Golf cart battery charging, in reference to standard lead-acid golf cart batteries, isn’t always as simple as just plugging the cart in or periodically refilling the water levels of the batteries. However, optimizing the performance and getting the most life out of the battery as possible can require additional steps to make sure that the batteries are functioning the absolute best they can.
 Batteries in an Advanced EV golf cart with an onboard charger |
 Batteries in an EZGO golf cart without an onboard charger |
Golf Cart Battery Charging Algorithm
Most golf cart chargers use a 3-stage charging algorithm, consisting of a bulk charge stage, absorption charge stage, and finish charge stage. This algorithm determines how much power returns to the battery at various intervals, in order to make sure it is not undercharged or overcharged. During the bulk charge stage, about 80% of the discharged battery power will be recharged, usually taking around 4-8 hours depending on how low the battery charge was. The second stage, the absorption charge stage, the charge current slowly decreases until the 100% of the discharged battery power is recharged – however, this does not mean the battery is fully recharged. The final stage, the finish charge stage, slightly and safely overcharges the battery to account for efficiency losses. When using the right size charger, the battery is safely overcharged without damage.
In order to fully optimize the performance and life of lead-acid batteries, it’s recommended that the properly sized charger for the amp-hour (AH) capacity is used. The bulk charge stage of the charging algorithm should have a charge current of approximately 10% of the 20 hour capacity of the batteries, and the finish charge stage should have a charge current of about 3% of the 20 hour capacity of the batteries. The 20 hour capacity can be found on the battery’s sticker.
The voltage output of the charger should be sized to the number of cells connected in series in the battery pack. You find this by taking the number of cells connected in series times 2 volts per cell. A battery pack with 24 cells connected in series will use a 48 volt charger. The charger should also be able to provide an on-charge voltage of at least 2.6 volts per cell. A 48 volt charger for a 48 volt battery pack, therefore, should be able to provide at least 62.4 volts on a charge in order to completely charge the battery pack.
Depth of Discharge Meaning
When reading about lead-acid batteries, you may come across the term “depth of discharge”, or DOD. Simply put, the DOD refers to how much energy is cycled into and out of the battery on a given cycle, and is expressed as a percentage of the total capacity of the battery. For example, a battery that has been drained by 30% has a 30% DOD, and 70% of its capacity remains. It’s important to understand DOD because the more frequently a lead-acid battery is discharged and recharged, the shorter its lifespan will be. When the battery percentage gets down very low and is then recharged, this can shorten the life of the battery as well. To help with this, many battery companies recommend a 50% DOD. We have more on our 50% charging recommendation for our rental carts further down below.
Golf Cart Battery Charging Tips
When charging lead-acid golf cart batteries, it’s important to do it in a well-ventilated area. One of our recommendations is also to lift up the seat that covers the batteries – in 4 passenger carts, they are most often under the front 2 seats, and 6 passenger carts mostly have them under the middle row of seats – either before or directly after plugging in the charger. This is because when a lead-acid battery system is plugged in, as it begins charging, it can release hazardous fumes from the chemicals inside the batteries. Build-up of these fumes under the seats can be dangerous, so to avoid this, either leave the seat up as the batteries charge, or lift the seat and allow any possible fumes to clear out and ventilate before putting the seat back down.
Charge batteries as soon as possible after discharging. As a golf cart sits idle, even if it’s not on, the batteries will slowly lose charge, just like your phone might when it sits for a while without charging. Therefore, to keep your batteries charged and possibly increase their life cycles, plug in the cart after use and make sure to unplug the charger once it’s fully charged. Use the right sized charger to prevent overcharging as well. Check your electrolyte levels monthly and keep your batteries filled – use distilled or deionized water and cover the plates before charging, but don’t fully refill the batteries until after they are done charging to prevent overflow.
If storing your golf cart longer than a month, fully charge the batteries prior to storage. We have another blog with more on golf cart long-term self-storage, with additional tips for storing your golf cart on your own property.
Our 50% Golf Cart Battery Charging Recommendation
When renting one of our street legal golf carts, we always recommend that customers charge the batteries when the cart starts to get to around a 50% charge. Generally, during rentals, people use the carts during the day and plug them in overnight, and if the battery percentage doesn’t drop too low, most of the time the cart is fully charged by the next morning. When lead-acid batteries get too low, they take a much longer time to recharge back to 100% – depending on the cart, some lead-acid batteries can take up to 16 hours to fully recharge if the batteries were run down too low. Some carts, mostly older ones, won’t even respond to a regular golf cart charger if the battery is too low, and need to be supercharged – similar to jumping a car – before they can be plugged in to a standard charger. If the battery percentage is kept monitored and does not drop too far below 50%, the batteries will most often take about 6-8 hours to fully recharge. This is why we recommend plugging the cart in at night.
