How Do I Run 12V Lights and a Radio From a 48V Golf Cart?
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The answer
You need a DC-DC converter. It sits between your 48-volt traction pack and your 12-volt accessories, and it drops pack voltage to around 12 to 14 volts continuously. For a light kit, a soundbar and the usual accessories, a 300-watt unit is the right size. That is the whole answer; the rest of this page is which one and why.
What you should not do is tap one battery out of a 48-volt string to get 12 volts. It works for about a week. You are discharging one battery of the pack while the other three stay full, the pack goes out of balance, that battery is worked harder than the rest and fails early, and on a lithium pack the BMS will usually object. It is the single most common wiring mistake on a golf cart and it is an expensive one.
A DC-DC converter draws evenly from the whole pack instead, so nothing goes out of balance.
What size do you need?
300 watts at 12 volts is 25 amps of continuous 12-volt supply. To put that in context, a full LED light kit with headlights, tail lights, turn signals and a brake light draws a few amps. A Bluetooth soundbar draws a few more, and more again at volume. A 12-volt accessory socket and a horn barely register.
So a 300-watt converter runs a lit, street-legal cart with a stereo and still has headroom. You need to go bigger only when you are running something genuinely heavy — a large amplifier, a winch, a bank of work lights.
The units we stock for a 48-volt cart:
| Part | Output | Power | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sevcon 62211111 | 48V to 14.1V | 300W | $423.74 |
| Sevcon 62211100 | 36/48V to 12V | 300W | $287.88 |
| Sevcon 62211201 | 36/48V to 13.5V, with enable | 300W | $313.99 |
| Sevcon 62211212 | 48V to 14V | 500W | $777.79 |
The 62211111 is the one we sell most of, and for a standard 48-volt cart with lights and audio it is the one to buy. The 62211100 is the cheaper option if you want a straight 12-volt output and do not need the higher float voltage.
The “with enable” on the 62211201 means it has a switched input, so the converter only runs when the key is on. Worth having if you are leaving the cart standing for weeks and want nothing drawing on the pack.
The catch nobody tells you about the 500W unit
If you have decided you want the bigger converter, read this first.
The 500-watt Sevcon 62211212 will not charge or maintain a 12-volt battery. The 300-watt units will.
This is not in the datasheet and it is not on any retailer's product page. We know it from the bench and from the field.
It matters because of how people actually build these carts. A lot of installs put a small 12-volt battery in alongside the converter — so the radio holds its presets, so the lights work for a moment with the key off, so there is a buffer for inrush when something switches on. If you have that battery in the circuit and you have fitted the 500-watt unit, the battery is not being kept up. It will sit and slowly go flat, and when it does you will go looking at the radio or the light kit, because nothing about the symptom points at the converter.
So:
- Running accessories directly, no 12-volt battery in the system? Either size works. Pick on current.
- Have a 12-volt battery in the system, or planning one? Use a 300-watt unit. The 62211111 is the one to pick.
- Genuinely need more than 25 amps and want a 12-volt battery? Then you need the 500-watt unit for the load and a separate means of keeping the battery charged. Call us before you buy that one — it is worth five minutes on the phone rather than finding out in a month.
If you are already running a 500-watt unit with a 12-volt battery and have been wondering why the battery keeps dying, that is why.
Fitting it, and what else the job needs
The converter itself is a small sealed box with four studs: two in from the pack, two out to the 12-volt side. It wants to be mounted somewhere dry, bolted to something that will carry heat away, and fused on both sides.
A few things that are easy to get wrong:
- Fuse the input, not just the output. A fuse on the 48-volt side protects the pack if the converter ever fails short. Size it for the converter, not the accessories.
- Run the pack feed off the main terminals, not off any single battery, for the reason above.
- Keep the 12-volt grounds together. Lights, radio and converter sharing one clean ground point stops the hum people blame on the stereo.
- Mount it away from the motor and controller. Not because of interference, but because that corner of a cart gets hot and the converter is already making its own heat.
If you are doing this as part of a lights-and-audio build rather than on its own, the other pieces are here:
- DC-DC converters — the converters themselves, every voltage and size we carry
- Golf cart light kits — headlights, tails, turn signals, brake switches, street-legal kits
- Sound bars and audio — soundbars and the 12-volt gear that goes with them
- Wire harnesses and adapters — the harnesses and pigtails that save you splicing
Most of a job like this is one converter, one light kit and one harness. The wiring is straightforward once the 12-volt supply is done properly, and doing the 12-volt supply properly means a converter.
Common questions
Can I just tap one battery for 12 volts?
You can, and it will work at first. It unbalances the pack, works that one battery harder than the other three, and shortens its life. On a lithium pack the BMS will usually object. Use a converter.
What size DC-DC converter do I need for golf cart lights and a radio?
300 watts, which is 25 amps at 12 volts. That covers a full LED light kit, a soundbar, a horn and an accessory socket with headroom left. Go to 500 watts only for a large amplifier, a winch or a bank of work lights.
Will a DC-DC converter charge a 12-volt battery?
The 300-watt Sevcon units will. The 500-watt Sevcon 62211212 will not — it supplies loads but does not charge or maintain a battery. If your build has a small 12-volt battery in it, use a 300-watt unit.
Does it work on a 36-volt cart?
The 62211100 and 62211201 take 36 or 48 volts in, so yes. The 62211111 and 62211212 are 48-volt input.
What does “with enable” mean?
A switched input. The converter only runs when the key is on, so nothing draws on the pack while the cart is parked. That is the 62211201.
What does one cost?
$287.88 to $423.74 for the 300-watt units, $777.79 for the 500-watt. Current prices and stock are on each product page, and we ship from Pennsylvania.
Will it fit my Club Car, E-Z-GO or Yamaha?
The converter is universal — it cares about pack voltage, not the make of the cart. The light kit and harness are what need to match your model and year.
Not sure which one your cart needs? Call us — we would rather spend five minutes getting it right than have you order twice.