How to make your electric golf cart faster? For many different applications, it is useful to increase the speed of your electric golf cart.
Whether you wish to make it street legal, or just to increase its speed for more thrills on your private property, there are many ways to upgrade your golf cart. Some methods are easier than others, and some more expensive or cheap.
However, we cannot stress enough that you should not attempt to modify your golf cart yourself because there is a serious risk of injury or fatality. We are not responsible for any issues that may arise, no matter how serious. You always need to do your own research, and consult the relevant professionals, such as electricians, mechanics, and more. Let the professionals modify your golf cart for you.
How To Make Your Electric Golf Cart Faster?
On the market, most electric golf carts are capped at a maximum speed of 20-25mph. However, with the 7 methods described down below, you can effectively increase that maximum speed by a large margin.
7 Best Ways To Make Your Electric Golf Cart Faster
1. Upgrade your golf cart motor
The electric motor is the powerhouse of your electric golf cart; it is the key piece that initiates the rotation of your cart wheels.
To increase the speed of your golf cart, you need to increase the rotation speed of your wheels; this is done namely by upgrading your electric motor.
To upgrade your electric motor for a more powerful one, choose a motor with higher rotation speed (unit: rpm) and torque (unit: N*m).
However, swapping your electric motor is one of the more expensive ways to upgrade your golf cart speed. You will likely spend 1000$ or more to upgrade your electric golf cart motor. When making your golf cart street legal, this is often a mandatory upgrade.
2. Modify your golf cart tires
Over time, your golf cart tires will deflate slowly, and that can slow down your golf cart progressively. If you want to speed up your golf cart, verify the pressure (unit: PSI) in your tires.
Slightly deflated tires reduce efficiency and make the golf cart slower. To illustrate this point, imagine a golf cart riding on 4 donuts instead of very hard (fully inflated) tires. The harder your wheels are, without risking them breaking, the more efficient your wheel rotation will be in providing speed.
Furthermore, you can modify the size of your golf tires. In fact, larger golf cart tires will cover more distance for every rotation of the engine shaft, thus increasing your golf cart speed.
Unfortunately, this speed increase will also reduce your torque, since it changes the diameter ratios. A decrease in torque means that it will be a bit harder for your golf cart to get in motion, starting from a standstill.
Increasing your golf cart wheel size can be a great, economical way to increase your golf cart speed, but it may likely require the installation of a golf cart lift kit. If you wish to learn more about golf cart lift kits, and what to do to get one installed, read our article: How to Lift a Golf Cart? – Lift Kits Explained.
3. Install a higher-powered golf cart battery
Another way to increase the speed of your electric golf cart is to choose a battery with a higher voltage (unit: volts) rating.
Since electric motor speed is directly proportional to voltage, getting a golf cart battery with a higher voltage will increase your electric motor speed. Buying a more powerful battery can be a great method to improve your electric golf cart speed.
4. Change your gear ratios
Gear ratios are the differences between the diameters of the input and output gears of the golf cart differential. Thanks to the gear ratios, for every few turns of the engine shaft, the golf cart wheels will turn once.
Most golf carts on the market have a differential gear ratio nearing 12.5:1. This means that for every 12.5 turns of the input motor shaft, the wheels turn once.
Since the gear ratio controls how many revolutions of the wheels you get for every revolution of the motor shaft, changing the gear ratio will affect the golf cart speed. Lowering the gear ratio will increase the speed of your electric golf cart.
For example, you could lower the differential gear ratio to something nearing 6:1, 7:1, or 8:1.
By lowering your gear ratio in the differential, you will feel your golf cart is going much faster than before, but it will have a harder time starting from a standstill because the lowering the gear ratio lowers the torque of the motor.
A 6:1 gear ratio would be a much more dramatic change in speed than a safer 8:1 gear ratio.
5. Clean your golf cart
The heavier your golf cart is, the more torque it takes to get it moving, and the more friction it exerts against the ground. If you have really heavy items on your golf cart that are not needed, remove them for a very small increase in speed.
Alternatively, although not very economical, if you have a big group, you could make everyone rent their own golf cart to remove up to 1000lbs from your golf cart weight. Considering a golf cart weighs around 1000lbs, you would be cutting your golf cart weight by half.
Furthermore, you need to service your golf cart wheels and axles. If you do not regularly clean your golf cart, dirt, mud & debris can get stuck in your golf cart wheels and axles, which will increase their resistance to turning initiated by the motor. Increased resistance means a decrease in golf cart speed.
By removing any sticky debris from the wheels and axles, you are optimizing how well the axles can slide in their sockets, thus optimizing your golf cart speed.
6. Improve your golf cart’s High-Speed Controller
If you upgraded your electric motor or battery, your golf cart’s Speed controller unit needs to be upgraded as well. The speed controller limits (bottlenecks) how much speed your motor or battery can actually provide the golf cart, if it is not upgraded..
You need to replace your current speed controller with a new speed controller that has an amperage rating (unit: amps) that matches the amperage the motor is trying to draw. If you do not do this, you will not reap the entire benefits of the upgraded motor and battery for which you shelled out hard-earned money.
Replacing your speed controller can cost around 750$, on average. There are less and more expensive options on the market, but make sure you buy a speed controller that is better than your current one.
7. Charge your golf cart battery
Make sure your golf cart battery is fully charged. Why? Electric motors powered by electric batteries become slower and slower as batteries lose charge.
To get the most speed out of your electric golf cart, make sure it is fully charged right before you take it out for a spin.
Conclusion
After reading this article, you have learned 7 ways to significantly improve the speed of your electric golf cart. These solutions should be more than enough to satisfy your speed needs, or increase your velocity to make your golf cart street legal.
We need to remind you that we cannot stress enough that you should not attempt to modify your golf cart yourself because there is a serious risk of injury or fatality. We are not responsible for any issues that may arise, no matter how serious.
You always need to do your own research, and consult the relevant professionals, such as electricians, mechanics, and more. Let the professionals modify your golf cart for you.
How fast are you looking to go in your golf cart? Let us know in the comments down below, and do not go overboard!
