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A well-maintained golf cart battery should last a maximum of 5 years before it conks out. But because we can’t always avoid insults to the health of our batteries, this life expectancy can become much shorter. Poor charging habits and frequent use can shorten the life span of your golf cart batteries, requiring a replacement before the 5 year mark.
Fortunately for electric golf cart owners, the market for golf carts has seen a major revolution in recent years, bumping up electric carts as the more popular choice. With that, the market has also been showered with a plethora of accessories and replacement parts for them, making them easily accessible to most buyers.
Buying golf cart batteries can seem like a walk in the park because they’re so widely available. But with so many different choices, you’ll find it’s actually pretty confusing to settle on just one choice with so many in front of you. So which ones are the best golf cart batteries that are really worth your hard-earned money? Read on to find out.
How can you tell if a golf cart battery is a good choice? What factors affect its performance, and ultimately, your satisfaction? Not everyone has the technical know-how on batteries to be able to tell when a specific choice is good enough. So many buyers often feel apprehensive when faced with their choices.
We’re here to tell you that you don’t necessarily have to be too afraid to dive in and check the selection. Why? Well, there are only two main factors that you should really be looking into if you’re thinking about battery quality. The first is the manufacturer, and the second is warranty.
Let’s face it – a golf cart battery is a delicate automotive part that carries a large responsibility. Essentially, a battery will be the piece that brings your golf cart to life, so you wouldn’t want to take risks with an iffy manufacturer just because they offer cheaper choices.
Only trust well-known brands and avoid buying into budget options just because they’re easier on the pocket. A good golf car battery should cost you a pretty penny, and that’s okay. What you’re after is a reliable battery that will prevent problems in the future.
Secondly, look into the warranty. This pretty much goes hand in hand with the first consideration anyway, as reliable brands tend to offer much longer warranty coverage with their batteries because they’re that confident in their products’ quality.
Electrical golf carts can vary depending on the voltage of their electrical drive system. These days, the most common are 36 volts and 48 volts, but there are some exceptions that push up to 72 volts.
That said, batteries also tend to have different voltages in order to meet these different golf cart needs. These include 4 volts, 6 volts, or 8 volts, which are arranged in groups in order to meet the electrical drive system voltage of the cart.
There are industry standard arrangements for battery groups in a golf cart. This helps make it easier for buyers to determine which ones they need and make the necessary replacements.
Thirty-six volt batteries are typically arranged in in groups of six 6 volt batteries, totalling 36. On the other hand, 48 volt electrical drive systems can be arranged in one of two ways – either with six 8 volt batteries or four 12 volt batteries.
If you’re trying to figure out the electrical drive system of your golf cart, consider looking under the hood and locating the battery. Once you find it, count the number of holes you see, and multiply that number by 2. Each of the holes represents a “cell” and is equivalent to two volts.
Once you have that, multiply that number again by the total number of batteries you can see. So if there are 3 holes multiplied by 2 cells, you’ll come up with 6 volts. If there are 6 total batteries multiplied by the number of volts, you’ll get 36. If you’re looking for the best 8 volt golf cart batteries, you should see four holes per battery and a maximum of 6 batteries.
Golf cart batteries can either be lithium ion or lead acid. As the newer technology, lithium ion batteries tend to be much more efficient at providing power and are easier to maintain.
To give you a better understanding of how these batteries match up against one another, here are a few points on some of their features.
Usable Capacity Limitations – If you find a lead acid battery that boasts an 800 amp hour capacity, you should expect to only get a maximum of 50% out of it. Using up much more than that could result to long term issues, and may reduce the lifespan of your battery.
Lifespan – The lifespan on a lead acid battery usually runs between 500 and 1,000 cycles. So once you reach that mark, you should expect dips in performance or the need to replace them all together.
Absorption Charging – The last 20% of a lead acid battery needs a little extra time to fully hold, unlike the first 80% which can efficiently be charged in bulk. This means that if you end up unplugging your cart before the last 20% has fully charged, you may deal with shorter battery life.
Expanded Usable Capacity – Compared to lead acid batteries, lithium ion batteries have a much larger usable capacity. This means that unlike the former, these batteries can be used at up to 85% of their rated capacity.
Longer Lifespan – Lead acid batteries tend to survive only up to a maximum of 1,000 cycles, however lithium ion batteries can sustain up to twice that number. In fact, some high-end units can survive up to 5,000 cycles, making them a much better investment than lead acid alternatives.
Efficient Charging – Without a 20% absorption phase that occurs at the end of the charging cycle, lithium ion batteries can charge much faster than their lead acid counterparts. With the right charger, you may also be able to achieve fast charging which limits the chances of overcharging.
It’s easy to see that lithium ion batteries are the better choice between the two. So why do people even bother with the lead acid choices? First off, some golf carts, especially older models, aren’t always adapted to accommodate lithium ion batteries.
Secondly, lead acid batteries are significantly more affordable, so people with a limited budget often don’t have a choice. What’s more, lithium ion golf cart batteries aren’t too common, so it will take quite a lot of effort to find them on the market or to purchase them online.
Our research has led us to find that the Trojan 6 Volt Battery T-105 offers the best bang for your buck. These Trojan golf cart batteries are equipped with 6 volts, and an amerpage of 225Ah, which puts them right in the middle of industry standards.
These deep cycle batteries are powerful, durable, and easy to maintain despite being lead acid batteries. On top of that, they aren’t as easily damaged by overcharging, so users tend to feel more confident that they won’t conk out when they’re left charging for too long. These batteries have often been mentioned in Powerton golf cart battery reviews because they are some of Trojan’s best performers.
Finally, the brand itself is pretty prominent. They offer reliable and responsive customer support, and are quick to reply to buyers seeking after sales assistance. So if you want to buy a battery from a company that won’t leave you hanging once they’ve got your cash, Trojan is a good choice.
If you’re looking for best battery for golf cart use at an affordable cost, the Mighty Max ML35-12 12v 35Ah Sealed AGM Battery might be right up your alley. These 12v batteries are powerful and reliable, holding a charge for longer hours than most batteries in the same range of the same caliber.
What we like about the Might Max ML35-12 is that they’re durable, and they don’t require quite as much maintenance as most other batteries. Despite that, they’re very easy on the pocket and the company offers exceptional after sales support for all of your questions and possible complaints.
Designed to provide hours of seamless performance, the ExpertPower 12v 33Ah Rechargable Deep Cycle Battery makes it on the third spot in our list of the best batteries for golf carts. They’re reliable and powerful, much like our previous choices, and the also come with exceptional durability.
Of course, there are reasons why it came in third. Firstly, the batteries need quite a bit of maintenance and frequent distilled water refills which can be tedious. On top of that, after sales support isn’t the best. But all thing soncsidered, the battery itself isn’t disappointing.
Those batteries will breathe life into your golf cart – so choose wisely. To avoid suffering a dead cart in the middle of the course, make sure you choose nothing short of the best golf cart batteries which we’ve listed in this complete guide.
Our ultimate choice? The Trojan 6 Volt Golf Cart Battery T-105. Not only is it powerful enough to keep your cart going the whole day, it’s also a reliable brand that’s guaranteed to help you with all your concerns after you make your purchase.
