Is 72V really worth it for a hunting cart?

Superman51

Ok, I had made my mind up to upgrade my hunting cart to 72V. I use it around my farm and a lot on my hunting land. It has more than enough torque, perfect speed, but I wanted some longer run time and eventually I’m going to the 4X4 kit. So I called D&D today to see if my motor would handle the 72V and he pretty much talked me out of the 72V.

He said that by increasing to 72V, my cart would run around 25MPH VS the 17MPH that it does now. If I don’t have the cart at full throttle, it is not at maximum efficiency. Therefore, if I go to 72V, I would be feathering the throttle to whole time and eating up a lot more battery life than my current 48V setup.

So I guess my question is this; has anyone run 48V and 72V on a off road cart and did constant throttle change drastically reduce run time? Thanks

BGW

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Andy4639

Hoof Hearted

If you want longer run time think about adding a battery or two (of the same voltage) into your existing battery pack but put them in parallel. This way you still have 48 volts but more "head" room (stereo speak meaning more available amps to draw from). This should make you a happy camper without all the added cost of going to 72 volts.............

Superman51

Andy, great video. The main reason I was wanting to go 4X4 is I’ve been stuck several times in the same spot that several buddies with the Bad Boy Buggy made it through. I really need the extra traction in the front. I have plenty of torque and power (700A controller) that would run the 4X4, but I would really like to have extra run time now and when I get the 4X4 kit.

Hoof Hearted, I have no idea what you are talking about. IS there any way you could explain further or provide a diagram? I would be very interested in this. This sounds like the exact rout that I want. Thanks .

Hoof Hearted

This is pretty simple but I cannot draw diagrams but think of it this way:

Battery
+ -
Battery
- +
Battery
+ -
Battery
- +
Battery
+ -
Battery
- +
In the above "depiction" you have (6) 8 volt batteries
Your cables connect the positive (+) from the first battery to the negative of the next. Then positive to negative to positive, etceteras.......

So you now have a (6) battery pack of 8 volt batteries that EQUALS 48 volts with a negative end and a positive end (these are hooked to your electrical system). This is "SERIES" wiring.


"PARALLEL" wiring would be to wire the positive (+) to the positive (+) and the negative (-) to the negative (-) like this:

Battery
+ -
Battery
+ -


If you wired two more batteries into your SERIES pack that equals 48 volts but wired them in parallel you would still have 48 volts like this:



Battery
+ -
Battery
- +
Battery
+ -
Battery
+ -
Battery
+ -
Battery
- +
Battery
+ -
Battery
- +

I made the added two batteries BLUE so you could see where I put them in the pack (but it doesn't matter where you put them).

If this seems daunting, don't worry. Always disconnect the batteries from the system before you work on your cart. Then when you wire the system, like the above depiction, check the total voltage, one end at the positive (no cable attached) and the negative (no cable attached). If you have 48 volts you are good to go!

Superman51

Man Hoof, this sounds like exactly what I’m looking for. I am currently running 8 (6V) batteries on my cart with two in the back. I actually have 2 good 6V batteries lying around and I could put them under the seat. Have you or anyone else ever done this? Thanks big time.

Nate

TheWiltz

Just remember that when running power supplies in parallel that you add the amperages together. I don't think that with your upgrades you would have a problem. But on a stock cart one might.

Series add voltage
Parallel add amperage.

Hoof Hearted

I toyed with the idea (and it's nothing new in the EV world) but decided to step outside the box and add three 12 volt batteries and a boost circuit that isolates the controller (just to make people wet their panties).........

Think of it this way:

A battery has an amp hour rating, for this comparison let's say 100 amp hours at whatever load and time. If you wire two in parallel you have double the amp hour rating. So spread that over the whole pack and you get a longer amp hour rating. Don't ask me to do the math, I'm a horse trainer and a gunsmith!

Your charger won't know the difference, although it will probably take longer to charge (probably not much) but I would go up to #4 cables.

Hoof Hearted

Yes but this is usable amperage.....not instantly supplied all at once. Think of it like, well a reserve (which will give you longer run time). This is not applied the same way extra voltage would be.....