Lithium battery for golf cart

When we got back to Venture Out, we uncovered our golf cart, checked the batteries, and started charging them. They were flooded cell lead acid batteries. We knew that they only had a limited life in the heat of Arizona, and had figured that we would need to replace them this season. They had charged up to about 80%, and we had an errand to run in the park, so we decided to drive the golf cart. We did our errand, and then were driving to the RV storage lot to see the parking space that we have been allocated in storage, when the cart suddenly died completely. I was watching the charge meter (fuel gauge) as we drove, and it was around 75% when it suddenly died with a very fast stop of the cart. We put it in neutral and pushed it home (getting all sorts of comments from fellow residents advising us that it was supposed to be carrying us... to which we responded that we were just taking our golf cart for a walk). 

Carl had been doing some research on what we could replace the lead acid batteries with, and had some criteria that he planned to look for. He found quite a selection of batteries on Amazon, with prices from about $700 to over $3000. It was hard to find any material differences between the $700 batteries and the ones over $3000. The $3000 batteries had a 10 year warranty, while the $700 ones had a 3 year warranty, but we figured we could buy the $700 ones 4 times over and still come out ahead. The $3000 ones included a kit, but Carl figured he could work out the components of the kit.

Under-seat compartment with four 12V lead acid batteries (at least one now dead)

Batteries removed

Support board installed

New 51.2V lithium battery installed

The new battery works great -- the cart is very peppy! We need to be sure we don't "floor" it as the speed limit in our community is 10MPH. So far, Carl hasn't gotten the 12V power figured out, so we don't have lights or horn, but I'm sure he will have that figured out soon!