MG4 Charging Cables

[PeteC]

will do
thanks for the help

As stated, it's single phase. Just mentioning as you say you have all pins present so could use 3 phase if you wanted. Depends if you're going to have access to suitable chargers. I use 3 phase when I'm up in Scotland and it is noticeably quicker with the car taking just under 10kW. It won't help if you don't have access to suitable chargers!

 

[Deleted member 9909]

PeteC, macdonsj has already stated he is not considering 3 phase as an option....I did mention it. #78

 

[muddyfun]

I'm a new ev and mg4 driver and found myself in a bit of an emergency charging situation this morning. When I arrived at work and parked up I tried to connect the granny charger via the type2 cable (as didn't have a normal 3 pin extension lead) and found it didn't work. Is that expected ? I've not used the type2 cable in anger yet so wondered if it just wasn't working. Will test out on a non tethered charger asap.

(Fortunately a colleague moved their car so I was able to move the car to another window near a parking bay where the granny charger would reach.)

 

[Deleted member 9909]

I'm a new ev and mg4 driver and found myself in a bit of an emergency charging situation this morning. When I arrived at work and parked up I tried to connect the granny charger via the type2 cable (as didn't have a normal 3 pin extension lead) and found it didn't work. Is that expected ? I've not used the type2 cable in anger yet so wondered if it just wasn't working. Will test out on a non tethered charger asap.

(Fortunately a colleague moved their car so I was able to move the car to another window near a parking bay where the granny charger would reach.)

A bit confused...the granny charger has a 13amp plug on it and that could plug into an extension cable or via the window as you done...so what cable are you talking about.... the type 2 7kw cable that plugs into a charging station? If so that is a fast charger cable
Apologies its just not clear

 

[muddyfun]

So I didn't have a three pin extension cable available and thought I could take the type 2 end of the granny charger into the other end of the cable I've bought for untethered points, and from there into the car charge port ...

 

[Deleted member 9909]

No, doesn't work. Both are separate charging options. All down to signalling etc. Not going to go into details but they have to be used individually. Extension cables for 13a are OK in the short term but not to be trusted for unsupervised long term charging imo

P,s don't know how you managed to connect them but saying that I have never tried as I know it wouldn't work?

 

[muddyfun]

If I was type 2 all the way would the signalling sort itself out ? I'm waiting on a tethered charger at home and wondered about using the loose type2 cable as an extender for that in some situations ...

 

[WonkoTheSaneUK]

If I was type 2 all the way would the signalling sort itself out ? I'm waiting on a tethered charger at home and wondered about using the loose type2 cable as an extender for that in some situations ...

Nope.
Unless it was specifically described as an extension, the type 2 cable is strictly for use with untethered chargers, such as the PodPoint posts at Tesco.

 

[Deleted member 9909]

Not recommended...you have to buy a purpose built extension such as

Type 2 Extension Charging Cable (5M/10/15M) - EV Cable Shop

Get extra reach for your EV Charging with our Type 2 to Type 2 extension cable from EV Cable Shop. High-quality and durable, order now for fast shipping.

www.evcableshop.co.uk

Can you not buy a longer tethered one from the supplier in the first place or is that impractical?

 

[muddyfun]

Not recommended...you have to buy a purpose built extension such as

Type 2 Extension Charging Cable (5M/10/15M) - EV Cable Shop

Get extra reach for your EV Charging with our Type 2 to Type 2 extension cable from EV Cable Shop. High-quality and durable, order now for fast shipping.

www.evcableshop.co.uk

Can you not buy a longer tethered one from the supplier in the first place or is that impractical?

I've got the longest one already (7.5m) ...

Nope.
Unless it was specifically described as an extension, the type 2 cable is strictly for use with untethered chargers, such as the PodPoint posts at Tesco.

Thanks. Out of interest can you easily tell the two cables apart by eye ?

 

[Deleted member 9909]

They look very similar unfortunately. This makes interesting reading. Have a peek

Can I Extend My EV Charging Cable?

The EV charging infrastructure in the UK is developing at a rapid pace. There are over 42,000 charge point connectors for electric vehicles and hybrid cars in t

evking.co.uk

 

[PeteC]

PeteC, macdonsj has already stated he is not considering 3 phase as an option....I did mention it. #78

Oops - I missed that one. Thanks and sorry!

 

[FrankMG4]

Does anyone know if the MG4 includes a Granny Cable as standard, I gather all the other models do.

Yes it does.

This seems to depend on the country/region. In Spain my MG4 only came with a Type 2 to Type 2 cable (I assume for untethered charging stations).

 

[MartinSEsr]

3 phase total waste of money for an MG, it can only take 1 phase.

The Trophy and the SE long range CAN use a 3 phase cable and they get a faster charging speed by using it. The short range SE only needs a 1 phase cable and 3 phase one gives no advantage.

 

[stevegus]

Totally correct. The SR will only get 6.6kw charging regardless of cable where LR and Trophy will get 11kw with a three phase.

My experience is the app will report the charge power around 10% less than it actually is.

 

[Teichoscopia]

I'm going to have to rely on the granny cable for a while. Can anyone tell me what length the one supplied with the MG4 is? Are there options to get a longer one?

I might have to buy an extension, and was wondering if you can extend the type 2 side, rather than the 3 pin?

Any recommendations for suitable extension cables?

 

[tsedge]

Totally correct. The SR will only get 6.6kw charging regardless of cable where LR and Trophy will get 11kw with a three phase.

My experience is the app will report the charge power around 10% less than it actually is.

Isn't that just the normal losses when charging, typically 10%?

 

[WonkoTheSaneUK]

I'm going to have to rely on the granny cable for a while. Can anyone tell me what length the one supplied with the MG4 is? Are there options to get a longer one?

I might have to buy an extension, and was wondering if you can extend the type 2 side, rather than the 3 pin?

Any recommendations for suitable extension cables?

You can indeed extend the type 2 side

EDIT - The cable I originally linked to only works with Rolec wallboxes.

 

[stevegus]

Isn't that just the normal losses when charging, typically 10%?

Surely the charge rating is the power going INTO the car and doesn’t calculate losses into the battery?

In other words, a 64kw battery may need 75kw to charge it. That doesnt need the input current to be frigged to a different number.

No electrical item is 100% efficient and if you see a rating plate on say a lawnmower at 1500w means its drawing that but might only be doing 1100w of work after losses. You dont plate it as 1100w.

Pretty much every charger ive used works to 90% of its rating which gives a fair indication the power the car sees going into it is being indicated as 10% low.

 

[tsedge]

Surely the charge rating is the power going INTO the car and doesn’t calculate losses into the battery?

In other words, a 64kw battery may need 75kw to charge it. That doesnt need the input current to be frigged to a different number.

No electrical item is 100% efficient and if you see a rating plate on say a lawnmower at 1500w means its drawing that but might only be doing 1100w of work after losses. You dont plate it as 1100w.

Pretty much every charger ive used works to 90% of its rating which gives a fair indication the power the car sees going into it is being indicated as 10% low.

Well you may know more about it than me, but I understood that it is normal with an EV to see a 10% lower charge rate reported by the car than the input "charger" and that this is due to the AC->DC losses in the onboard car charger.