Sons of the Forest Golf Cart Guide: Location, Solar Battery, and Controls

Patch 07 dropped a fresh vehicle into Sons of the Forest, and it has nothing to do with golf and everything to do with covering ground faster. The Golf Cart follows the Knight V (added in Patch 03) as another way to skip the long walks across the island. The full changelog lives on the official Steam announcement if you want the rest of the patch notes.

This guide covers where the Golf Cart spawns, how its solar battery behaves, the driving controls, and a few things worth knowing before you flatten a friendly NPC.

Where to Find the Golf Cart

First, a clarification. The drivable Golf Cart from Patch 07 is NOT one of the static golf carts scattered around various points of interest. Those are decorations and will not move no matter how much you mash the interact key.

The functional one sits at the abandoned golf course in the northeastern part of the island. Head that way, find the cart, walk up, and hit the interact key to claim it.

How the Golf Cart Works

A bit of mechanical knowledge here saves you from stranding the vehicle in the middle of nowhere. Below are the things worth understanding before you take it out for a spin.

Solar Battery

The cart is powered by the solar panel on its roof. During daytime, it runs indefinitely and the battery does not drain. From 6 PM to 6 AM (in-game time), it consumes one unit of energy every 30 seconds. The upside: it still recharges at night, just slowly. Expect one unit recovered per 30 seconds while parked.

Controls

Sit in the driver's seat, then press and hold the interaction key (default E) to accelerate. Use the directional keys to steer. To brake, tap the jump key (default spacebar).

Performance note: the Golf Cart is roughly 50% slower than the Knight V. Fine for cruising, less great for outrunning anything aggressive.

Pushing a Dead Cart

If the battery dies in a bad spot, such as a ditch or a steep slope, you can push the cart on foot. Walk to its front or rear and press the prompt shown on screen. Push it back to flat ground, give the sun a few minutes, and the battery will tick back up.

Crash Damage

The cart hits hard. Ramming structures, mutants, and Fingers does serious damage, and at full speed it can outright kill enemies. The bad part: that same physics applies to your NPC allies. Drive carefully when Kelvin or Virginia are anywhere near your route, because a stray collision will turn a helper into a casualty in one bump.