Mr. Lang, you helped to develop the drive for the ProCaddie RX1. From the view­point of a devel­oper, what is so special about the elec­tric trolley?

We used a stan­dard gear motor, a perma­nent magnet DC motor with a Performax plan­e­tary gear. We had to adapt it to the customer’s drive shaft. To do so, we intro­duced a larger diam­eter than the one we typi­cally use. Other than the drive shaft, we didn’t have to make any major changes on the drive itself – but we did have to adjust the order of assembly.

Was noise a key factor in selecting the compo­nents?

Noise was not a hard require­ment since the manu­fac­turer wanted to posi­tion the product between the premium and low-budget segments. This is why the focus was more on “design to cost.”

What was energy consumption’s role?

Of course energy effi­ciency plays a major role in recharge­able battery-oper­ated devices. ProCaddie RX1 can easily finish the course on one charge. The new feature is that the trolley is a single piece: the recharge­able battery is inte­grated into the trolley so there are no cables. It is highly inno­v­a­tive. There is really only one piece. The recharge­able battery is inside the rail that supports the golf bag. You just have to take it out to charge it. The entire trolley is compact and can be folded in one move­ment. This makes it supe­rior to other trol­leys.

You tested the caddie on the golf course. What does Chris­tian Lang the golfer have to say about it?

It is conve­nient to use. Premium trol­leys offer many func­tions with minimum inter­face. ProCaddie’s solu­tion is good. You use a wheel and a button to control the trolley. It is very intu­itive. The battery is easy to replace – a fantastic feature. I think it’s missing a holder for an umbrella or score card. But maybe German golfers are different from English ones, who always have every­thing in their back pockets.

How is the trolley on rough terrain?

It runs smoothly. And is extremely stable, which I find fasci­nating. Instead of three wheels it has four. That makes it a bit stiffer in curves but helps with hilly or rough terrain. Overall, the RX1 is rugged, easy to handle, looks good and the battery holds its charge. In my opinion, it’s a perfectly successful product.