NOTE: Watch for Surface Charge
Sometimes, you may plug in a golf cart and after only a couple hours, the state of charge meter may say the cart is 100% charged. However, this is only a surface charge, meaning that it appears that the batteries are fully charged, but have not had a chance to deeply absorb all the power that they need. This cart will drive for a short time with regular battery charge decay, then suddenly begin to drop more rapidly if the battery has only had this beginning charging stage. To make sure the battery is fully charged: in our Advanced EV carts, the onboard Eagle charger will have a fan that comes on when the cart is plugged in, and when completely, deeply recharged, the fan will shut off. For carts that don’t have an onboard charger with indicators such as this, the charger will often give an indication with a light that the golf cart is fully recharged. NOTE: Not all chargers or carts make a noise when they are charging. The charger should give an indication with a light or something similar (a meter, for instance) that the cart is charging. To make sure the charger is working, you can always test the voltage of the batteries before and after charging with a voltage tester.
For more on golf cart battery charging, check out our page on golf cart chargers to learn more about how to determine the kind of charger that should be used on a certain golf cart, and read common troubleshooting tips. For a selection of golf cart battery chargers that we sell, check out our page on our Prime Cart Parts website, where we sell various golf cart parts and accessories.
These are easily the most common golf carts, and you’ve likely seen one or more either on a golf course, being used for security in a plaza parking lot, transporting passengers around a job or event site, and many other uses. They are not readily made to be street legal, so you’ll often use them for event transportation or campsites. However, they can be upgraded with the safety features required to become street legal, but they do not come standard with these.
Because they are so common, they are also incredibly easy to find parts for – we have a variety of accessories and replacement parts available for all these carts at our parts website, 
Our Advanced EV carts make up a large part of both our rentals and sales fleet, many of our street legal golf cart rental carts being Advanced EV carts. We offer various golf cart accessories for Advanced EV carts as well, including but not limited to: custom two-tone seats available in a variety of colors, many colors of custom steering wheels, locking dashes that are installed to create a locking compartment in the dash, black, white, and tan enclosures, a front or inner dash basket, and side nerf bars for 4 or 6 passenger carts. To see our Advanced EV accessories, along with our various other golf cart brands accessories, visit our 
The Advanced EV comes in a variety of colors, and comes with the standard features of: headlights, tail lights and brake lights, turn signals, horn, speedometer, odometer, state-of-charge meter, dual USB outlets, side-mounted rear view mirrors, heavy duty rust-resistant convertible rear seat/cargo platform with grab bar and foot rest, and 3 point retractable seat belts and grab handles for all passengers. A tinted folding windshield is also available. Many of the features listed above are required for a golf cart to be registered as an LSV, so with its multiple safety features and maximum speed of 24mph, the Advanced EV is ready to become registered as a street legal vehicle.
We have 
A DPI brand charger with EZGO SB-50 2-pin connector. Designed to be used on any 36 volt golf cart that uses the 2 blade SB-50 connector and charging port.
36 Volt charger for EZGO TXT, Club Car DS, and Yamaha golf carts, with crow’s foot connector. This is an automatic charger with a trickle mode that makes sure your batteries are not overcharged, which keeps them running stronger for longer. It is designed to turn off when the voltage reaches a certain level. Charging time is usually between 4-6 hours.
DPI brand 36 volt charger with a crow’s foot connector, for EZGO, Club Car, and Yamaha golf carts.
Fully automatic 48 Volt battery charger for Star golf carts. Comes pre-configured with a 48V style connector plug. Operates on standard household power. Made for overnight charging and features a trickle mode. 2 LED lights indicate charging status.
DPI brand 48 volt Star golf cart charger with Star 3-pin connector. Designed to be used on any 48 volt Star golf cart that uses the Star 3-pin connector and charging port. No spark charging; reverse battery protection.
48 volt Yamaha golf cart DPI brand charger for the Yamaha Drive or G29 from 2007 and up. Designed to be used on any 48 volt Yamaha golf cart that uses the Yamaha 3-pin connector and charging port.
