Picking The Proper Amp Hours for Your Cart / Common Misconceptions

By Benjamin Brewington, Engineering Lead

When picking your cart’s new battery, you want to ensure that you will get the performance that you desire as well as a long-lasting investment in your product. With these goals in mind, picking the correct battery is relatively simple provided you are willing to do some minor research. If you do not wish to, then skip to the bottom of the article and reference the chart.
 
To start you will need to know your voltage requirements for the cart. This is critical to determine what product lines are available and what amp hour you can choose from.  If you have lead acid currently, you may also need a voltage converter to run any 12-volt systems on the cart such as a radio, lights, or phone charger. Select the proper voltage for your cart. Now you may notice that you selected a 48V battery, but on the top of our battery, it says 51.2V. This is completely normal; this allows for a slight speed gain and efficiency increase due to the nominal pack voltage being a few volts higher. 

With your cart voltage picked out, next you need to pick your AH. The AH or Amp Hour is the capacity of the battery. The size of the battery works somewhat like a gas tank. The larger it is the farther you have the potential to go. However, that does not mean you can or should undersize, as you can damage your battery in such a way it is not covered under warranty. Think of the battery as a fuel tank that needs to deliver a large amount of fuel at once upon acceleration. If you have already drained some of that tank, when you press the accelerator pedal, the rapid inrush will drain the cell voltage (or deplete the tank momentarily) at which point the BMS (Battery Management System) will put the battery into protection mode, shutting off your cart. If you undersize your battery you may only make it to the end of your street! 
 
To properly pick your AH, you need to know your speed controller amp rating. This can be found via the controller model number and a quick google search. If you are having issues locating your amp rating, you can call our knowledgeable sales staff and receive recommendations. When you know your speed controller rating, the next item you want to factor in is your desired range. When doing so, think of your driving area. What is the terrain like? Do you live where there are lots of hills or are you on more of a flat ground where you will hit top speed and just cruise? Next, factor in the load of the vehicle. IE: is the vehicle lifted, does it have oversized tires, how many seats or potential seating positions are there? Often, we hear customers say they have a two-seater then later in the conversation say they have a rear seat kit installed, your 2-seater with a rear seat kit is considered a 4-seater. Thusly increasing the potential weight capacity of your cart.  All these variables factor into the potential load of the cart. The more you can load your cart down, the more you are subjecting the battery to additional amperage draw for potentially longer than you think. The cart is most efficient at slow, part throttle consistent cruising, and top speed full throttle where you are not using surge amperage attempting to accelerate. With all these factors in mind you can select the proper amp hour battery. 

Starting with our rugged Drop-in series, these batteries are extremely versatile as they can be wired in parallel allowing you to put 3,4,6, or more in your vehicle. The ability to add 30AH with each additional battery you can quickly build a bank to suit your 2-seater neighborhood cruiser, to your 4x4 Polaris. Combine all of that with our newest application, and you can connect to 8 batteries at once to monitor them all on the same screen! A great rule of thumb regarding drop ins for the average cart is; However many passengers you can carry is the minimum amount of batteries you should have.  

Next in our line-up are the commercial line of batteries. These batteries combine a small overall package and high AH into one unit, lessening the additional wiring needed for multiple drop-in batteries. They also feature our CANBUS communication port. Which allows for our battery to communicate with our replacement ICON gauge cluster, and to communicate with NAVITAS controllers. We offer our 48V commercial line in 65AH, 105AH, 160AH, and 210AH.  

A fresh install of our 48V 105AH Commercial Battery

The 65AH battery should be relegated to only stock or light duty carts, that drive on flat terrain and seat only 2 occupants. If you step outside of these recommendations. You can potentially run into issues that are not covered under your warranty.   

The 105 AH is what should be considered the rugged base model of the commercial line up, our engineering team have put these batteries though one heck of a beating and they still come back asking for more. I would recommend these batteries to anyone with a 2-seater, or 4-seater, provided the speed controllers are no more than 400 Amps. 

Next up we have the 160AH, the heavy-duty midrange. This battery is a powerhouse! This unit is perfectly paired with Navitas controllers and larger carts such as a 6-seater. Put two of them in parallel in a Polaris ranger for maximum range. I recommend this battery to anyone who can fit it into their cart.  

Lastly, our heavyweight packs a punch! Pushing the boundaries of the battery tray, this unit comes in with the whopping 210AH rating. This battery will keep you going and going while your friends are stopping for a charge. I recommend this battery to anyone who has the want for long run time in their golf cart. With such a sizeable battery, installation is best handled by a dealer.  

In conclusion, picking the proper battery that is best suited to your cart includes some factors often overlooked. However, if you take these into consideration, you will be much happier with the performance of your cart and your newly acquired Allied Battery Product.  

P.S. Charge your battery before and after each use for best results! 

Recommenced AH Table