Rolling the electrified dice. 2020 MG ZS EV Exclusive
Discussion
Smiljan said:
Wow TP, you definitely got out of the wrong side of bed for that video, you can moan for Scotland in the Olympics if you ever need another job 
Good range test though, also what's the orange light that keeps reflecting in the bottom of the drivers door frame just over your shoulder?
Someone else asked this too, I assumed it was just some dodgy lighting (really struggled filming at that time of the morning!) but I’ve had another look - it’s the blind spot assist. Little light in each wing mirror, lights up if it detects a car coming towards your blind spot on either side. If you then turn on an indicator, it flashes rapidly. Good range test though, also what's the orange light that keeps reflecting in the bottom of the drivers door frame just over your shoulder?
kambites said:
Do you have the latest updates, and if so is it now possible to put the heater on while the car is plugged in and charging so you don't have to waste battery charge on initially heating the cabin? I know there's no app, but I've read conflicting reports on whether it's possible to manually switch on the heater while charging.
My car has everything apart from the very latest BMS update (because it didn’t get the dodgy October one)I don’t think it will heat on AC charging. Not particularly sure. It’s not really that big a deal, people make a lot more noise about preheating than it deserves.
Heater works fine when rapid charging though.
kambites said:
Really? From what I've read about other EVs, preheating can add a good 10-15 miles of range in really cold weather by getting the battery and cabin up to operating temperature before setting off. Not game-changing certainly, but worthwhile.
If you’re going to regularly make trips that mean an extra 10 miles of range is a big deal you need a bigger battery. Forget preheating - you can lose that 10 miles in any EV with a strong head wind!Thought the big yellow taxi was pending today. Plugged into one of these brand new MFG / Swarco chargers at J27 M6. Starting the charge failed and then the car shut its HV system down - Vehicle Control System Fault on the display.
Thankfully, disconnecting and reconnecting the 12V battery had it back in the land of the living and I moved it to the charger I’m parked at in the photo - which worked fine!
Thankfully, disconnecting and reconnecting the 12V battery had it back in the land of the living and I moved it to the charger I’m parked at in the photo - which worked fine!
tr7v8 said:
SO ou had to Ctrl/Alt?Del it effectively?
Pretty much 
- if I didn’t have a 10mm spanner or an inclination that it would perhaps sort it out I’d be f
ked and waiting for the AA for a while though. Not sure if it’s the car, charger or both but the fact it worked perfectly fine on the next identical unit over makes me think the charger was dodgy.
Andyjc86 said:
I’ve only just found this thread, it’s great to hear of another ZS owner doing a similar mileage to me (1800 miles in 3.5 months).
Mine has run into its first problem though, and is going to dealership tomorrow. Yesterday I was doing a 120 mile trip. I was planning on driving carefully to get there and back without a charge. I drove carefully (65mph on dual carriageway), but at the destination, I had to recharge as the battery was dropping at a stupid rate. Same again on the way home, so I drove it around until it was almost empty.
I then charged it last night, from empty to full, and it only took 28.4KW. My suspicion is that either the battery isn’t charging fully, or it’s indicating it’s empty when it’s not (but I’m not about to test that theory).
Since ownership I’ve averaged 2.9 miles per KW, so if it is only holding 30 KW then it gives me a range of 87 miles. I hope it’s a fault with the car!
There’s a faulty BMS update that was applied to cars from October to December-ish. Mine has run into its first problem though, and is going to dealership tomorrow. Yesterday I was doing a 120 mile trip. I was planning on driving carefully to get there and back without a charge. I drove carefully (65mph on dual carriageway), but at the destination, I had to recharge as the battery was dropping at a stupid rate. Same again on the way home, so I drove it around until it was almost empty.
I then charged it last night, from empty to full, and it only took 28.4KW. My suspicion is that either the battery isn’t charging fully, or it’s indicating it’s empty when it’s not (but I’m not about to test that theory).
Since ownership I’ve averaged 2.9 miles per KW, so if it is only holding 30 KW then it gives me a range of 87 miles. I hope it’s a fault with the car!
Fully charge your car and then check the voltage on the “electrical information” screen. If it’s not 454v-ish, you have the dodgy software.
My car missed it by a few weeks, thankfully.
MG have an update for it now. s
tty thing is after you get it you need to charge a bunch of times and allow equalisation to complete before it’ll right itself. Sf_Manta said:
Interesting to see the responses on this. My brother's been running a leaf for the past 18 months or so? and been generating a graph against his old (now written off) Skoda Fabia 1.4TDI, based on average MPG he was turning and how many miles he was getting from a tank along with the current cost of fuel to fill up.
It's interesting to see how much he's saved over that time, so I don't look at EV's with "Oh blegh, they're souless POS", I look at it this way. if you want a fun weekend car and still need to get to work in the week, given electric vehicles are coming down in price and range is going up, having one as a daily runner makes more sense. I'd quite like having one to run around locally and run errands / work, and have more cash spare for playing with the weekend cars
Quick question to the OP regarding the MG, enjoying the thread, but does the MG have adaptive cruise? as far as i can tell it doesn't from what research i've done, given parents are wanting to go electric for their last car, so been doing some benchmarking.
The ZS EV certainly does have adaptive cruise control - I don’t know if you need the Exclusive model over the Excite but I don’t think so. It's interesting to see how much he's saved over that time, so I don't look at EV's with "Oh blegh, they're souless POS", I look at it this way. if you want a fun weekend car and still need to get to work in the week, given electric vehicles are coming down in price and range is going up, having one as a daily runner makes more sense. I'd quite like having one to run around locally and run errands / work, and have more cash spare for playing with the weekend cars
Quick question to the OP regarding the MG, enjoying the thread, but does the MG have adaptive cruise? as far as i can tell it doesn't from what research i've done, given parents are wanting to go electric for their last car, so been doing some benchmarking.
It also has MG Pilot - L2 autonomous driving where it uses a combination of the ACC and Lane keep assist to keep you in lane at a constant speed, making corrections for you as relevant.
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