My new to me 2015 Express L6 48V gets passed by every electric cart going up hill

[booshwa]

Hello all, I bought a new to me 2015 Express L6 48V electric cart some time ago, LOOKED like new, drove perfect on the flat parking lot where I was checking it out. When I got it home I noticed the water was really low in all the batteries. Seems it was rarely used at a vacation home, so while it looked perfect, the batteries were neglected. Charged it, filled them with water and been using it hoping to bring more life into them.

The cart is in Canyon Lake CA and there's a road that goes over the lake and up a hill called the "causeway". I swear I get passed by EVERY golf cart in the community going up that hill. My wife just looks at me and says "want me to get out and walk and meet you at the top?" every time we get passed. She has ADD, but it is annoying to have this really nice, newer looking cart get smoked by grandma in her 1970 cart.

Anyways, got new 6v batteries the other day, it has WAY more range, but it didn't do much to improve the hill climbing speed. Flats are OK, don't need much more speed, it's just the hills and my wife laughing at me that I need help with.

Would an after market controller with heavier gauge wiring do the trick or do I need to get a stronger motor?

Thank you in advance for the help!

[Jmzvet]

All you probably need is an Alltrax controller, HD solenoid, and 2ga cables.
Contact ScottyB at Cartsunlimited and he’ll take care of you.
Or you could suggest to your wife that maybe she could help by losing a few pounds
Id call Scotty

[Cartmaster]

If it was me i would

A, use rifle on Grandma, this would stop her overtaking.

B, Use rifle on wife, this would lose weight on the cart and also remove that annoying noise

If you do not own a rifle, i am sure you can improvise. LOL..

Plus one for ScottyB

[booshwa]

Appreciate the advise and will inquire about the controller. The other suggestions would probably be fatal.

[limocar]

I have a 2017 l6 express, I live in FL so my land is flat, very flat. If you have access to a programmer you can check if the settings have been altered by the previous owner. And alter them to your needs.

[DPkiller]

You probably have a Curtis 1268. They are not exactly a weak controller by any means, but should be substantial enough to power up a hill. Before you really start pointing fingers look at the programming on it to see if it was detuned. I see carts all day long with that controller and some 4 passenger HO's with that same controller smoke everything on a golf course.....within reason. A modified RXV doesn't count.

[yurtle]

Originally Posted by booshwa

Hello all, I bought a new to me 2015 Express L6 48V electric cart some time ago, LOOKED like new, drove perfect on the flat parking lot where I was checking it out. When I got it home I noticed the water was really low in all the batteries. Seems it was rarely used at a vacation home, so while it looked perfect, the batteries were neglected. Charged it, filled them with water and been using it hoping to bring more life into them.

The cart is in Canyon Lake CA and there's a road that goes over the lake and up a hill called the "causeway". I swear I get passed by EVERY golf cart in the community going up that hill. My wife just looks at me and says "want me to get out and walk and meet you at the top?" every time we get passed. She has ADD, but it is annoying to have this really nice, newer looking cart get smoked by grandma in her 1970 cart.

Anyways, got new 6v batteries the other day, it has WAY more range, but it didn't do much to improve the hill climbing speed. Flats are OK, don't need much more speed, it's just the hills and my wife laughing at me that I need help with.

Would an after market controller with heavier gauge wiring do the trick or do I need to get a stronger motor?

Thank you in advance for the help!

Two things got my attention, newish L6 48 volts, and 6 volt batteries? You have eight batteries?

[Beaner913]

Any of the long EZGOs have the 14.7 to 1 rear end gears and the controllers are locked to a max 15 mph. They are designed for carrying the weight of a lot of passengers or a load. But you should be able to maintain your flat ground speed going up the hill without much loss because of the torque. My shuttle 2 that I converted to a shuttle 6 would only go 15 mph with stock tires. On 23 inch tires I was only able to get 18 to 19 mph and with fleet cart gears, 12 to 1, and 23 inch tires Im up to 21ish depending on the wind. I believe speed comes from the motor and there are high speed motors for these carts. Then you have to think about slowing that beast down.
Im sure Scotty B will have some ideas for you.

[JohnnieB]

Express L6 brochure attached.

Does have a 8x6V battery pack.
14.7:1 gears
23" tall tires.
16 MPH.

Sepex drive, has a 400A controller, but model not given.

with those gears and tire height, the motor is only turning at about 3500RPM at 16 MPH. Undoubtedly RPM limited by controller.

[BobBoyce]

Originally Posted by JohnnieB

Express L6 brochure attached.

Does have a 8x6V battery pack.
14.7:1 gears
23" tall tires.
16 MPH.

Sepex drive, has a 400A controller, but model not given.

with those gears and tire height, the motor is only turning at about 3500RPM at 16 MPH. Undoubtedly RPM limited by controller.

Very good information JohnnieB!

I've been under the weather, so I had not commented yet on this thread. I reprogrammed one of these while on my trip, and I was very disappointed with the performance that we were getting from it. As I investigated, it turned out to be motor mapping related. I had to rewrite the SepEx motor mapping throughout the RPM range in order to get "acceptable" performance and speed. The result was still less than I expected. Once I was able to determine that the motor was being underdriven voltage-wise, the motor map and performance issues made more sense. It's almost like running a 48V motor on 36V with the 48V L6. E-Z-GO made a poor choice of drivelines vs operating voltage with the motor in the 48V L6. It would be better suited for a 60V pack.