Tell Me More: Electric utility vehicles

The familiar golf cart, good for hauling around two to four golfers and their clubs, has taken on a new role as the utility vehicle. Instead of just touring around the links, these versatile machines are ready to work, with larger engines, higher suspensions, knobbier tires, and bigger payload capacities. They’re used for landscaping at colleges and office parks, as well as for hauling tools and parts around manufacturing plants. For most of these uses, electric utility vehicles are an excellent choice.

Electric utility vehicles use a bank of standard lead-acid batteries to run an electric motor. They’re designed to be used all day then recharged all night: at the end of the day, you plug them into a standard power outlet. Some brands also support “opportunity charging,” which allows you to simply plug in the utility vehicle whenever you’re not using it. The two most common power choices are 36 volt or 48 volt – in most cases, a 48 volt model provides better performance. You may also find 24 volt and 72 volt models, but they’re less common.

This type of utility vehicle has greatly increased power and range over models available five or ten years ago. Features like regenerative braking, which helps recharge the batteries as it slows or goes downhill, help increase battery life. This increases their flexibility in non-golf situations, but for two- or three-shift operations, you’ll need a model that allows for an easy change of batteries when one set runs out.

A distinct advantage of electric utility vehicles is their cost to operate: it can be five or 10 times more expensive to operate a gas model. Especially for businesses buying several vehicles, this alone can be enough reason to choose electric utility vehicles. Another deciding factor for many businesses is indoor use: emission-free electric utility vehicles can be used indoors, gasoline engines can’t.