Do Electric Golf Carts Have Governors?

If you have an electric golf cart that doesn’t speed the way you want it, you might look up ways to increase its velocity on the course. One of the most common suggestions in such contexts is to remove the cart’s governor. But do those even exist in electric carts?

Electric golf carts don’t have governors like gas carts. They have speed controllers that manage the power flow toward the motor. Since the controller isn’t the limiting factor in an electric cart’s speed, its removal doesn’t increase its speed.

In this article, you will learn how you can speed up an electric golf cart as well as the average maximum speed of golf carts. You will also find out whether electric carts are safe and what you can do to make sure you’re safe while riding or driving one. But first, let’s address the lack of a governor in electric golf carts.

What Does A Governor’s Job In An Electric Golf Cart?

A governor can physically limit the extent to which a gas pedal can accelerate a cart. Since electric carts’ speed architecture isn’t governed by how hard a pedal is pushed, a governor would not work in its setup.

A governor’s job is done by a speed controller in an electric golf cart. It is functionally the same as a governor but is different from the contraption in its method of operation. Since it controls speed instead of just limiting it, it cannot be removed to make an electric cart go faster. A gas golf cart’ speed can be raised significantly by removing the governor entirely.

Because such no-limits acceleration access is unavailable to electric golf cart owners, these carts are considered to be safer than gas golf carts.

Electric Golf Carts are safer than gas-powered carts because speeding is a common cause of golf cart accidents.

Gas carts are easier to accelerate by removing the governor, while electric carts require upgrades before their speed increases as much. That doesn’t mean electric golf carts are hazard-free.

Electric carts are battery-powered, which means they bear the risk of overheating and battery explosion.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s report documented 18,000 golf cart injuries in 2015. Over 17 years, over 148,000 golf cart injuries have been reported. That would average under 9,000 injuries per year, yet the latter years have more injuries than the years when gas-powered carts were the only ones around.

How Safe Is An Electric Golf Cart?

An electric golf cart is safe if you adopt safe driving best practices. It has good speed control and decent visibility. You can add reflectors to it to make it even safer.

The safety of an electric golf cart depends on whether you drive it safely. The potential for reckless driving is lower in electric golf carts than in gas-powered ones. Still, you need to practice safety measures on an electric cart. Follow the best practices below to keep yourself safe on an electric golf cart.

• Be squarely in the cart – Keep your legs and arms inside the cart. Any part that’s out is at risk of unexpected contact. 
• Stay seated – Do not stand up or change seats while the cart is moving. 
• Don’t reverse down a slope – Reversing downhill can make the cart flip over. 
• Be cautious on slippery grounds – If the ground is muddy or wet, you should not speed the golf cart.

How Can You Make An Electric Golf Cart Faster?

You can make an electric golf cart go faster by using higher-power batteries and upgrading its motor. Adding torque and using a controller with a better speed range can also speed up your cart.

Not everyone is equally open to the upgrades mentioned above. So here are the alternative steps you can take to improve the speed of your electric golf cart.

1. Reduce the weight on the cart – This requires no additional investment or upgrade. By reducing the weight of the cart, you can increase its mileage at the same speed. 
2. Add tires with better traction – Tires that grip the ground better push the cart further in fewer rotations, which leads to higher overall speed. 
3. Get a higher-performance clutch – The clutch upgrade costs money but is cheaper than a motor upgrade. You can bump up the speed of your cart with a better clutch.

What Is The Speed Limit Of An Electric Golf Cart?

Most electric golf carts have a speed limit of 15 miles per hour. An average cart tops out at that speed on the course, and its motor becomes its limiting factor. Since this limit is set by the cart’s motor, a higher-power motor can make a cart go even faster.

Electric golf carts can go at speeds as high as 20 miles per hour if their limitations are circumvented. In other words, these carts have the potential to be just as fast as gas golf carts.

But to access that potential, an electric golf cart’s owner has to take more steps than a gas cart’s owner.

By simply removing the governor, the gas golf cart driver has access to his cart’s highest speeding potential.

An electric cart’s owner has to upgrade his cart’s motor and get a complementing speed controller to access the maximum speed of his cart.

Are Electric Golf Carts Faster Than Gas Golf Carts?

On average electric golf carts are 5 MPH slower than gas golf carts, but with a few upgrades, they can have equal or higher speed than their gas counterparts.

Generally, electric golf carts are considered safer than gas ones because of their inherently nerfed speed.

If you don’t plan to make complicated changes to your cart, then the potential upgrades to your electric cart’s speed will remain inaccessible to you. In that way, electric carts have lower speeds than gas ones.

On the other hand, you can make an electric cart go even faster than a gas golf cart as long as you commit to it.

By leveling up the motor of your electric golf cart, you can increase its maximum speed to 40 MPH, which is not advisable for safety reasons.

Final Thoughts

An electric golf cart doesn’t have a governor that stops you from maximizing your pedal force. So, you can’t just take it off to increase your golf cart’s speed.

Instead, you can get better tires or clutch or upgrade to a higher-powered motor to add speed to your golf cart.

You can also reduce the weight on your cart to make it go faster, though the impact of this tactic isn’t as much as the upgrades mentioned earlier.