My First Buggie a 2011 Yamaha Drive/PTV

[Sevin]

Yesterday I picked up my first golf cart, a 2011 Yamaha Drive/PTV 48v. The cart has a pretty interesting story as it was owned by EzGo. They purchased it to do R&D work and make sure they weren't impinging on patents. When EzGo was done with it, they sold it to an engineer and that's who I got it from. The thing is almost new, it still has the knobs on the tires. I really liked the fact that it wasn't a fleet vehicle.

I do have a few questions that I hope I can get answered. I am very new to this so please excuse the n00b questions. What do I call this thing? G29, Drive, PTV? The first accessories I'd like to add are the charge meter and rear view mirror. Should I go with the Yamaha OE charge meter or another unit like a Curtis? Any of the rear view mirrors better than others? I've attached a picture of the speed controller, it has a line that "PTV Speed Code", does this mean that it should be able to do the ~19mph? I've used the GPS on my iphone and it indicates 15mph on flat ground.

Thanks for the help!!

[cgtech]

Yamaha prefers you to call it "The Drive", or "YDRE" (Yamaha DRive Electric), but i have seen it reffered to as a G29 in their parts literature. The OEM yamaha energy meter is a curtis meter with a yamaha logo on It (part number JR1-H351C), but an actual volt meter available from Scottyb would be nice too. The curtis meter requires 3 wires to hook it up (pack-, pack+, keyswitch+). Some YDREs have a plug (covered in heatshrink) under the cupholders to facilitate easier installation. If yours doesnt, no worries, you already have everything present under the cupholders to install it. The PTV speed code indicates it should be able to go 19mph, if it doesnt, a dealer should be able to tweak the settings so it will go 19mph. A popular choice for a mirror is a "Rallye 5-panel" mirror, it gives great field of vision, and is pretty easy to install (comes with brackets and screws, but we usually make nicer brackets). Any other questions, fire away, i have worked for a yamaha dealer for over 7 years.

[Sevin]

Wow GTech, thanks for the information. I think I will go with the ScottyB meter. I took a peek below the cupholders and found the heat shrunk connector you are talking about, I think at least. There's also another wire bundled taped up with red tap, any idea what this is for? Can the ScottyB meter be run off the heat shrunk connector or shoudl I go straight off the battery pack?

You spoke about the controller being able to be tweaked, what adjustments can be made by the dealer?


Thanks again for all of the info.

[cgtech]

Hmmm. Dont remember whats in the red tape. The black heatshrink is the one for energy meter. I have never installed a Scottyb meter, i make my own (but i dont sell them). It should hook up easy. The parameters i can adjust in the stock controller are... Speed up to 19mph, and from very little to strong regen braking. also has diagnostic codes, miles, hours, amp-hours.

[Sevin]

I've noticed that there are special brackets just for the Drives to install the 5 panel mirrors. I cannot find any good measurements for these mirrors. Are they typically more narrow or wider than the canopy frame?

[YamahaCRN35]

The 5 panel mirror is more narrow. The brackets for the mirror come down and in from the inside of the roof strut. All the golf cart places sell them and every one I've seen is the same width. I'm pretty sure the same place in china makes them for everybody