QUESTION:
How can I get more run time out of my ’99 Club Car electric?
Don from Washington
ANSWER:
Assuming you have a 48-volt system you have a couple of options. One is to switch your battery pack to eight six-volt batteries. The other is to increase the capacity of the six eight-volt system.
The second option is to increase the capacity of the existing battery pack with exact size replacements. This means replace the six eight-volt T875’s with six T890’s. A T875 will have a rating of 117 minutes at 56 amps. A T890 will have a rating or 132 minutes at 56 amps.
To give you an exact amount of extra run time you will receive is hard to do based on motor size, tire size and car condition. Based on our testing with a six inch lift kit and 22″ tires, high speed and torque motor, and a rear facing seat. This is close to continuous duty driving. With a larger capacity battery system we see somewhere around an extra thirty minutes of run time. So you need to determine if the cost is worth it. As motor size and tire size decreases the amount of run time will increase. So as you can see application has a lot to do with all of this.
For a 36-volt system you will have a set of T105’s rated at 115 minutes at 75 amp load. You can upgrade to a set of T145’s rated at 145 minutes at 75 amp load. Upgrading the battery tray is not needed for the 36-volt system.
Things you can do to help run time are as follows:
1) Run the correct tire pressure as per manufacturer recommendations
2) Make sure there is not any mechanical binding or drag on the system
3) Make sure the front wheel alignment is per manufacturers recommendations
4) Make sure the batteries are being properly maintained and charged
5) Make sure the motor system matches the application
6) Make sure you never over discharge the battery pack beyond 80%
7) Make sure the batteries are not being overheated during the charge process
8) Make sure all of the cable connections are clean and tight
