Gas vs, Electric

[Mark Mocho]

OK, that probably got your attention, but I'm not talking about motorgliders or even cars. Our club (Albuquerque Soaring Club) has been using an electric golf cart to tow out gliders and our Operations Trailer for many years. The cart is getting pretty old and worn out, the batteries are fading (and have been replaced several times), switches are failing and it steers like a newbie boxing the wake in a 2-33. We are probably going to replace it and the debate is: New vs. Used? Purchase vs. Lease? Gas vs. Electric? Any advice will be welcomed but probably ignored.

[George Underhill]

Our club has three EZGO gas carts to tow gliders and a trailer on a grass field.  They're older, 1995-1999, but have been fairly reliable over the years.  The 295cc Robin engines can be tough to get certain parts for.  The newer EZGO's (2007+?) have Kawasaki EFI engines but I have no experience with them or their reliability.   Yamaha also sells gas carts.  

I'd go used if cost is a major factor.  I'd also go with an EFI equipped engine.  

George 

On Mon, Nov 24, 2025, 08:59 Mark Mocho <markm...@gmail.com> wrote:

OK, that probably got your attention, but I'm not talking about motorgliders or even cars. Our club (Albuquerque Soaring Club) has been using an electric golf cart to tow out gliders and our Operations Trailer for many years. The cart is getting pretty old and worn out, the batteries are fading (and have been replaced several times), switches are failing and it steers like a newbie boxing the wake in a 2-33. We are probably going to replace it and the debate is: New vs. Used? Purchase vs. Lease? Gas vs. Electric? Any advice will be welcomed but probably ignored.

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[Richard Schwemmer]

I have used both types. Both have advantages and disadvantages.  I would speak with your local golf course and get their opinion.  

Rick Schwemmer

44 060 Sweet Bush Lane

La Quinta, Ca. 92253
(760) 574-5945

rmsch...@gmail.com

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[John Johnson]

I hope this thread picks up more responses.  Our club is also considering cart decisions.  We currently have 2 gas carts and we're lucky to have a mechanic member who has been handling the maintenance.  

My take on our gas carts:

 - Does the job: anchors the flight line (carrying weights, cushions, ropes, timekeeper stuff, etc), towing gliders, basic field transport

 - Noisy, smelly, and smoke a bit

 - Seem to have 2-3 down-for-maintenance events a year

 - Pretty cheap to fix: Volunteer mechanic, $600 for a new Harbor Freight replacement motor recently, lots of cheap chinese parts online

 - Club members abuse them - run out of gas, rarely check oil, tire pressures go low, etc.  Basically, our carts get ignored until they break.

My assumptions regarding electric carts

 - Tough to justify the purchase when a few hundred bucks seems to revive our crappy gas carts when they break

 - No gas to fill, no oil to get low - just tire pressures.

 - Would want LFP not lead acid batteries

 - Quiet, no smoke (assuming the batteries don't ignite)

 - Less routine maintenance but probably not cheap when something breaks

 - No problem keeping them charged on our field

I don't golf, what do golf courses buy new these days?  I figure they would have a good handle on what works best.

JJ

[John DeRosa]

We have two electric and one gas.  We favor the electrics.

The electrics are slow but pull the gliders best at walking speeds.  

We replace batteries about every 3-4 years.

We replaced the mechanical throttles to electronic recently.

The gas is fast but hard to throttle back to walking speeds.  Its just made to go fast, not slow.

- John (OH M)

[christopher behm]

Can you change the gearing, John?

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From: rasp...@googlegroups.com <rasp...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of John DeRosa <jhde...@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, November 24, 2025 5:03:25 PM
To: RAS_Prime <rasp...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [RAS_Prime] Re: Gas vs, Electric

 

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[Roy Bourgeois]

We have had pretty good luck with the Yamaha Rhino 700  here in Africa.  Easy to fix, rugged, automatic transmission with high and low range. 

