The PGA Show and the Golf Industry Show, both held in Orlando this year, not 10 days apart, showcased a significant number of innovative products, refinements to standard models, and out-of-the-box new products. While both shows cover the gamut of golfing industry products, IUV magazine focuses for the most part on commercial and utility vehicles and the key components of such vehicles.
The continued advance of these vehicles is due largely to economy of operation, relative low initial cost, and capacity for adding refinements which are directed toward accomplishing specific, relatively narrowly-defined tasks. Whereas mass production is the hallmark of mainstream automobiles, low volume and diverse configuration is the key characteristic of utility and personal use vehicles. Generically speaking, the industry can be characterized as developing and producing small, task-oriented vehicles (STOVs).
Necessity Being the Mother of Invention…
With golf course closings virtually on a par with new openings, golf car manufacturers are faced with the reality of stagnation and perhaps even moderate decline in what has historically been their principal market. Thus E-Z-GO, Club Car, and Yamaha have all begun to push vigorously into utility and privately-owned (consumer) segments.
Yamaha’s The Drive, introduced at last year’s shows was, superficially, a highly refined golf car, but would serve as the basis of a new generation of vehicles in the utility and consumer-owned markets. Similarly, E-Z-GO’s RXV and Club Car’s Precedent, both introduced this year, serve the dual purpose to, on the one hand, maintain or advance market share in the hotly contested golf fleet market, and on the other, project a critical presence in consumer and light utility, commercial markets.
Dawn of the AC Era: RXV from E-Z-GO
E-Z-GO’s RXV (shown left) marks the first time a major golf car company has adopted an AC electric drive in their principal product line. The alternating current drive train, with a 48-volt motor, is more powerful and more efficient (up to 30% more efficient according to E-Z-GO) than a DC counterpart and has 10% more range. The AC motor was reportedly sourced from Iskra Avtoelectrika based in Slovenia.
To demonstrate the new features of the RXV, which are not confined to the AC engine alone, E-Z-GO erected a high-angled ramp and decline and put attendees in the driver’s seat to give the RXV a test run. The mini-obstacle course was designed to demonstrate, for example, an automotive-type A-arm front suspension for better handling and control.
In addition, the ramp, aside from showing the additional power of the AC drive, demonstrated the fail-safe park braking system of the vehicle. Pitched at sharp angle on the ramp a driver can simply leave the vehicle, assured that the vehicle will not take off backwards, and that, indeed, the parking brake has been automatically activated. The triggering mechanism is simply the relief of pressure on the “gas” pedal.
On the decline side of the hill, moving the foot off of the gas pedal similarly stops forward progress. Light pressure on the brake pedal going downhill engages the engine as a braking system, bringing the vehicle to a slow creep forward, with the driver maintaining full control. The engine braking system is also the source of regenerative power for the vehicle’s batteries. While regenerative braking is not new, per se, the current system is more efficient than its predecessors.
Additional features are the energy transfer bumpers on front and back. The shock absorbing bumpers have effectively insulated the vehicle from collisions up to five miles per hour.
It also appears that the RXV drive and platform will be adapted to the E-Z-GO Freedom, which is an inch away from a full-fledged LSV.
Upgrades Keep Club Car Abreast of the Competition
Club Car introduced a new drive system for its Precedent golf car line and upgraded and adapted the IQ Plus drive train to more of its utility and turf maintenance vehicles. The new Precedent now comes in the i2 and i2L versions, the latter adding certain luxury features to the standard model.
The new Excel™ drive system enhances the Precedent’s regenerative braking system, now allowing feedback to the batteries down to “near zero” speeds. This improvement could reduce energy costs by as much as 20%, according to the company. In conjunction with a new charging system, the i2 also reduces charging time and water consumption and allows the vehicle to stay on the course longer.
The i2 and i2L models can be programmed for seven speed settings, ranging from 8 to 19 m.p.h., four acceleration settings and 5 pedal-up braking settings.
The i2L version, close cousin to the Signature Series, is aimed at the personal owner market as well as the upscale club, offering such niceties as a soft-grip steering wheel, custom logo, accent striping, premium windshield, and canopy storage net. In addition, this version adds larger, 10-inch rims.
Club Car Utility Line Puts Emphasis on Electric Power
Club Car’s IQ Plus drive system is closing the performance gap between gas and electric power in utility vehicles. The success of the IQ Plus system has led Club Car to make the system available in a wider range of its utility and Rough Terrain vehicle lines. The system is now featured in two electric models in the Rough Terrain series and nine electrics in the Carryall line. Most of the electrics in Club Car’s utility segment have eight 6-volt batteries, rather than the four, 12-volt configuration in the Precedent. This gives the utility vehicle better range (up to 80 miles, according to Club Car) and power.
Club Car is clearly pushing electric, as in the words of Mike Packer, Vice President of Worldwide Sales: “Up until a few years ago, electric vehicles had their limitations when it came to some of the tougher jobs around the course, but by better managing the power coming from and being restored to the batteries, our IQ Plus vehicle are just as capable as gas vehicles in this class.”