2009 Yamaha The DRIVE® Electric

Manufactured by Hitachi, our electric motor is high quality, highly efficient, whisper quiet, and at 3.5 horsepower is one of the most powerful in the industry. It's internal components are nickle plated and stainless steel for corrosion resistance, and it even has its own internal solid state tachometer.

If we're going to be the only manufacturer building our own motor control unit, then we figured we might as well make ours the most advanced in the industry. It communicates with the battery charger—also Yamaha built and it's roll away protection feature slows the vehicle down and provides an audible beep if the brake isn't properly engaged. It's solid state electronics ensures smooth starts to avoid turf damage. Golf cars just don't come any smarter.

It extends battery life and rounds per charge by converting the motor into a generator to recharge the battery while the car proceeds at a regulated speed down hills, slowly and safely. If the parking brake is not properly engaged, the car will slowly inch its way downhill while it sounds and audible alarm to notify you and let you catch it.

Yamaha offers six 8-volt or eight 6-volt battery configurations to best fit your needs. The standard six 8-volt configuration provides dependable power that is less expensive to maintain. For courses that need extra range or for private car customers living in golf car communities that use their car to travel about town, the eight 6-volt configuration provides as much as 33% more range.

We're the only golf car manufacturer that designs and builds our own charger. Weighing in at just over 10 lbs., it's compact and light, uses less power out of the wall, and doesn't hum. It's solid state Field Effect Transistor (FET) design is completely electronic, not transformer-based like traditional chargers. It communicates and stores charging information with The Drive® motor control unit, and it won't overcharge.

How do you make a chassis nearly 20% lighter and 2.5 times stronger? We mated an automotive, ladder-style, 100% robotically welded steel frame, protected by an 18-step paint process, to a polypropylene structural floor. It's unique design provides added strength and protects the batteries and electrical connections.

The auto industry spent a hundred years getting this right, so why not use it? We gave it four cup holders to hold different-size cups; a center storage area for wallets, cell phones, and personal items; six ball holders; six tee holders; and a big, easy-to-clean storage compartment on each side.

How could we dream of powering our car with anything less than the most reliable, longest-lasting batteries in the industry? Trojan Batteries also come with one of the industry's best warranties: 4 years or 1,000 rounds.