Club Car Introduces Electronic Park Brake That Requires $500 Tool
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| Basic Information | |
|---|---|
| Release Year | 2025 |
| Product Type | Electric Vehicle |
| In Production | Yes |
| Official Website | https://www.clubcar.com/en-us/golf-operations/fleet-golf/tempo |
Background
[edit | edit source]With the introduction of a new dash design in mid-2025, Club Car also announced the introduction of an optional "auto park brake" on select Tempo models. This automatic parking brake is currently only available on their lithium ion battery powered Tempo models. The auto park brake replaces the foot-actuated ratchet-style park brake with an automatically engaging park brake integrated to the electric drive motor. Some years prior, EZ-GO introduced an automatic, electrically engaged parking brake. The primary, problematic difference in these two automatic parking brake systems is in their ease of disengaging the park brake. Both systems are normally locked, in other words, the park brake requires power to release. The benefit in this design is that the cart will be immobilized whether the driver forgets to engage the park brake or if the auto park brake loses power for some reason.
Consumer-impact summary
[edit | edit source]The two most common scenarios that the automatic parking brake causes issues are when a cart owner forgets to charge a cart or drives down a battery's charge to the point that it will no longer disengage the automatic parking brake. The other common scenario is when there is a fault code or other issue that causes the auto parking brake to remain engaged. The following will compare how to disengage an EZ-GO automatic parking brake to a Club Car automatic parking brake.
EZ-GO Automatic Parking Brake Disengagement
[edit | edit source]- Ensure the cart is incapable of driving due to parking brake.
- Remove seat bottom.
- Locate and remove panel on passenger side of battery tub.
- Read instructions on reconnecting wiring harnesses to divert battery power to automatic parking brake.
- If battery pack power is sufficient, the automatic parking brake will be released. If not, proceed to next step.
- In accordance with instructions on underside of panel, connect 12V power to correct wiring harness connector to disengage automatic parking brake. This can be accomplished with a 12V battery or other 12V power source.
- Once parking brake is disengaged, the cart will be able roll freely in order to reposition for storage or repairs.
Club Car Automatic Parking Brake Disengagement
[edit | edit source]- Ensure the cart is incapable of driving due to parking brake.
- Remove seat bottom.
- Locate parking brake wiring harness connector.
- Disconnect cart's main wiring harness from auto park brake wiring harness.
- Connect $350-$500 auto park brake release tool to auto park brake wiring harness.
- Disengage auto park brake via release tool.
- Once disengaged, the cart will be able to roll freely in order to reposition for storage or repairs.
The Issues
[edit | edit source]In comparison to EZ-GO's design, Club Car requires a proprietary tool in order to release the parking brake in the case of a dead battery or other fault. EZ-GO also offers a tool to release their brake, but it is not necessary. For EZ-GO, if the battery pack still has power, the connectors can be reorientated to disengage the brake with the provided instructions printed on the panel next to the connectors. In the case that the battery pack is dead or otherwise incapable of providing power, instead of reorienting connectors, 12V can be delivered to the same connector via any proper 12 V source.
In the case of an immobilized Club Car that requires the brake to be disengaged, the only known available way to disengage the auto park brake is by using Club Car's Auto Park Brake Tool. This tool connects to the Auto Park Brake harness and sends power to the auto park brake in a "special way". At this point, the following is based on anecdotes and personal experiences.
Notes on Disengaging Club Car's Auto Park Brake (APB) without the Tool
[edit | edit source]- The Auto Park Brake (APB) Tool has an ability to sense whether it is connected to a harness or not. Probably using current sensing to detect if it is connected to an APB harness or not.
- The connector is a 4 pin Deutsch DT style connector. The APB Tool uses 3/4 of the pins.
- Via a multimeter, the park brake is held open with 12 V of power.
- Upon opening the APB Tool, there appears to be some voltage boosting circuitry. From an uneducated perspective, it seems that the APB tool is temporarily boosting voltage to "pop loose" the APB. Once "popped loose," only 12 V is required to hold the APB open.
- The APB Tool is rechargeable with an internal battery.
- Attempting to deliver 12 V with a normal battery does not disengage APB.