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In summary, Lithium-ion advantages include… Easy charging, No “memory effect” Powerful for a Lightweight battery Contain no heavy toxic metals Generally speaking, lithium-ion batteries are a lot more reliable than the older battery technology such as “nicad” or nickel-cadmium. You never have to worry about Lithium-ion batteries suffering from the “memory effect” This is essentially a problem Nicad batteries have when they aren’t fully discharged (battery becomes harder to charge over time if you don’t fully discharge battery). Beyond that, Lithium ion batteries contain no cadmium (heavy toxic metal), so you could say they are better for the environment, though dumping any plastics or metals into landfills is never good. lithium-ion in cars Compared to your heavy rechargeable batteries such as car batteries (lead acid), Lithium-ion batteries are quite light considering the amount of energy and power they can store.

The first thing we should touch on is the charging speed. The Lithium Ion battery is going to charge much faster than traditional batteries. For example, traditional Lead Acid Batteries will need a solid 8 hour charge when completely depleted. Lithium Ion batteries are going to charge almost 80% of the battery in 1 hour, and can completely charge in 3 hours.

Lithium Ion batteries are going to last you a lot longer than traditional Lead Acid. The chemistry used in Lithium Ion allows for more charge cycles. You may notice that your lithium ion battery gets 3 to 5 thousand cycles in its life, where your traditional battery will only see 1,000 cycles max. So yes, and by a pretty significant margin.

Lithium batteries are very light compared to traditional batteries. Lithium Ion batteries can weigh anywhere between 70 and 100 pounds. Traditional Lead Acid batteries can weigh up to 330 pounds! If you convert your golf cart to lithium ion batteries, you could potentially lose almost 300 pounds of weight. This could increase ride height by a half an inch, and even help to increase battery efficiency.

If you are thinking you have to constantly watch water levels and continuously refill your batteries, think again. Lithium Ion batteries require zero water or filling, which means no more corrosion. This is a huge selling point for most businesses, venues, hotels, etc., considering all they have to do is plug them in for a charge and go. Another massive difference between Lead Acid and L-I is the charge depletion over time. What happens if you don’t touch or start your golf cart for a month? The traditional battery is going to lose almost 35% of its charge if left sitting for a month. A Lithium Ion battery on the other hand is only going to lose 3% of its charge in a month. So essentially you could leave your fully charged cart sitting in your garage for a year, and the battery will still be 75% charged. Pretty amazing stuff.

If you use a traditional Lead Acid battery, you’ve probably noticed how it can lose power the more you run it. As the batteries heat up and lose their charge, the power of the cart and the torque get lower as the battery charge depletes. Lithium Ion batteries work on full power all the time, no matter how much charge is left. This is very similar to your phone. If you have 50% battery or 2% battery, that golf cart will have the same torque and power.