FIELDREPORT
Power dressing
FW3
PowaKaddy’s Freeway range faceliſt for 2016 includes such innovations as a calorie counter and a rear diffuser. Brand CEO David Catford and chairman John deGraſt-Johnson explain to Duncan Lennard why they‘ve been introduced, and where they fit in.
chassis, which is probably sports-car black, silver or graphite. The chassis almost certainly sits on low-profile wheels, while the trolley’s styling, features and benefits configure its ‘trim’.
O And now, on the new FW5 and FW7s models for 2016, PowaKaddy are
giving us the golf trolley’s first ever diffuser. On F1 cars – top speed around 205mph – the diffuser improves airflow underneath the chassis, increasing downforce and reducing drag. On golf trolleys – top speed around 5mph – a simpler and better way to create more downforce might be to put a counterbalanced putter in the bag. “Of course, the diffuser doesn’t offer any practical benefit,” admits
PowaKaddy CEO David Catford. “It’s there because, quite frankly, it makes the cart look great.
ne of golf’s more curious trends is how the language of the performance car is invading the somewhat slower world of electric golf trolleys. Today’s trolley does not have a body; it has a
“We are influenced by the car industry, and unless you have an F1 car the diffuser doesn’t really do much. It’s simply a good-looking trim option, and one which helps define each model. Customers like to have pride in what they bought, to feel it is distinctive, and this contrasting section helps that.”
FW5
Shameless sexing-up this may be, but perhaps we shouldn’t be too FW3
critical; for on the powered trolley’s unlikely metamorphosis from old man’s crutch to chic, high-tech fashion accessory, form is arguably as central as function. The classy colours and elegant lines of PowaKaddy’s new range will surely win as many admirers – and customers – as hard, practical benefits like the straightforward, three-part folding mechanism and the plug-and-play battery cassette system. “Powered trolleys had an Achilles Heel, and that was the unreliability of
the lead acid battery,” Catford argues. “But with the upsurge in lithium technology, that has largely been removed. Two years ago, lithium
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