Dropped in some 48v Lithiums in my old cart over the weekend

[ringkingpin]

Hey guys, so many years ago, I tricked out my golf cart, It's an early 90's Club Cart DS. I have a 5.5hp G.E. Motor rated for 5,700 RPM, a D&D speed controller (650amp) and an MZJ-400 amp solenoid and 2ga wires. I also have some taller gearing, 6:1 ratio.
Because of the heavy load, I'd usually go through a set up Trojans in two to three years which at that point, I'd notice a lack of performance.
I wound up taking the leap of faith and purchased qty 6, 48v allied lithium batteries. I had to make a couple more cables than you normally would since you're going in parallel and not in series.
I used to have a 12v AGM under the rear seat to power the stereo, lights, etc. but on this go around I put in a 48 to 12v converter since there is so much juice available with these batteries. The difference in weight between my new setup and what I had is 245lbs. T-890's are 70lbs, these are 30lbs each and the optima I had was 45lbs.
I'm VERY happy after zipping around town for one weekend. Here is the big thing and difference between lead acid or AGM vs Lithium. When you put a heavy load on a lead acid battery, the voltage drops and slowly recovers as the load lightens but it never fully recovers to the same voltage. With the lithium batteries, the volt meter stays pinned at 52.xx volts regardless of the load. There is built in battery protection where if the load is too much, the battery just stops, whereas a lead acid battery would just give everything it has until it's posts melt (yes I've done that, lol). So, blasting around my town, which is quite hilly, this cart just FLIES! It reminds me of driving a Tesla! I just wanted to post my initial feedback and how impressed I am.
I'm wondering if I can better optimize this setup with changing motor and or controller. This controller is an antique now, serial bus, limited flexibility, etc. I DO like the idea of being able to control via bluetooth too but I guess I should get more seat time before making any other changed. On my GPS, I'm hitting 37mph, lifted with 22" O.D. tires with road tread.

The "Baller Hauler"

[CP241]

Very cool, thanks for sharing. I just did 2 of those batteries on my basically stock cart and super impressed with the allied batteries. Just 2 of them gives me more range than I can really use, I can’t imagine 6 of them. A charge would last me a year

[Scobra1]

I can’t imagine going 37 mph in a golf cart, of any type. Is it possible to limit speed for when someone like a young grandkid drives it? You may not have that issue but I do.

[ringkingpin]

Originally Posted by Scobra1

I can’t imagine going 37 mph in a golf cart, of any type. Is it possible to limit speed for when someone like a young grandkid drives it? You may not have that issue but I do.

Yes, the D&D has provisions to have a "slow" key setting which I don't use currently. I'll likely be changing to one of the blue tooth programmable units that gives you gobs of flexibility and various settings including slow modes and complete lock out via the app.
The car drives pretty much like a car at 37mph, no wobbles, shimmy, etc. I have hydraulic disc brakes on the front and I balanced the wheels with balancing beads, it rolls out smooooooth.

[emoney]

Originally Posted by Scobra1

I can’t imagine going 37 mph in a golf cart, of any type. Is it possible to limit speed for when someone like a young grandkid drives it? You may not have that issue but I do.

With the Navitas Controller, you can literally "lock out" speed options based on how slow you want the grandkids to go. Then, when you get on the cart, unlock it to reach max speed.

[ringkingpin]

Originally Posted by emoney

With the Navitas Controller, you can literally "lock out" speed options based on how slow you want the grandkids to go. Then, when you get on the cart, unlock it to reach max speed.

Same with the alltrax too I think.