I recently acquired a Gem E4 NEV vehicle. NEV = Neighborhood Electric Vehicle. Pretty much a golf cart that is street legal in 50 states on roadways that are marked 35MPH or less. The Gem comes with (6) 12v lead acid batteries arranged in series and a 72v 5hp electric motor.
We live about 1.5 miles from a nice little downtown area that has a lot of outdoor restaurants and wine bars. Primarily would like to use the Gem to cruise over there for dinner and cruise back. Also, a quick run to the local grocery store or pharmacy would be really easy in the Gem.
I purchased the Gem inexpensively because the batteries are shot. My idea is to replace them with (6) 12v Lipo 100 Ah batteries. Finally I get to my question(s):
I would like to have two ways to charge it. Normally, I would just like to arrive home and plug it into a solar array that is just dedicated to the vehicle. That should suffice most of the time. But, I'd like to also have the ability to plug it in if I need to charge it more quickly or on non-sunny days. The Gem's have an oem charger on-board that was designed for the lead acid batteries. Would this be sufficient for my lithium batteries? What would you recommend for a solar charging system - something that may help to keep the batteries well balanced? Thanks in advance for thoughts and ideas.
We live about 1.5 miles from a nice little downtown area that has a lot of outdoor restaurants and wine bars. Primarily would like to use the Gem to cruise over there for dinner and cruise back. Also, a quick run to the local grocery store or pharmacy would be really easy in the Gem.
I purchased the Gem inexpensively because the batteries are shot. My idea is to replace them with (6) 12v Lipo 100 Ah batteries. Finally I get to my question(s):
I would like to have two ways to charge it. Normally, I would just like to arrive home and plug it into a solar array that is just dedicated to the vehicle. That should suffice most of the time. But, I'd like to also have the ability to plug it in if I need to charge it more quickly or on non-sunny days. The Gem's have an oem charger on-board that was designed for the lead acid batteries. Would this be sufficient for my lithium batteries? What would you recommend for a solar charging system - something that may help to keep the batteries well balanced? Thanks in advance for thoughts and ideas.
