Thinking about going Lithium soon

[mycamel]

We are moving to a home which is 2 miles from a course. I'm not sure my 4 year old batteries will make the round trip including 27 holes of golf.

I've been waiting to a good drop in system.

Has anyone tried these?

https://ecobattery.com/products/36v-72ah-bundle

For $1300, with charger it looks too good to be true.

[bronsonj]

What are your carts details?

My cart gets around 21 miles of range at 24 mph with 4 people on it. That pack would not do 27 holes, travel to and travel from if your cart is exactly the same as mine and you drive it the same way at the same speeds.

You are facing an uphill battle here... 36V has less available watts than 48V at the same amp hours, and your pack is smaller than the 100 ah 'normal' lithium pack size.

If your cart has the stock controller on stock wheels at 15 or 17mph then you may get the range you need. If you are golfing with 3 other people on the cart, have larger tires or low pressure tires or higher speeds then I'd bet a 36V72AH pack won't make all 27 holes and get back home.

I have no first hand knowledge of a lithium pack being actually used for golf, nevermind how far 27 holes are, so take my estimation with a grain of salt... ;)

[Bama Brad]

Read this thread, may help
https://www.buggiesgonewild.com/showthread.php?t=173142

[mycamel]

Originally Posted by bronsonj

What are your carts details?

My cart gets around 21 miles of range at 24 mph with 4 people on it. That pack would not do 27 holes, travel to and travel from if your cart is exactly the same as mine and you drive it the same way at the same speeds.

You are facing an uphill battle here... 36V has less available watts than 48V at the same amp hours, and your pack is smaller than the 100 ah 'normal' lithium pack size.

If your cart has the stock controller on stock wheels at 15 or 17mph then you may get the range you need. If you are golfing with 3 other people on the cart, have larger tires or low pressure tires or higher speeds then I'd bet a 36V72AH pack won't make all 27 holes and get back home.

I have no first hand knowledge of a lithium pack being actually used for golf, nevermind how far 27 holes are, so take my estimation with a grain of salt... ;)

27 holes is about 10 miles. So I'm looking at a 14 mile round trip.....

I have a brand new "stock" motor with an 5 year old Alltrax controller.

Only 2 people can ride on my cart at once. By removing the lead acid cells, I'll shed about 300 lbs which should help a bunch

I run the 14" low profile ezgo rim/tires.

I guess my real question was if anybody had tried these Eco EB batteries yet.

[bronsonj]

So it *sounds* to me like you should be fine getting 14 miles out of a 36v 72ah pack. I know you have an aftermarket controller so just know that going faster reduces efficiency at an incredible rate and kills range. My guess is that the butter zone for efficiency is in the 15 to 17mph range.

I do not know of anyone who has tried EB yet.

Supposedly RoyPow has a great price point but I've been unable to find someplace online advertising the price of the RoyPow S3880 pack.

I see https://bigbattery.com/products/36v-...o4-116ah-5kwh/ is 116ah for $399 more than EB and it includes the charger also, same issue where I have no reputational info on them. But at 116ah it is 62% more capacity than the 72ah battery you mentioned. I am not recommending this company, just saw that and figured I'd post for comparison.

[grtskydog]

I purchased the ECObattery (48V 72AH) bundle. I'm finishing up my install this week, so stay tuned. It's a 2003 TXT and the battery drops right in the stock mounting brackets. Overall I'm impressed with the "48V TXT bundle"...comes with battery pack, on-board charger, SOC meter, mounting strap (a basic rachet-strap with hooks) and a 48-12V reducer for the lights. It's paired to an Alltrax 400 that I'm limiting to about 5500 rpm. Looking forward to seeing what the actual range will be, but this isn't a golf car, it gets us around our little beach town. Longest round-trip anywhere is about 7 miles. The main goal was to replace the 6 year-old 36v Duracells with a 48v conversion for more speed to keep up around town. The (alleged) pack life, low maintenance, lighter weight are all just icing on the cake. It does also reduce the weight of your wallet, but you already knew that.

