Lithium Golf cart batteries

[cjnfiremn]

I found this ad for lithium battery packs. Has anyone ever tried this set up? it seems mighty costly, and im sure you would have to have a different charger. What do you all think?

Think about it, no watering or worse for getting to even check the water in your batteries and ruining them. Best case if the batteries are taken care of is about 5 years.A lithium battery pack system never needs water,no corrosion, weighs less than one lead acid battery and will last more than 20 years. The cost is more but your done with wondering how much more will lead acid batteries be the next time in about 5 years. $2995.00 installed with a 10 year warranty.

[shadowman]

over the years since i have been a member here there have been 100,s of threads about batteries and what are the best for a cart and the easiest to maintain, weight, which ones gave you more runtime all those sorts of things and the lithium batteries were also included in some of these 100,s of topics......now i know nothing about lithium batteries and for all i know they could be the very best out there but i have to say there must be a reason that 99.9 % of carts are still out there running on your traditional lead/acid golfcart batteries and they are the ones that all cart makers and dealers as well as consumers are still jumping to buy..................i,m not putting lithium batteries down i,m just giving an observation from my years here reading threads about battery comparison...................................

[scottyb]

The cost of Lithium batteries stops them from being popular. I can buy 2 or 3 sets of lead batteries for the same $. My charger does not work with lithium batteries either. It may be the way of the future, but it ain't here yet.

[El Camino]

I think lithium batteries will be great! PQ said their next drag cart will have lithium batteries. Probably, cart makers have not gone there yet, is because of the cost increase on the retail sell price on their carts, and in this economy they would be shooting their self in the foot. But you can bet they are ready to pull the trigger on this. The run time and maintenance would be so much better. Isn't lithium batteries what the car companies are using? Myself, I hate acid batteries, so when the time comes to be able to use lithium batteries, I will start the trips to the blood bank to raise the money to get my set. Seriously, I am glad to see this coming, I just hope that most of the electronics are compatible.

[Absolut Yak]

A123 Lithium- nanophosphate cells are amazing. Four D-cell size batteries can start your car. They recharge in 15 minutes. Checkout YouTube video of their Killacycle drag bike hitting 155mph in the quarter-mile. These Li-Nano batteries are the future of electric. I have used these extensively in my giant scale radio control planes worth more than my cart. Unfortunately, A123 Systems has just hit the news as a government supported company filing for bankruptcy.

[Absolut Yak]

YouTube - KillaCycle New Record 7.86 @ 169 MPH Bandimere Speedway NEDRA event

YouTube - KillaCycle New Record 7.86 @ 169 MPH Bandimere Speedway NEDRA event

169mph 1/4 mile run!

[simple man]

Originally Posted by Absolut Yak

A123 Lithium- nanophosphate cells are amazing. Four D-cell size batteries can start your car. They recharge in 15 minutes. Checkout YouTube video of their Killacycle drag bike hitting 155mph in the quarter-mile. These Li-Nano batteries are the future of electric. I have used these extensively in my giant scale radio control planes worth more than my cart. Unfortunately, A123 Systems has just hit the news as a government supported company filing for bankruptcy.

I saw a segment on " Nova " about them. The oil companies probably pulled the plug on their funding so we all wouldn't go out and get electric vehicles! The batteries are just awesome! They put everything we have now to shame!

[cmar143]

There are a couple types of lithium batteries. The ones I'm familiar with ate lithium polymer since I run them on my model helicopters. I use 2- 6 cell lipos in series to make up 50V and they are capable of discharging 250a constant. They are powerful and can be fully charged in 20 mins but can't be discharged below 80%, don't do well in heat and can be spontaneously combustible if left charged for long period of time. Lithium batteries are a great source of power but like others have said they are pretty expensive.

[sho305]

China is buying the one here in MI that made batteries for the automakers, another big government deal swept under the rug. They are a partial investor in it. Looks like China will own all the battery and solar places if they were not smart enough to move there first, like GE did. GE has way more employees in China than here.

LI batteries are not that easy to charge, it must be controlled via electronics. Try to use a normal charger and they go boom. They also generate a lot of heat when discharged quickly....or shorted out as GM found out. Remember a few years ago when laptops were blowing up and Sony recalled all the batteries they made....

They are getting better all the time however. Its a matter of cost, you don't use them unless you need the compact size and weight savings like in a car. Can't you guys buy a pack of gel batteries, they are lighter, and yes cost more lol.