Can be fitted with a trailer ball and strong enough to pull a trailer.

[John DeRosa]

If you are speaking of changing the "transmission" gears to help the gas golf cart 

move slower (walking speed) at a higher engine speed - I have not done that but

It maybe possible. The problem with our gas cart when trying to throttle it down to walking

speeds is that it struggles to pull heavier gliders smoothly, if at all. 

The battery ones have no such problem.  Lots of smooth power at low walking speeds.

Note: We operate (own) a grass strip, not hard surface.

John (OHM)

[christopher behm]

Yep. Actually I pictured a chain and sprocket where it might be easy to do, but maybe that simplicity is wishful thinking. 🤔 

All our golf carts are electric at the club i fly with. 

And yes, no problem towing gliders with them, even though they are quite old. 

We installed a solar panel bank on top of our storage container about a year ago and have been reaping the benefits with charging the carts that way. Almost free money. There's that to add for the electric carts vs gas also. 

Respectfully, 

Chris Behm 

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From: rasp...@googlegroups.com <rasp...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of John DeRosa <jhde...@gmail.com>

Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2025 7:50:09 AM
To: RAS_Prime <rasp...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [RAS_Prime] Re: Gas vs, Electric

 

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[marc schneider]

Over the years (+/-20) our club progressed from G to G&E to only E.  We are happy with them, plenty of power, tree huger friendly but what I like is the silence, one can talk, not yell to your wing runner and vice versa.  Some carts have a practical flip down back seat.  One overnight charge will last the entire following day. 

[Dan Kvinge]

Our club has two 20 yr old gas, and one 10 yr old electric.   We’ve been babying the electric and only using for people or single place gliders for fear of over-stressing the motor drive current, but based on what I’m hearing nobody has had a problem with electric towing.   

The electric has 10 yr old lead acid batteries that we will swap for an LFP kit this spring.   We’d love to hear opinions on the best LFP conversion kit to buy too.   We too really appreciate the quiet of electric and ability to talk to wing runner.

[Ryan Bluestein]

My club has 4 electric "club car" brand golf carts. I think they're all over 20 years old. As of right now, I believe 2 of them have been upgraded from the original lead acid battery and accompanying motor to a newer lithium (I think LFP) battery bank and accompanying motor.

They work well when the ground is dry/hard and when driving on asphalt. Once the dirt gets a bit soft from rain, they have a hard time pulling the heavier gliders unless you give it a good running start.

Sometimes, they will have a hissy fit about going slow and have this loud shuddering. I think it's a belt slipping or something but I am not sure. I suggested we start replacing the carts earlier this year but was overruled in favor of replacing all of the lead acid packs and motors with whatever type of lithium pack.

Since I've been on the board at my club, we have been sending our carts out to a local shop for maintenance. I seem to recall we've spent maybe a few thousand dollars across all 4 fixing the issues that have been ignored for quite a while.

Ryan

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[Tom Seim]

I own an Evolution electric golf cart. You can probably buy a new one this time of year for under $7k, used for less. I have owned mine for about 2 years and like it.

Tom

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On Mon, Nov 24, 2025 at 6:59 AM Mark Mocho <markm...@gmail.com> wrote:

OK, that probably got your attention, but I'm not talking about motorgliders or even cars. Our club (Albuquerque Soaring Club) has been using an electric golf cart to tow out gliders and our Operations Trailer for many years. The cart is getting pretty old and worn out, the batteries are fading (and have been replaced several times), switches are failing and it steers like a newbie boxing the wake in a 2-33. We are probably going to replace it and the debate is: New vs. Used? Purchase vs. Lease? Gas vs. Electric? Any advice will be welcomed but probably ignored.

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[David S]

Our club has learned from hard experience that, for electric carts, the batteries fail quickly unless you keep them properly watered.  Top them off at the start of every weekend.  And that won't happen unless you make it easy.

