Golf Carts.
A Necessary Transportation
System on Golf Courses
A
golf cart is a transportation system not seen in
sports other than golf. This article looks at the
reason that golf carts are used for the sport.
Golf is a competitive sport in which players hit a
ball with a club from hole 1 to hole 18 to put the
ball into the hole cups while trying to keep the
number of strokes at a minimum. At a glance,
golf seems to be a static sport, but to cover eigh-
teen holes in a round, players must move around
six kilometers in a period of three to four hours,
which requires quite a lot of energy. Also, be-
cause the players must carry heavy golf clubs in
a bag, they usually receive help from caddies as
well. After the invention of the automobile, golf
carts are introduced as a sport.
Eco-Friendly Golf Carts that Complete Eco-Friend-
ly Golf Courses
- The Evolution of Golf Cart Power Source: Gaso-
line > Lead Storage Battery > Lithium-Ion Battery
From a man-powered handcart, a golf cart has
evolved into automotive forms, using various
chemical fuels such as gasoline and diesel. Such
fuel sources, however, created noise and exhaust
smoke, which took away from the beauty of golf,
which is that it is a sport played in nature.
After fossil-fuel-powered engines, golf carts be-
gan using lead storage batteries. Like electric ve-
hicles, golf carts powered by lead storage batter-
ies consist of a motor and electric power source
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PHOTO:
Club Car Tempo
only and not an internal-combustion engine. This
gave a big advantage because noise and exhaust
smoke were not a problem anymore. However,
because lead storage battery carts had lower
power output than their predecessors, it was
difficult for them to climb golf courses with steep
slopes. Also, maintenance was an issue, because
lead storage batteries are prone to oxidization
of sulfuric acid, which requires regular injection
of distilled water. Corrosion, too, was considered
to be an inconvenience that plagued this form of
golf cart battery.
In the next stage of golf cart battery evolution,
lithium-ion battery was developed. The new type
of battery now had high power output and did
not require frequent maintenance work. Lithi-
um-ion battery only has the weight one-fifth of a
lead storage battery, which serves the most im-
portant function in the golf course: not damaging
the grass. Also, the new battery makes it easier to
steer handles in golf carts and has a power out-
put as high as gasoline engines, which allows it to
easily climb steeper slopes. Furthermore, winter
weather is not a problem for lithium-ion battery
because its low-temperature output and charge
efficiency are excellent, and another advantage
of the battery is that it has twice the life cycle of
lead storage battery even without special mainte-
nance other than regular charging.
Golf Cart Becomes a New Market for Lithium-Ion
Batteries