Motorised buggies – Look after your batteries! 

Thousands of golfers walking the fairways of Australia’s golf courses are enjoying the benefits provided by a motorised buggy. 

No pushing or dragging golf bags up and down the hills on a pull cart or carrying the bag putting additional stress on your body, motorised golf buggies help navigate the golf course, doing all the proverbial heavy lifting for them. 

Motorised buggies have become a feature at many courses across the country where walking is preferred by the members and visiting golfers, however of late there has sometimes been a less-than-positive narrative around lithium batteries, the popular choice in today’s motorised buggy models. 

But it doesn’t have to be that way, with proper care and responsibility eliminating, or at the very least minimising, any risk of an incident occurring. 

Like electricity and water, lithium and water doesn’t go together, also the charging conditions play an important part in battery safety, which means to stay safe there are some basic, yet vital rules to follow. 

A dominant player in the motorised buggy industry in Australia and America is MGI, a Melbourne based company providing and selling their products to golfers all around the country as well as in a number of international markets. 

MGI and their CEO Carrie Edwards-Britt are proud of the products they produce, but also aware of the importance of proper buggy and battery care and maintenance.  

“It’s around quality product and education, and as the market leaders in electric golf buggies we want to make sure everyone is educated and safe,” Mrs Edwards-Britt began. 

“We take battery care and safety seriously. We strongly believe that people don’t need to be worried or scared about lithium batteries, however they have to be equipped with the correct information on how best to care for their battery”

“Lithium technology have many positive features, and it’s not going anywhere, so understanding and caring for your battery is important and will give you peace of mind.” 

For her own knowledge, Edwards-Britt went to the extreme of going to the source to ensure best practice when it came to the lithium batteries being installed in their MGI buggies. 

“I went to our battery supplier in China to gain a better understanding of lithium and if there is a safety issue, what can we do to mitigate that.” she explained. “There are many battery suppliers, however we understand the importance of the quality of the lithium and product, so we choose to make products of the highest quality. 

“Our battery supplier has a high reputation, produces quality products for other industries and takes pride in their products. Although our products are all tested to safety standards, at the at the end of the day, it really does come back to the golfer and how they use and charge the product.” 

Lithium is a powder which is mined and converted into cells. Depending on how many cells is how much power the battery might have. Lithium is the battery of choice for many different products and industries, including mobile phones, electric cars and solar power in naming just a few. Lithium batteries are said to be cleaner, better for the environment, and they last longer than those to have come before and if properly cared for and under normal circumstances a lithium battery in a motorised buggy can last an extended period. MGI offer a three-year warranty.  

However as suggested, lithium doesn’t mix well with water, with the deterioration of the cells often gradual rather than immediate.  

“As soon as the water is in contact with the lithium battery cells, that’s when they can start to become unstable,” Edwards-Britt said. “That doesn’t mean the battery explodes right there and then, they would rarely do that, it’s when electricity is put back into the battery, that it becomes more of a risk. The more times you charge it, you increase the risk of fire.” 

Which is where better education around care and buggy maintenance comes in, if carried out as suggested and recommended by the manufacturer, the risks are significantly reduce, and in most circumstances removed. 

With water the ‘enemy’ to electric buggies, MGI have included water indicators within their buggies to help mitigate risk.

“During normal rain, normal wet weather golfing conditions the water indicators don’t activate, but when they do it means they’ve been submerged in water, and the battery should not be connected to charge again. People need to be aware of the risk, and if they have an unfortunate incident where their buggy or battery is submerged in water, they should stop using the buggy immediately and take it to a repair centre for review.” Edwards-Britt added. 

“Water damage is only one element to be aware of. Another is the importance of the charging conditions of the battery and charger. We advise not to use extension cables or power boards when charging lithium batteries. Also, it is best practice to remove the battery once it is fully charged, and not to leave it connected to the charger for long periods of time.” 

Edwards-Britt acknowledges Sorento Golf Club as being leaders in the industry by storing lithium batteries for their members buggies in a purpose-built fireproof charging cabinet, “it mitigates risk by housing the battery and charger within the cabinet yet still offering their members a chance to play a round with an electric buggy.” 

“It’s important to me and to our company, that is doesn’t matter what brand you use, you need to be safe by understanding your role in caring for your battery,” Edwards-Britt added. 

“We do love the game of golf, and believe our products help enhance your golfing experience. Our electric buggies are powered by lithium batteries which are safe and reliable if you follow our care instructions and maintenance guidelines.”

See the next edition of Inside Golf for a detailed list of key tricks and tips to keep your motorised buggy serviced, safe and helping you to enjoying your golf.

Service means safety 

An MGI buggy can be serviced at one of their 97 service outlets or repair centres located in all major cities around Australia. MGI also have a service van which visits clubs and major retail stores to do onsite servicing. 

“But this isn’t just about MGI, it should be about having any motorised buggy regularly serviced and the service centres look after other brands as well,” MGI offered.