conservatively[/u"> figuring that a gas cart uses 5 gallons of fuel every 2 weeks 5 x 26 x $3.00=$390/year. If you get 3 years out of the batteries a new set would cost me (9 batteries x $115 = $1035) and in that same time you used $1170 of fuel.....hmmmm. Do a 3 year lease and then you don't have to worry about the batteries. You can't beat the quietness of the electric carts.



  5. Andy Jorgensen
    Andy Jorgensen avatar
    1 posts
    12/1/2014 8:12 PM
    Keith Lamb said: I have 3 gas Cushman Hauler 800x's for me, my assistant and my equipment manager. Great carts with 10" tires, better clearance and a good Kawasaki motor. No problems in the 2 years I have owned them. I just did a demo on the Cushman Hauler with the 72v battery set-up. That cart is great. Lasts a couple days per charge and talking to a couple guys that have bought them, they can do anything....including pulling brushes for 2-3 hours. One of the bigger courses nearby just ordered 15 of them. If you do the math, [u">conservatively[/u"> figuring that a gas cart uses 5 gallons of fuel every 2 weeks 5 x 26 x $3.00=$390/year. If you get 3 years out of the batteries a new set would cost me (9 batteries x $115 = $1035) and in that same time you used $1170 of fuel.....hmmmm. Do a 3 year lease and then you don't have to worry about the batteries. You can't beat the quietness of the electric carts.



    Almost exactly what I was going to say. Throw in a solar powered shop and the carts cost me virtually nothing to run.



  6. Adam Stottlemyer
    Adam Stottlemyer avatar
    0 posts
    1/16/2015 6:01 AM
    Rick Dauner said: For those of you that use electric utility carts, how do you like them? Do they maintain enough power to get through a typical golf maintenance day. Wondering about pros and cons vs gas powered utility carts.



    My super, mechanic, and I has electric club cars. They were great for awhile, but after a year or two they became more sluggish and didn't seem to hold a charge for long. We were usually plugging them in at lunch and sometimes still not getting a full day, though we did run them pretty hard. If you're hauling a trailer or more specifically a pull behind blower, it will kill the battery real quick. It seemed that after a fall season of blowing leaves with them, it really wore the batteries/cart out.

    I liked them, because they were quite nice getting around the course and around play without making a lot of noise like a gas would. However it was a pain as they got older when they started to not last, even with replacement batteries. I would not recommend them for your whole fleet, I would stick to gas ones for the rest of the crew, and if you're going to get electric, get them for you and assistants. I would recommend an electric one with 8 batteries, as we had ones with 6 and we're told we probably should of went with the 8



  7. Andy Jorgensen
    Andy Jorgensen avatar
    1 posts
    1/16/2015 7:01 AM
    If you are looking to buy new, look at the EZ-Go 72volt Hauler. We have demoed it a few times and can have it run about 5 days on a single charge. Lots of torque and power as well. If I was going to purchase an electric vehicle, this is the one I would go with.

    Knowing this, we compared what the operating cost would be compared to gas. We figured simple 5 gallons of gas a week = $780/year in fuel. You also have to figure in oil changes, filters, clutches, belts, etc....all the things a gas vehicle has that an electric one does not. And reduced efficiency of having to stop and wait for golfers because of your noisy gas cart. After you figure all of this up, you can see electric is cheaper, even after having to spend $700 every 3-4 years on a set of batteries.



  8. Craig Moore
    Craig Moore avatar
    0 posts
    1/16/2015 8:01 AM
    I have tried two electric vehicles from two different companies and I will NEVER purchase one again.
    After a year or two they don't hold a charge all day; even with new batteries they never held a daily charge. At one point we sent it to the dealer for service, $1300 in repair bills later nothing changed with its performance. A new set of Batteries for the unit cost us $1000 even at $4 a gallon that is over 8 years of fuel for us and the batteries only last 2-3 years.
    Stick with gas and save yourself the trouble.



  9. Richard McDanel
    Richard McDanel avatar
    0 posts
    4/27/2015 4:04 PM
    We have used the John Deere E-Gators for years. They need to be charged each day, but do maintain enough power even while chasing hot spots. The batteries need to be replaced between years 3 & 4 at approximately $900/vehicle.

    We tested a new EZ-Go and it was very nice. Just sad when they took it back after 2 days. It is supposed to go much longer on a charge.

    I would like to have all electric!



  10. Keith Pegg
    Keith Pegg avatar
    0 posts
    4/28/2015 5:04 PM
    15 years ago I used electric cars (golf cars with box on the back) It was great never ran low however I did charge every day. My place now I would go electric however I lack plugs in my shop area so, can not. We do run Club Car E on the course 100 never had a car down because of power yet.
    Keith



  11. Curtis Nickerson
    Curtis Nickerson avatar
    0 posts
    5/3/2015 6:05 PM
    Myself and both my assistants use club car turf 2 electric carts, all have high speed motors and we run them hard, we are going on 5 years and have changed the batteries twice. We love them and have had no real issues to speak of regards to holding a charge all day.



  12. Joshua Sawyer
    Joshua Sawyer avatar
    0 posts
    6/27/2015 10:06 AM
    I had 6 electric utility carts on a lease for 3 years...batteries replaced from 1-2 years in...some twice. Motor issues...what they didn't tell me was there is a 50% workload on the unit, meaning they want it sitting still for 50% of the time it is in use. They did not work well for our situation. I could see using them as a people mover, setup cart, hand watering, etc., but that is about all.



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