Invest in a watering system (see picture).  You dip the fill line into a jug of distilled water, squeeze the bulb, and fill all the batteries at once.  Each cell has a float valve that stops the flow when the cell reaches the proper level.  When all cells are topped off, the bulb gets hard and you can't squeeze it anymore.

It might cost you close to $200, but a set of 6 Trojan batteries might cost $1500.  The watering systems are commercially available from many sources, including Trojan.

Cheers,

   ...david

[Tom Seim]

I would convert your lead-acid batteries to lithium. Costs have dropped dramatically for lithium golf cart batteries. Here is one for less than $800 (less than what a set of lead acid batteries would cost!):

Amazon.com: OGRPHY 48V Lithium Golf Cart Battery Conversion Kit, 200A BMS(1000A Peak Current), with Touch Monitor and Retention Strap, 4000+ Cycles 48V Lithium Battery with Charger Perfect for Golf Carts(102AH) : Automotive

Tom 2G

[Michael Opitz]

Does anyone have any real world feedback to give on these Chinese LiFePo golf cart batteries?  At this price we are interested,  but my brother has opened up various 12V China manufactured Lithium batteries only to find used cells and other contents that would provide a maybe 4 AH battery compared to the label claiming that it was a 10 AH battery.  They were mislabeled at best, if not sold fraudulently as new.  I don't know how many of the positive Amazon reviews are faked.  There are enough one star reviews to make me wary.

Mike Opitz

RO

[Richard Schwemmer]

If you have a golf course near you,  check with their maintenance crew. The crews will have most of your answers 

Rick Schwemmer

44 060 Sweet Bush Lane

La Quinta, Ca. 92253
(760) 574-5945

rmsch...@gmail.com

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[Eric Greenwell]

I think your concerns are reasonable, and I share them. I suggest the LiTime brand, as it's one of the brands favored by people on the RV group I monitor. It's reasonably priced during Cyber Monday (week-long event!), and might be even cheaper ordered directly from them.

Eric

[Dan Daly]

There is an excellent YouTube channel, "DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse" which has exhaustive testing of LiFePO batteries, among other things. He gets them, tests their capacity, tests the battery management system for maximum current draw, low temperature charging, and then he takes a oscillating cutter and checks the cells, construction, wire gauges, etc.  If you have a battery brand you want to know about, spending an hour, go to the channel and watch a thorough check of it.  He does comparisons, and shows rejects, ok, recommended, and relative price. I use LiFePO 12v batteries to inexpensively extend the runtime for my small home battery power station (Bluetti), to run essentials in the more frequent power outages in my area.   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7bvIB2TPsCjs5Fol7oDwE0k40bpXZBQs 

[Tom Seim]

Here is a Youtube video on how to modify a golf cart from Pb-S battery to LFP:

Bing Videos

Here is the battery on Amazon:

Amazon.com: CHINS 48V Lithium Golf Cart Battery, 48 Volt 100Ah LiFePO4 Battery, Built-in Bluetooth 200A BMS, Includes 48V 18A Charger, Monitor, Perfect for Golf Carts : Sports & Outdoors

This also includes the charger.

Tom 2G

[Tom Seim]

Here is a direct link to the video, which gives you all of the battery and tools links (I hate how Bing hides this!):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI7H-b6n4SM

Tom 2G

[Mark Mocho]

Thanks for all of the advice and suggestions. The Albuquerque Soaring Club has decided to purchase a 2016 Yamaha 48 Volt electric with maintenance-free lead-acid batteries from a local dealer (Masek Rocky Mountain). The cart looks brand new, and has been refurbished with a new body, wheels and tires, new windshield and new batteries.

[Mark Hawkins]

Mark,

Thanks for doing all the work and research to get this in place and done!  VERY much appreciated!!

-Mark

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[Colleen]

When are memorial services for the old cart? 

Honestly thanks MM, you have done an amazing job keeping the old cart alive not to mention maintaining the bling like tow rope wheels. 

Colleen

[Bill Hill]

👍

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