EZGO 2Five LSV review

FluxCapacitor

I don't submit reviews often but there are so few 2Five reviews so I'm posting one. Seasoned golf cart owners may find some of this info obvious and boring.

After looking over a few carts I found carts from Yamaha, Club Car and EZGO all seem well made with high quality parts. I ruled out other brands (Tomberlin, Star EV, etc.) due to bankruptcies and/or being too new to the scene.

The engineering level of golf carts in general does not appear as polished as the automotive world but more on "par" with products like recreational boats and high end lawn tractors.

EZGO, Club Car and Yamaha seem comparable in price, quality and reliability but I eventually picked the 2Five for these four reasons:
1. Yamaha doesn't make a LSV (why?)
2. I personally think the 2Five looks better than the Club Car, particularly the roof structure and windshield is more attractive.
3. The internet indicates the 2Five's AC drive is slightly more powerfull than the Club Car DC system.
4. 2Fives has disc brakes while the Villager has drum brakes (I detest working on drum brakes)

The 2Five body, frame, suspension and drivetrain seem beefy and nicely made. The plastic body is beautifully finished (blue in my case). Some of the parts that make the 2Five an LSV (such as the mirrors, seatbelts, signal stalk) are non EZGO parts but also seem well made.

Driving it:
The cart goes exactly 25 MPH, which seems plenty fast for this type of vehicle. I would not be comfortable going any faster with family members riding along. The 2Five will hold 20+mph on hills and I8+mph on hills with 4 adults on board.

The rack and pinion steering is precise and confidence inspiring. The steering effort is light and can easily be handled by my 100 pound wife. No power steering assist is available or needed.

The ride is firm (can I say "sporty" about a golf cart?) with not much leaning in turns. I like the ride but some may find it too firm on rough pavement. I heard the Club Car Villager has softer suspension but I can't confirm that.

4 wheel disk brakes is one major difference between a typical golf cart and an LSV (most golf carts are rear brake only). Light braking is handled with regenerative motor braking, while the disc brakes only start working during moderate to heavy braking...then the disk brakes stop the 2Five as fast as a "real" car but with a little more pedal effort than your typical car.

The cart is very quiet but not silent, a little electric whine is present, however, I can often drive unnoticed just a few feet from pedestrians. The backseat seatbelts can make a rattle noise on rough pavement.

The headlights are 37 watt halogen and not quite as bright as the typical 55 watt low beams found in many cars. There are no high beams. I may change to brighter LED bulbs in the future.

The digital gauge is brightly backlit and clear even in most sunlight conditions.

The vehicle charging port (below the drivers seat cushion is a standard 110v three prong socket and can (in a pinch) accept most household outdoor extension cords. The charging socket has a built-in LED charge status light.

All 2Fives come with a heavy duty (roughly 12 foot long) charging cord with a built in GFCI.

All 2Fives come standard with a lockable passenger glove box. A drivers side glove box is optional and simply covers up the large drivers side storage bin with a door.

There is a large storage "trunk" under the rear seat which can hold three full grocery bags and more.

The flip seat is an option and seems worth the extra $200 or so.

All seat upholstery is very high quality vinyl (similar to used in recreational boats). The front seat upholstery is fastened to a plywood seat frame, while the back seats are mounted to heavy duty HDPE plastic sheeting. The HDPE plastic makes the flip seat very durable (but slippery). When flipped down in "pick-up bed" mode the flip seat has no perimeter lip or raised edges to keep stuff from sliding off. IMO the plywood front seat backing is the most unimpressive feature of the entire cart (see picture)

The standard wheels are steel with plastic hubcaps. In pictures the standard wheels often look like aluminum rims but in real person it's obviously not. The aluminum wheels upgrade adds about $300 and makes the entire cart look better.

The horn is loud and actives with the signal stalk (there is no floor button).

A rear license plate light is optional and may seem more "legit" to police.

I have 50 miles on my 2017 2Five (4-passenger) and so far I'm happy and would completely recommend it to anyone. My kids love the 2Five and I find myself making up reasons to take it out. LSV's are quite rare here in northern New Jersey and I'm pretty sure I'm the first one in my town with one.
Due to this rarity I get more "thumbs up" and general interest in my 2Five than the 67 Camaro I just sold, however, Inquisitive people are often turned off by the price (I paid $10,267 no sales tax on LSV's in NJ).

Now just looking forward to next summer.

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BGW

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FF Titus

I'm in RI and my dealership, we don't stock them due to the cost. People think they cost close to the RXVs. I have to catch them before they hit the floor when I tell them the price. After reviving them, the typical response is, "wow I can buy a car for that blah blah blah"

Enjoy the vehicle, they are fun.

FluxCapacitor

Funny! My knees buckled slightly too!

For a while I looked for a used LSV but they seem rare and/or people aren't selling them much.

kentfromohio

Do you still like the 2Five after two years and can you please comment on the full windshield in terms of heat versus a traditional fold down that offers more venting. I like what I see of the EZGo but I much prefer a fold down window. Star EV has one but it is not of the same quality as the EZGo or Club. Both of these have fixed windows. I am wondering how they are in summer heat and direct sun.

cgtech

To meet true "50 state legal LSV" status, it must have a full glass laminated windshield just like a car, so Ezgo factory won't be offering a folding windshield.

kentfromohio

I have a Star EV 48-2 Classic LSV with normal VIN and full LSV status. My Ohio DMV issued plates, no problem. It has a folding windshield. Somehow Star did it so I could buy it. But I prefer one of the other brands for service reasons.

BobBoyce

Federal LSV/NEV safety regulations require a 1 piece safety rated wundshield. Some states, very few, will allow a non-safety rated windshield. I was a state licensed EV/LSV/NEV OEM (Originall Equipment Manufacturer), and I had to certify compliance with both Federal and State Motor Vehicle regulations before I could assign a VIN and issue a Manufacturers Certificate of Origin for any vehicles that I built. There is a golf cart to LSV/NEV rebuilder in Cleveland TN that will certify any golf cart as such, even if it does not meet the standards. They don't even put physical brakes on regen brake only carts (like the RXV), even though all states require it! Just because it is done, does not make it legal. If they get caught, they will lose their OEM license.

Star is a chinese import, so I'm not sure how it works for imported LSVs/NEVs as for legal requirements. I've never imported motor vehicles from China. I bought a pair of new minivans for testing while I was in China, but left them there when I came back to the US.

Bob

cgtech

I passed "inspection" for lsv in AZ with a one piece plastic windshield, it's pretty lax here, and there were several other things I don't have that I should. I would prefer a folding windshield too, but haven't yet found one at my "cheap to free" price point yet.

FluxCapacitor

I have 850 miles on it so far. Most trips being 1/8 to 1 miles, but also a few 10 mile trips. So that’s a lot of trips.

My wife was very slow to warm up to driving it but now loves driving it around as much as I do. Street legal carts are relatively rare here in New Jersey and people often ask about it.

Zero issues or problems yet, except for a out-of-round tire (replaced under warranty).

Only maintenance I’ve done is clean/torque the batteries once and added water to the batteries twice, but probably only needed to add water once.

Only modification I’ve done is let air out of the tires to smooth the ride (currently running 14 Psi)

Very happy with it.

There has been less than a handful of times I wished for a fold-down windshield but not very often. On the flip side, the windshield and roof keeps occupants surprisingly dry the few times I drove in the rain.
The overall driving experience has a very open air feel, much much more open air feel than a convertible car.

FluxCapacitor

BTW: I don’t know the specific street legal rules regarding windshields but Jeep Wranglers technically have fold down windshields. Perhaps you can have fold downs but not drive with them down on public roads???