Late winter/spring - first longer trip to South-West France - some observations ...

[rjhfandclf]

We recently returned from our first six-weeks longer-distance trip from Essex to SW France – 750 miles, excluding the channel tunnel, each way – for which we particularly chose the MG4 Trophy Extended Range (late ’23) version. Both of us are now of an age that calls for a gentler drive spanning two nights/three days, and have made the journey over many years in some comfort in our old Mercedes C220 125 Sport diesel estate. This generally averaged around 50 m.p.g. overall and called for only one regular refill halfway in each direction; thus we felt the new MG EV had something to prove. We believe it certainly succeeded well enough – albeit with some adjustments on our part, plus the inevitable niggles and some extreme annoyances.

Having relied heavily on pedantic planning (my ‘failing’!) and a lot of informative assistance from others before me on this forum, I thought it might be of interest to one or two of a similar mind if I shared some results and general observations from this, our first longish EV trip – so here goes:

1. Evidently, our model of MG4 certainly does NOT have an athermic windscreen (something I failed to ascertain for certain from MG in advance) so the essential motorway TAG worked perfectly – thankfully.​

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2. Equally evidently, the LKA system is, quite simply, one of the most dangerous so-called ‘safety’ inventions ever – and particularly so on smaller French roads where it is literally impossible to drive between the often plethora of narrow dotted lines neatly painted all over the roads. It would have you in the ditch or into an opposite car (or both) in a trice. I have been driving for well over 60 years, without a major mishap since I was 18, so I don’t need an insane AI robot to hasten my ultimate demise. It needs to be able to be defaulted to ‘off’.​

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3. We used the Auto-Android/Google route mapping pre-loaded with guiding way-points on phone via Wi-Fi link, but as usual, as soon as it was set to go, it immediately re-programmed the route I had carefully stipulated I wanted to go, to whatever it thought was better – usually along every motorway it could find and adding tens of miles to the journey. I know exactly what mixed route I want to follow, so this meant ignoring directions and simply driving the route I knew and wanted. I would just like to have the back-up of live traffic/incident updates, etc. I don’t need any more route planners; I just wish I could find a programme that would accept and stick to my already carefully-planned route, but tell me what is happening up-to-date en-route and to which I might need to respond, but I don’t think one exists.​

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Another issue I found is that far too often AA/Google loses GPS contact and has no idea where you are on the map. I had thought that this was just in France (which I’ve previously found often has poor GPS blackspots), but recently at home it leapt off the middle of the QE2 Bridge at Dartford into the Thames and headed off swimming frantically towards London, before eventually blanking-out and rejoining us ‘live’ in Kent!​

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I am currently experimenting with the in-built sat-nav – which appears to be Garmin-based (but I am happy to be corrected here) which I quite like, to see if I can get it to work better for/with me. It has a good interface and screen layout. We shall see.​

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4. One of the most striking things discovered about the car is its very impressive hill-climbing ability. The local terrain to us in SW France largely comprises steep ‘finger’ ridges that run down to the foothills of the Pyrénées, accessed via very steep and sharply winding narrow lanes, often with a loose surface. With maximum instant torque at minimum revs, the car quite simply glided up the steepest winding slopes, with no gravel-induced wheel-spin, and of course no clunky gear-shifting round the hairpin bends – simply wonderful! (And I now better understand the video-clip I saw of an X-Power on a hill climb somewhere.)​

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5. The French charging infrastructure is already in wide abundance and still developing rapidly everywhere – including most small towns/large villages, although many of these tend to be 22kW AC, so max 7kW charging rate only, for the Phase 2 Trophy ER. They were also often charging per minute so become very expensive – although Electroverse seems to be changing this now to /kWh pricing – particularly MObiVE. In March the stations everywhere were often virtually empty viz this 28-stall Tesla one south of Poitiers!​

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... and still charging reasonably well with 61kW at 80%​

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6. After much research, we had intended to use several of the expanding cheap Tesla ‘open-to-all’ chargers, that were well-spaced for us; but with the first of these letting us down due to no app signal (in the midst of an industrial estate?!), we experienced our first anxiously long leg of 175 motorway miles. We had filled to 96% over lunch in northern France and arrived at our first hotel in southern Normandy with just 12%. The hotel had arranged to let us charge overnight on their basic 16A sockets – where I had hoped to top-up to 100%, but only managed 50% in 15 hours at 1.8 kW; so we very shortly had to stop again ...​