[mycamel]

Originally Posted by grtskydog

I purchased the ECObattery (48V 72AH) bundle. I'm finishing up my install this week, so stay tuned. It's a 2003 TXT and the battery drops right in the stock mounting brackets. Overall I'm impressed with the "48V TXT bundle"...comes with battery pack, on-board charger, SOC meter, mounting strap (a basic rachet-strap with hooks) and a 48-12V reducer for the lights. It's paired to an Alltrax 400 that I'm limiting to about 5500 rpm. Looking forward to seeing what the actual range will be, but this isn't a golf car, it gets us around our little beach town. Longest round-trip anywhere is about 7 miles. The main goal was to replace the 6 year-old 36v Duracells with a 48v conversion for more speed to keep up around town. The (alleged) pack life, low maintenance, lighter weight are all just icing on the cake. It does also reduce the weight of your wallet, but you already knew that.

That all sounds great. I have a 2003 TXT, 36V. I've already replaced the stock controller with an Alltrax controller. I've got a 2 year old "stock motor".

Will my set-up handle 48V?

[bronsonj]

Originally Posted by mycamel

I have a 2003 TXT, 36V. I've already replaced the stock controller with an Alltrax controller. I've got a 2 year old "stock motor".

Will my set-up handle 48V?

For 48v you need:
* Controller (you already have that)
* 48v charger
* batteries/cables
* 48v compatible solenoid (if you've upgraded your controller did you upgrade the solenoid at that time?)

The stock motor will handle 42v or 48v just fine. The part that the stock motor has difficulty with is increased amps (more amps = more heat). Most stock motors can handle 400 amps. If you have a 500 amp controller, turn it back to 400 amps.

The other thing motors can't handle is too much RPM. Everyone says 6,000 rpm is the max if you want your motor to have a long life. If you go faster than that you risk the motor coming apart internally and locking up. So while 40mph sounds cool, it isn't cool to be sliding at 40mph because the motor locked up.

----- edit -----
https://www.buggiesgonewild.com/speed-calculator.php

6000 rpm, 12:1 gear ratio (I think the real ratio is 11.44:1 but I've always just used 12:1), 18" diameter tires (you should measure your diameter and use that instead) = 26.8mph max. Anything over that and you're over revving the motor. But measure your tire diameter first to get an accurate speed threshold.

[grtskydog]

Camel, I have the same cart as you...kept the stock motor. If you've already got the Alltrax, and you're getting new batteries anyway, I'd just go 48V. You might save a few hundred getting the 36V, but the 48 will pull harder (hills/passenger loads) and cruise with less effort. Tough to say about getting your 27 holes in with the pack I have, since I'm still testing on my first charge. I've been almost 4 miles and I'm at 83% SOC...but I've been wringing her out with different speeds and profiles. Plus, you'll be tackling more inclines at a golf course than I am on a beach island. That said, ECO battery claims you can do over 30 miles on a charge with the 48/72AH pack. I imagine you'd just have to dial your Alltrax back to "stock" golf cart specs to make that happen. I'd like to be of more help with the EcoBatt, but It's gonna take a few charge cycles and some record-keeping to give you any reliable numbers. Stay tuned.

All I can say at this point is the cart will MOVE now...scared the wife when we took the laptop and did our first test run. That was just 26mph/5500rpm.

[bronsonj]

GRTSKYDOG, I don't know what your tire diameter is, but if they are 21" tires then 5500 rpm will get you 28 and a half mph. That should do nicely for the beach community. The higher speed tied with better acceleration due to less weight and less voltage sag should make for a nice cruiser.

I mounted my charger in the same location except I raised mine up an inch and put a weather barrier under it and then a few inches above the charger I put another weather barrier. I get they are supposed to be weather resistant, but plastic is cheap insurance in that regard.