Battery Powered Golf Cart

Hi everyone,
I have a question, On my Club Car I have 6 batteries they are 8 volts a piece making the golf cart 48 Volt, it was converted before I bought it bay a golf cart dealer. is there any Reason why i cant just replace the batteries with 4 12 volt batteries and wire them the way they are wired now and will it run the same way, maybe be about 60 pounds lighter. Is their something i am missing with this battery thing?

I would think 48 volts combined is 48 volts no matter what battery is used? I am looking online but not getting a definitive answer

I have done that before but make sure you use a deep cycle battery. My $.02 worth anyway.

Yes you can do that, provided the batts are charged as a single 48 volt battery without any taps in the circuit at points lower than 48. Similarity there might be taps for lights (?) at 12 volts that you would need to address of course, then again electrically it might just be a 48 volt circuit period.

The real downside of what you are contemplating is capacity. That lost weight is lost capacity. You also need to ensure you stick with deep cycle batts as it’s not charge-as-you-go like a car.

Interesting to say the least. Its a golf cart used for around the neighborhood never really taken to far. it does have lights and I want to add turn signals and brake light kit. the local police officer asked me if i had brake lights and turn signals for just running around the neighbor hood. he mentioned that a officer having a bad day could give me a citation. so would the lights have ill effect on the batteries other than the draw when using them?

It’s not a huge issue, you just need to ensure the lower voltage branches in the circuit remain intact as you convert over. Likely this is going to require some wiring mods as you are now connecting 4 batts instead of 8.

You ARE sure this is really a 48 volt system (8x6 wired in series) and not a 12 volt system wired in parallel right?

Don't worry about the extras, the charger will not cause problem

I've got an 08 Club Car Precedent at our place in Myrtle Beach, and it has four 12 volt batteries in it. I bought Trojan brand batteries for it, and they were $700ish bucks. Regular old boat or camper deep cycle batteries won't live long in a golf cart. I changed mine myself, and saved on the R&R charge they sock on you at the golf cart place. They are some heavy sonofaguns, so be ready for that! Good luck.

I can see the cop's point if you drive it on the roads. This is mine - mainly for swapmeets BUT I do use it around the neighborhood BUT I stay on the sidewalks like the mobility scooters do.

As for the batteries, you really want the proper batteries for that. Gel packs are best but more expensive. I've seen some good prices on Ebay and on Amazon.

I put LED bicycle lights on the front and back of my mobility cart. Very bright. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bicycle-Fr...-Taillight-Night-Trail-Set/121578029983?

I would double check how the charging system is set up.

At least with LiPo batteries for RC planes/drones, they have a tap going to each battery so that one "cell" isn't charged more than the rest, and they can be balanced to stay the same.

The batteries in the cart may not be as susceptible to that though

You can run the 4 12 volts no problem, it will reduce your run time substantially though as the 12V batteries don't have near the reserve capacity of the larger 8V Batteries. For just putz around trips it should be fine. If you wanted to cover much distance though you will probably be disappointed.

Should have bought a gas cart.. cheaper all the way around.. if I run my gas cart like normal I
can get 4-6 months on a tank of fuel.. my mom use to have a electric cart and the battery price
was crazy so I sold that and got her a gas cart

If you use one all the time the electric is better, less maintenance, less problems. But few people use them that much. Being in the battery business I try to sway people from buying battery carts for things like lake houses, or for the grandkids etc. They just won't see enough use to make the batteries last, those same people come back later and ask why the batteries only lasted 2 years lol.

We are required by the campground to have an electric cart, so we really didn't have a choice. I agree with what you said about batteries not lasting with only limited use. That's why I run the snot out of our cart when the wife ain't in it with me at the beach...lol. It will run 25 mph, so I mash on it good when I can get away with it. I don't know if that helps the batteries or not, but it makes me feel better!