Do you do lithium conversions on golf carts?

Yes. Parkland converts electric golf carts from lead-acid batteries to lithium. If you already run a fleet on a New Zealand course, hotel or property, you don’t have to buy new cars to get lithium power. We take the old pack out, fit a lithium system, check the electrics and show your team how to charge it.

That is the short answer people ask us at the counter, and it is the one that matters. The longer answer is about whether conversion is the right move for your carts, because a tired chassis with a new battery is still a tired chassis, and a cart that already spends half its life in the shed will not suddenly become a different machine. We will tell you if the conversion is worth doing, and we will tell you if you would be better buying a lithium cart instead.

Parkland has supplied and serviced turf and golf equipment to New Zealand courses since 1988. Call the team on 0800 807 333 if you would rather talk it through.

What the conversion actually involves

A lithium conversion is a workshop job, not a battery swap in the car park. The old lead-acid batteries come out first, which is the messy part: they are heavy, they need handling properly, and the tray they sit in is often the bit that has copped years of corrosion. Our technicians then fit the lithium pack, wire it into the cart’s electrical system and run a full check so you are not sending a cart back into service with a loose connection or a charger that does not talk to the new battery.

Once it is in, we walk your team through charging and day-to-day use. Lithium doesn’t want the same habits as lead-acid. You don’t water it. You don’t leave it sitting flat. You do plug it in when the day is done, and you treat the charger as part of the cart rather than an afterthought. That handover is as important as the hardware. A conversion that nobody on the crew understands will get used like the old system, and then people wonder why they aren’t seeing the benefit.

The work is done through our lithium golf cart conversion service. If you want the cost and ownership case in more detail, we have already written that up in is lithium battery conversion worth it for golf carts.

What changes once the cart is on lithium

Lead-acid has done the job on golf courses for a long time, and plenty of fleets still run it. The catch is the daily grind: watering, terminals that corrode, carts that feel strong at 9am and tired by the back nine, and a charging routine that eats evening hours. Lithium is lighter, holds voltage better through the day, and charges faster, so the same car spends more time in use and less time on the charger. For a busy club or a hotel that needs carts ready again after a short turnaround, that is the difference you feel first.

You also drop a lot of the maintenance that used to sit with the greenkeeping or facilities team. No topping up cells. Less corrosion in the battery bay. A pack that is built to last longer than the lead-acid set it replaces. None of that makes lithium free, and the conversion still has a real cost up front. What it does is move the spend from drip-feed battery replacements and downtime into a single job that, on the right cart, pays back in use rather than in a brochure.

It is not the right job for every car. If the body, wiring or controller is already on the way out, putting lithium under it is polishing a machine you are about to retire. We would rather say that in the workshop than take the work and have you unhappy six months later. Browse the golf carts we sell new if the honest advice is to replace rather than convert.

Convert what you have, or buy lithium new?

Conversion makes sense when the cart itself is still sound: frame, suspension, steering and body all have years left, and it is the battery that is holding you back. Yamaha electric fleet and PTV cars we already look after are the obvious candidates, and we also see plenty of other lead-acid electrics come through the workshop. If you are unsure, bring the cart in or send us the model and year and we will tell you what we can do with it.

Buying new lithium is the cleaner path when you are adding to the fleet rather than rescuing it. A Yamaha Drive2 PowerTechLi PTV, a lithium Toro Vista, or a Tara Roadster arrives as a lithium machine from day one, with the charger, battery management and warranty sitting together. Conversion is for the cars you already own and still trust. New lithium is for the cars you have not bought yet.

Common questions

Can you convert a petrol golf cart to lithium? No. Lithium conversion is for electric carts that currently run lead-acid batteries. A petrol car is a different drivetrain. If you want electric or lithium, you are looking at a different vehicle, not a conversion of the petrol one.

Do I need to change the charger? Yes. The conversion includes getting the charging set-up right for the lithium pack. The old lead-acid charger is not something you keep using on the new battery.

How do I start? Call 0800 807 333, or use the conversion service page to get in touch. Tell us the make, model and how you use the cart, and we will tell you whether conversion is the sensible job or whether a new lithium car would serve you better.