5 Most Common Questions about Lithium Golf Cart Batteries

Lithium golf cart batteries have been gaining popularity and may eventually become the standard. They have so many advantages over lead-acid batteries that more and more people are making the switch. If you’re just starting your research into lithium batteries, you can read about all the benefits here.

If you’re not ready to get into all the details yet, this article will walk you through the answers to the five most common questions about lithium golf cart batteries.

Over the past few years, I’ve answered the same questions for customers over and over again. If you’re looking into lithium batteries for your golf cart, there’s a good chance that you’re also looking for the answers to these same five questions.

Let’s dive into each one, so you’ll feel more confident in making the switch.

1. How Long do Lithium Golf Cart Batteries Last?

One of the main advantages that lithium batteries have over the traditional lead-acid ones is that they last at least twice as long. There are many factors that go into why and how lithium batteries last as long as they do. I’ve gone into great detail to explain it all in a previous blog post that you can read here.

Without overwhelming you with the details, I’ll give you a brief summary. When talking about rechargeable batteries, you may have heard about their cycle life. Lithium batteries get between 2,000 to 5,000 cycles. In comparison, lead-acid batteries only get between 500 to 1,000. That’s a pretty significant difference!

What this basically means is that if you were getting four, or maybe five, years out of your lead-acid batteries before you needed to replace them, you’ll get closer to ten years with lithium batteries.

2. What’s the Maintenance Like and How Long Can I Leave Them Sitting?

New technology can be intimidating. If you’ve always owned lead-acid batteries, then you’ve had plenty of experience taking care of them. Or at least you know how often you need to take them in for maintenance if you’re not doing it yourself.

The good news is that you don’t have to learn anything new to care for lithium batteries. In fact, you don’t have to know anything at all since these batteries don’t require any kind of maintenance.

Gone are the days of adding water, checking acid levels, and cleaning corrosion. The only thing you have to do for lithium batteries is charge them.

Quite a few golf cart owners are snowbirds and only use their golf carts for half the year. The other half of the year, these carts sit unused at their summer home. Unfortunately, this means that when those customers go to use their cart again, the batteries are dead.

That’s because lead-acid batteries lose 33% of their charge every month they’re not in use. Those batteries are already dead after just three months. With lithium batteries, you’ll never have this problem again.

Lithium batteries only lose 2-3% of their charge in a month. You could leave it sitting in your garage for a year, and you’d still have 75% battery when you came back!

3. Can I Use My Old Charger?

When you purchase a lithium battery conversion kit from Patriot Power Source, you’ll receive everything you need to make the switch, including a new LiFePO4 charger. You won’t need the old one anymore.

In an emergency, some lead-acid chargers can work for lithium batteries as long as they fall within the correct voltage parameters. This is not recommended for prolonged use.

There are many problems that could potentially arise from using a lead-acid charger. While there are some workarounds, it’s best to use a LiFePO4 charger to ensure high performance and longevity.

4. Can I Switch Out the Batteries on My Own?

You can absolutely switch from lead-acid batteries to lithium batteries by yourself. The lithium battery conversion kit you’ll receive from Patriot Power Source will have everything that you need. Our lithium batteries are drop-in ready, making the process smooth and straightforward.

For more in-depth instructions on how to make the switch, you can read a previous blog post here, where we walk you through the conversion. But, all you need to do is remove the lead-acid batteries and replace them with lithium batteries. Then, reattach the cables and secure the holding bracket. It’s as simple as that!

5. Will Lithium Batteries Work in My Cart?

The short answer is yes. All the batteries here at Patriot Power Source work on any 36V or 48V cart on the market.

However, upgrades to the motor or controller, along with other accessories, can change your cart’s adaptability to a lithium conversion. More technically speaking, our batteries max out at 300amps of draw power, which is far ahead of the industry standard of 200.

If you aren’t sure if your cart is a good fit, give us a call. We’re always happy to talk through it and figure out if lithium batteries will work for you.