Battery Life

[Deleted member 18108]

Hi Mate,

The engine would of turned on most likely due to the battery level being too low to sustain heating for the heater matrix

All the new hybrids coming out including the new MG3 and all new MG ZS Hybrid, as well as the all new HS PHEV are electric driven heater matrixes

Shouldn't have been a low battery, as given the driving conditions etc the evening before, the battery would have been near full capacity.

 

[Deleted member 18108]

You would think after all the talk on hear in the last few years they would put in a heat pump like Renault have in some of there cars.i did sit in and look round the new HS but did not as much a bout the workings, need a win on something to get the HS PHEV.

I imagine they didn't go the route of a heat pump to keep the price down.

 

[MGDriver]

You would think after all the talk on hear in the last few years they would put in a heat pump like Renault have in some of there cars.i did sit in and look round the new HS but did not as much a bout the workings, need a win on something to get the HS PHEV.

The thing is at the moment heat pumps add high costs, and due to the UK climate, it is not a necessity that is needed,

The biggest win on the HS PHEV is the 75 mile range, which is one of the best for PHEVS and the best for under £40k

 

[MGDriver]

Shouldn't have been a low battery, as given the driving conditions etc the evening before, the battery would have been near full capacity.

One of the things to remember is even with driving conditions being optimal, doesnt necessarily mean the the battery is full,

I do know for a fact that the heating matrix is the same as the MG4 so it is run from the EV battery rather than the engine

 

[al29]

Due to the recent hot weather I have been turning the air con on with the app, and then setting the HVA to zero, all done from inside the house.The engine has never started up and the system shuts down after 10 minutes.
Lovely and cool to get into ?

 

[Deleted member 18108]

One of the things to remember is even with driving conditions being optimal, doesnt necessarily mean the the battery is full,

I do know for a fact that the heating matrix is the same as the MG4 so it is run from the EV battery rather than the engine

Thanks, MG4 driver, for the clarification. So essentially in answer to Aitvh1's original question, it's like Italy said in his reply, that if the EV battery is lower than a predetermined level, the ECU fires up the engine, in this case, to provide enough power to run the heater until the EV battery can kick in. And as you said this shuts down when the battery can take over. With the nights drawing in and the weather getting colder, I would imagine based on this, that real-world driving will see the engine firing up, more often than not. It's a useful system, where the car can be pre-heated, saving all that windscreen scrapping etc.

 

[Deleted member 18108]

The thing is at the moment heat pumps add high costs, and due to the UK climate, it is not a necessity that is needed,

The biggest win on the HS PHEV is the 75 mile range, which is one of the best for PHEVS and the best for under £40k

I totally agree that the major deciding factor here is price. This model of the MG3 unlike its predecessor is designed for a global market, and while some parts of that market might benefit from a heat pump, the cost of fitting one would reduce profit margins and push the base price perilously close to its main competitors. The car's main selling point is its low price compared to its main rivals, namely the Toyota Yaris and Renault Clio hybrid.
Much like Suzuki, MG is looking to sweep up loyal followers of the Ford Fiesta and Nissan Micra. These customers may not particularly want the SUV offerings of those particular Margues, preferring instead to stick to a supermini. The price jump to the Puma or Juke is also a deciding factor, and let's face it, the price was the main selling point, for the majority of us, and for that price, you get a reasonable car with just a few quirks. In my case, in SE trim, it was 6,000 euros less than the entry-level Yaris Hybrid. If I had opted for the Trophy model, that price difference would still have been 4,000 euros.
Interestingly, Suzuki in looking to keep their prices down, opted only to go the mild hybrid route. They could well have looked at partnering with Toyota in much the same way that they did with the Swace, but that would have left them, very little wiggle room in terms of pricing and placed them on Par with the Mazda 2 Hybrid.
The other deciding factor is where they would MG squeeze in a heat pump, given that everything is crammed in as it is, with the auxiliary battery relegated to the wheel well and the spare wheel left on the shop floor, for the hybrid version. The petrol version of the new MG3, holds on to the spare wheel as there is enough room under the bonnet to take the 12v battery.
The problem of where to fit everything into a supermini is not a new one. I remember back in the day, my first cat, a Fiat 127 had its spare wheel under the front bonnet over the engine bay.