Can someone tell me how to get my GEM to go about 10 mph faster. I have heard about Ride-4-Fun and others sites that will reprogram and also send you a new motor. I have also read the other answers on this forum but still confused.
Will it go faster just being reprogrammed? Or do you need a motor plus reprogramming?
If you need a motor is there a cheaper option than the $900 from Ride-4-Fun?
If you add lithium and reprogram will it go faster without a new motor? If so can you provide a “budget” lithium battery link or how much would this cost?
Thanks - its a 2002 GEM with new tires and new (but basic) batteries.
Any links to specific products would be appreciated.
Ted
Just start reading this forum. All of your answers are here.
Add battery to your stock pack, convert to high voltage lithium, more powerful motors, reprogramming and the motor magnet are all ways to achieve close to what you’re looking for.
Spend some time reading and searching. It’s all been done before.
I am going w a d and d 700 11 hp motor and then reprogram.
I have heard this is enough to get it higher speed
Sorry $700 dollar d&d motor upgrade
Depending on your tires, cart weight and gears, that will get you a few mph. The thing that will make the most difference is shedding weight and adding voltage.
Look up @Old_Houseboater 's 7th battery hack. Cheap, easy and works. Probably the best bang for the buck speed upgrade at $150.
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inwo’s magic magnet will get you more top speed for just over $100 . Lithium upgrade will give you more speed , distance and performance then a R4F motor . My Gems will all do over 40mph with a stock motor .
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Unless you have recently purchased new batteries, aside from trying the magic magnet, I don’t believe there is anything that will open more doors to performance than a lithium upgrade. Sheds ~ 400lbs, increases voltage for more speed and power and gives you range and lowered maintenance. I have the blue motor and its great, but the lithium is the heart of the system and I was hitting 40+ with the stock 5HP motor
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I was sitting at a stop sign today and got yelled at by somebody in a car that must be from my neighborhood to “slow it down some around here”.
Lithium is clearly the way to go according to that guy.
But have you raced a Tesla?
I have.
It ended about the way one would expect.
Then it’s obvious! You need a Tesla powered Gem.
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So how big are those batteries, Dave? I do have the truck model. Lot’s of space above and below…
He asks meekly, weighing the options of becoming the next ̶i̶d̶i̶o̶t̶ scientific pioneer in one of Dave’s ̶m̶a̶d̶ ̶s̶c̶i̶e̶n̶t̶i̶s̶t̶ groundbreaking experiments.
6’ long
1’ wide
~4" high
~20 kwh per module
Less money than the 12 kwh Bolt
Happen to know what the pack weighs?
Complete pack of 4 modules was 1,050lb
~250 each?
That would actually fit because of the extra space between the bed and the frame rails / crossmembers. Lift the bed off, set the pack between the rails, hook everything up and drop the bed back on.
I think I might have to start to look for a low buck 06 or something.
Here is one thing I do not understand about what you are saying. When I ride in my GEM by myself it goes about 26/27 MPH. When I add my two kids and another person it goes about 26/27 MPH. How will reducing the weight by 300/400 lbs get it to go faster without an upgrade motor? Lithium just give you more range right? Not more power? Not sure what I am missing. Others have told me to upgrade to the 11 HP motor and not upgrade the batteries at least at first. Please explain how upgrading the batteries alone will get it to 35/40. Thanks!
The speed is limited to a set motor rpm. If you feel the car hold back, the first thing is to move the limiter. Allowing full speed. No motor or any other upgrade will increase speed until Gem has a higher speed limit.
From then on, less weight and higher voltage can increase speed.
Simply switching to lithium will only give you minor performance results yes anytime you lose weight in the car it will perform better but the real advantage is going higher voltage normal cars have a 72 V flooded lead acid pack and when you stand on the gas that 72 V goes to more like 68-60v under load and that’s the performance you are dealing with car that only has 72vts when it’s sitting still.
Now you switch to Lithium you don’t experience the voltage Sagging like with traditional battery’s. Your voltage of 72+ volts is right there. It dosent go away under a load like it does with FLA battery’s.
Now the real performance gains I have found is when you go high-voltage gym that’s 80+ volts or higher. I have a High Voltage gem 98+ volts and it go’s 49 MPH with a STOCK Motor and Stock controller.
Example https://youtu.be/y1Ikvt5tZIM
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I want to add to this . When a gem sees over 25 mph it will start pulling power and slowing down , period . You can get around this by fooling the speedo . This is what the blue motors do ($800), they do have a little more power but mostly they fool your speedo so it wont see over 25 mph and will keep going faster . R4f says the speedo shows 1/2 real speed . This is what its doing . There are 2 other ways to do it , reprogram your controller $150 and a learning curve . Buy one of INWO’s magic magnets (mm) $120 ? 3 minute install .
Now that you have fooled your speedo your system will put out the max power it has . So now if you want more you have 2 choices , bigger motor . This will increase the power in your gem and you will go faster , you will also use more power so expect your range to drop , The batteries handle this kind of ok .
The next option is to increase battery power , all the motors perform MUCH better with higher voltage . If you put a volt meter on you battery pack and watched it while driving fast , during acceleration or climbing hills , you would see your battery pack drop to 65 to 73 volts fully charged and lower after a few miles . Motors want more voltage but cant get it . Now you have 2 choices , add another battery and increase the battery pack voltage by 12v , it will love it . Gem will accelerate faster ,go farther and have a higher top speed. Next is Lithium . It will naturally hold higher voltages under load and you can easily add more cells to increase pack voltages . The upper limit is 96v , but even going to 84v will put a huge smile on your face . As mentioned above with STOCK motors we can get a gem over 40mph with a lithium upgrade and have 2x, 3x or 4x the distance that any lead batteries can do . A stock gem with lithium will beat any gem with lead and a 11hp blue motor , I did my first one 5 years ago still going strong with no problems .
Think of it in these terms. The lithium battery is the foundation that the rest of the car is built around. If you start with a lead foundation, you will spend a lot more money to get a lot less performance and you will be fighting the lead battery nightmares forever. If you start with lithium and add a few extra cells for more voltage, you will be amazed at how the car runs. The only people I hear saying to buy the bigger motor are those who have not done lithium. I have a friends car with everything the same as mine at my house now except it has lead and I have lithium. I put a friend in both yesterday and told him to compare and he couldn’t believe the difference. Both cars have the R4F motor, but my lithium car was better in every aspect before I upgraded the motor. Concerning the weight, when I load my 4 seater with a couple adults, it makes a very noticeable difference in the power and acceleration. With lead, you are starting out with a loaded car and adding people on top of it. Like I’ve said, if you haven’t recently bought batteries, there is no reason to not start with lithium at higher voltage. I run 96V as my max charge and even when I run the batteries down quite a bit, I have tons of power due to weight loss and the lack of voltage sag as Grant mentioned. If you are near someone with a lithium car, you have to ride in one.
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