DPI brand 48 volt Yamaha G19 G22 golf cart charger with Yamaha 2-pin connector. Designed to be used on any 48 volt Yamaha golf cart that uses the Yamaha 2-pin connector and charging port.
48 volt charger pre-configured with a Yamaha Nabson style connector plug. Made for overnight charging. Includes automatic LED charging status lights.
48 volt DPI brand charger for EZGO TXT RXV golf carts. Designed to be used on any 48 volt EZGO TXT golf cart that uses the EZGO 3-Pin Connector and charging port.
New DPI brand 48 volt Club Car DS/Club Car Precedent golf cart charger. Works with 1996 or newer models. Factory sealed box.
Delta Q QuiQ On-board 48 volt battery charger for golf carts with wet or sealed batteries. Completely sealed, the Delta Q golf cart charger is passively cooled without the use of fans, and can store up to user-selectable charge algorithms.
For any heavy duty 48 volt system, the Eagle is set up to charge efficiently and reliably every time. The charger has an integrated microprocessor to prevent overcharging the battery system, turning off completely once the batteries are fully charged. If batteries drop below a programmed voltage amount, the Eagle charger automatically reactivates to bring the batteries back to 100%, and can also adjust using an algorithm to compensate for temperature.
Both Roadsters have the same safety features required for golf carts to become certified and registered as low speed vehicles (LSVs), meaning that they can be driven on roads with a posted speed limit of 35mph or less. They have a maximum speed of 24mph, and come with headlights, taillights, brake lights, side mirrors, horn, and turn signals – features necessary to be registered as street legal. The frames of the Roadsters are made from rugged and corrosion-proof aluminum I-beams, and are also the only golf carts to feature a standard 4-wheel braking system, including the use of front wheel hydraulic disk brakes. With standard batteries, they can travel approximately 20 to 25 miles on a charge, and also have the option of upgrading to a lithium battery for a much longer range. We have a blog all about the benefits of upgrading to a lithium battery 
One of the most popular customization options is the colored hood flames paint job, right up there with the woody paint job, where the sides, hood, back, and grill trim are airbrushed with a wood-grain pattern – we have a blog about it 
Advanced EV parts also fit Icon® golf carts, and the 48 volt 
These three golf cart brands are among some of the most popular and most well-known, and we have many replacement parts available for all of them. Pictured right is the Club Car DS adjustable front and rear 
Between Jupiter and Riviera Beach – where our main store and showroom is located – is Juno Beach, right at the top of the Palm Beach Shores area on the beach. This area is filled with multiple golf courses, clustered right around Palm Beach Gardens. Golf courses and country clubs in and around Juno Beach include Seminole Golf Club, Lost Tree Club, and North Palm Beach Country Club. Off A1A are many access points to the beach, where you can park in a beach parking space just like a normal car, and enjoy the scenery of the beach. The golf cart is secured by the parking brake, either manually activated by stepping on the button on the brake pedal or pulling up a lever in the middle of the cabin (parking brakes vary by cart), or automatically activated if it’s an electronic brake.
Right by Boynton Beach is the Village of Golf, a small village built right on a golf course. Many more golf courses besides the ones clustered here can also be found in Boynton Beach, such as Westchester Country Club (open to the public!), Pine Tree Golf Club, and Indian Spring Country Club. Another nearby small town is Manalapan, a beach side community to which we’ve done several deliveries. Close by is Lantana, where our golf cart service center is actually located – if you’re in need of service for your golf cart, we can pick up and drop off once the work is done! Visit our 
Delray Beach is almost directly between two of our showrooms – our main Riviera Beach location, and our smaller store in Fort Lauderdale, and right below Boynton Beach. Golf carts are very popular in Delray – we’ve rented and sold many of our golf carts to customers in Delray. Interesting and noteworthy places to check out in Delray Beach include museums such as Spady Museum, with exhibits on African-American history, and Sandoway Discovery Center, a science museum where you can feed sharks and stingrays. Various nature parks lie along the side of the beach, and as mentioned before, golf carts can be parked in regular beachside parking spots just like a car. Several golf courses and country clubs are also dispersed throughout the city, such as Delray Beach Golf Club and Lakeview Golf Club. There’s even a miniature golf course for the kids – Putt’n Around right near Federal Highway (US-1).
Las Olas Boulevard: Allowed (and highly recommended!)
7th Avenue/Avenue of the Arts: Allowed
Broward Boulevard: Not Recommended
US-1: Not Allowed