GOLF CARTS – THE REAL AUTONOMY

13 Jan 2020

Golf carts are now necessary tools for the operation of modern hotel.

Golf carts are in use daily for many hours carrying passengers and cargo. An important feature of them is their autonomy, practically how many kilometers they can do with one bettery charge.

YOU CAN SEE HERE THE FULL RANGE OF ITALCAR ELECTRIC UTILITY VEHICLES

The autonomy of a vehicle is very important for its daily use. In nowadays the performance requirements of electric vehicles are high. They must operate day and night, on uphill routes and at full load. And certainly no one wants his electric vehicle to run out of battery in the middle of the day.

The real autonomy of golf carts is determined by 3 important parameters:

1. VOLTAGE OF DRIVING ELECTRIC SYSTEM

The 48V voltage is the most suitable for small and medium-sized golf carts (up to 8 passengers). At 48V, the correct performance of the vehicle is combined with the increased capacity of the batteries.

The 36V vehicles that used to be common, have now been overtaken due to the weakness of the motors, especially in high load conditions.

The 72V used by some manufacturers, necessarily have low battery capacity and increased overall weight of the vehicle.

2. BATTERIES CAPACITY

Batteries with total capacity of over 220 Ah at 48V ensure sufficient autonomy.

Batteries with a total capacity of less than 180 Ah provide reduced autonomy in the vehicle, especially when combined with high power and consumption motors.

3. ELECTRIC MOTOR POWER

AC electric motors with a power of 4.0 to 6.0 kW have been proven to ensure the sufficient performance of the vehicle without consuming excessive energy.

More powerful motors reduce significantly the autonomy, quickly consuming battery power.

Motors with lower power do not provide to the vehicle the necessary power for full load conditions. They are suitable only for small vehicles with limited load requirements.

THE MATHEMATICAL FORM OF AUTONOMY (OPERATING TIME)

Autonomy in golf carts is calculated by the formula: Voltage (V) x Capacity (Ah) / Power (W) = Operating time (h)

The resulting operating time corresponds to full efficiency with all motor power. Practically in a vehicle it is proportional to its maximum speed during the operating time.

EXAMPLE 1: 48V vehicle, with 230Ah batteries and 5.0kW motor power. Result of operating time: 2.21 h, ie with a maximum speed of 35 km / h … real autonomy 77.3 km.

EXAMPLE 2: 48V vehicle, with 170Ah batteries and 5.0kW motor power. Result of operating time: 1.63 h, ie with a maximum speed of 35 km / h … real autonomy 57.1 km.

EXAMPLE 3: 72V vehicle, with 160Ah batteries and 10.0kW motor power. Result of operating time: 1.15 h, ie with a maximum speed of 35 km / h … real autonomy 40.3 km.

It is necessary the batteries of the vehicle to be in a good condition and properly maintained, you can see here.

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