How to Determine the Age of Golf Cart Batteries

Have you ever wondered how to determine the age of golf cart batteries? Whether you are looking to purchase an electric or gas Golf Cart, it is good to determine the age and condition of the batteries. The simplest thing to do first and foremost when looking at the batteries is considering the age of the battery. The reason why we believe this is important is due to many consumers being misled as to the age of the batteries in the vehicle they are purchasing. At times, a consumer will be told by a private party or dealer that the batteries are brand new when in fact they are 3 to 4 years old. Take this picture for example:

These batteries look brand new and incredibly clean! This is typically a good sign, however, if we look closer, then we can identify the actual date of the batteries. All batteries will have some sort of stamp either on the terminal, sticker, or battery case that will indicate the age of the batteries.

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As we look at the stamp date for these batteries, we can determine they are from September of 2013. Now, how did we determine that? Well, our first letter indicates the month of the battery while our second digit determines the year of the battery. We see an I-3 in the above example. Since the letter “I” is the ninth letter in the alphabet, it gets pinpointed as being the ninth month of the year which is September. For the number 3 in the stamp, it is pinpointed to be the year 2013. Let’s make a layout for our months:

A – January

B – February

C – March

D – April

E – May

F – June

G – July

H – August

I – September

J – October

K – November

L – December

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With our layout for the letter according to our month, it will become easier to determine the age of the batteries once we find the stamp. So, if our stamp date found on a set of batteries is B-6, then this would mean our batteries are from February of 2016. Some people ask if whether the batteries could be from February of 2006. It is possible but highly improbable as batteries rarely last 10 years. If they did, then the likelihood of them working would be minimal and they would unlikely be clean.

Have questions? Ask them in the comments below!