What to Know About Voltage and Amperage in Golf Cart Batteries

If there is one thing that can be overlooked when looking at an electric Golf Cart’s batteries, then it would have to do with determining voltage and amperage in golf cart batteries– essentially the difference between 36 Volt on up to 48 Volt systems. The reason understanding their differences is so important is due to the large expense of replacement batteries. By knowing their differences ahead of time, you will be able to decipher which battery pack is suitable for you when making your golf cart purchase.

Voltage in a Golf Cart Battery Pack

First, we are going to take a close look at Voltage in a battery pack and what that determines. For comparison purposes, we like to take a look at the automotive industry since we all our familiar with horsepower and MPG. Therefore, Voltage in a battery pack inside of an electric vehicle has to do with power. It does not have to do with fuel. Therefore, voltage in a battery pack within a golf cart will be comparable to the horsepower in a car. With this knowledge in place, we can determine a 72 volt system can be more powerful than a 48 volt system, and a 48 volt system can be more powerful than a 36 volt system. If you took notice, we said that it “can” be more powerful. The reason for this is due large in part to the controller inside the vehicle. A controller determines how much Amperage is delivered from the batteries to the controller. What does amperage have to do with a battery pack? Let’s discuss.

Amperage in a Golf Cart Battery Pack

Volts is great to know, however the true knowledge lies with the total amperage in a battery pack. To get a better idea of what amperage is like in a car, let us discuss the relationship between Horsepower and MPG. Horsepower within a car determines the acceleration and power of your car. If there is no fuel in the car though, then the vehicle is not going to go anywhere. That is the importance of MPG and also how big your gas tank is in your car. It determines how far you can travel before having to fill up the tank. Well, Amperage in a golf cart is like the gas tank in your car. It will determine how far you can travel on a single charge in an electric Golf Car. The more amperage in a battery pack, the further you can drive before having to charge.

Click here to learn how to determine the age of golf cart batteries.

The Importance of Distinguishing your Battery Pack

Now that we understand the differences between Amperage and Voltage, we can begin to break this down so we can locate the differences between various battery packs. For standard golf carts, we will typically see a Six Eight Volt Battery System. This can be visually determined by locating six batteries with 8 cells per battery. A cell is distinguished by a battery cap that is used for watering the batteries. With batteries used in Golf Carts, each cell will represent 2 Volts. Let’s take a look at the 5 most common battery packs we see in the market:

*Battery Amperage calculated using Trojan Batteries at a 20 Amp-Hour Capacity Rate

Now, that we have broken this down, we want to make sure we iterate that top speed, acceleration, and other parameters will alter travel distances. Therefore, we calculated mileage distances off a standard 19.9 MPH calculation and an acceleration rate of 20 MPH within 10-11 seconds.

With our chart, we can see the variety of uses for each battery pack. The best battery pack to use in terms of power and range would be an 8-6 Volt Battery pack. However, if you have determined the Golf Cart will be driven less than 5 miles per day, than you can have your pick of battery packs. Keep in mind though that a standard 18 holes of golf ranges between 5-7 miles per round.

We hope this information helps you become more educated about the differences between all these battery packs and how they affect you. If you have any additional questions, please comment below!