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... at TotalEnergy, Alençon (empty again!)​

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7. The trip down was very much a research exercise into performance and various charging points, etc., plus how much power and range were affected by low ambient temperature and driving speeds; so we stopped far more often than was necessary, and sometimes only to ‘test-charge’ from perhaps 50 or 70%, but often up to 95%. This enabled us to note the points at which the fast chargers slowed down. Throughout, I have used a slightly high but convenient figure of 75 ‘usable’ kWh from the 77 kWh battery.​

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8. Each way, approx. 500 miles were on motorways, when we drove mainly at between 65 and 75 mph, but occasionally higher. The remaining 250 miles were on more enjoyable cross-country roads at the heavily-controlled speeds of between 30 and 90 kph (19 to 56 mph).​

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Driving down in mid-March, the temperature was generally between 10°C and 15°C. Locally in France, we have a n’ICE old Megane runaround (called ‘Meg the Smeg’ – in homage to Red Dwarf!), so only covered 168 local miles (268 km in the MG) whilst there, when the temp. varied from 13°C to 30°C - sometimes within a couple of days!​

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'Beetlejuice' (it's the numberplate!) basking in the sunshine with her French great-aunt, the n'ICE 'Meg-the-Smeg'. The Pyrénées backdrop still smothered in snow.​

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But coming home six weeks later, it was in yet another cold spell, so still only 13°C to 17°C; thus:​

• Driving down, we averaged 19.4 kWh/100 km (3.2 mi/kWh)
• Local runaround, we averaged 15.8 kWh/100 km (3.9 mi/kWh)
• Returning home, we averaged 19.2 kWh/100 km (3.3 mi/kWh)

[NB our best local trip performance recorded was 14.6 kWh/100 km (= 4.25 mi/kWh)]​

​

PART 2 to follow ...

 

[rjhfandclf]

PART 2 to follow ...

9. In the end, we used Tesla chargers only a couple of times, but always without hitch via an account on its app. But I largely used just the one Electroverse app to pay for nearly everything via my home electricity account. I tried the Shell Recharge app once and it worked fine, but was more expensive than Electroverse (which sometimes has discounts, such as with Ionity), and Shell also has a small but annoying transaction charge. I had back-up cards for both too, but didn’t need to use them.​

​

I also ‘discovered’ two excellent smaller cheap fast providers: One, IECharge, I found just before we left the UK so I signed-up to their excellent app too (and subsequently it’s also now included on Electroverse); and the other, Powerdot, which often appears at supermarkets. Both tend to be a mile or two off motorways, but both are very cheap. IECharge sites are usually rather out in the wilds, with just four chargers, and no ancillary services at all (so go prepared!). Going home, they were on special offer at 0.25€/kWh (21.5p/kWh) but ending shortly – normally 0.30€/kWh (26p/kWh). Powerdot was 45p/kWh via Electroverse.​

​

Typical IECharge point, our first stop since leaving home, at Rue, 60 miles south-west along the A16 from Coquelles (Shuttle) ... and empty - again!​

​

Each pod has one 160kW and one 320kW connector ... so take your pick. They have a very user-friendly app to charge (as well as the usual cards etc). We used it over a late lunch and, as an experiment, took it from 31% right up to 95% - which took 51 minutes, with the last 4% taking 9 minutes and slowing right down from 28kW at 91% to 12kW at 95%. The average though over the full charge was a reasonable 51kW, as may be seen from a couple of images of the user screen - the first being the charging screen and the second the detailed receipt ...​

​

​

​

(At the same stop on the way home, and despite intermittent cold showers, two or three nightingales were singing competitively all around us - as they had been when we left the south-west ... delightful!)​

​

Of other chargers, Ionity was 48p/kWh with Electroverse’s discount, while Tesla was between 0.43€ - 0.50€/kWh (37p - 43p/kWh) depending on time of day. Lidl can also be cheap (but not always, so check!), although we didn’t use any. We also used TotalEnergy when necessary on motorways, again via Electroverse, but they were dearer at 0.59€ / 51p/kWh, and they also have a heavy ‘overstay’ charge after 45 minutes. But there are loads more to choose from so no stress …​

​

One obvious useful tip, if charging from a higher SoC, is not to bother with the fastest chargers if there are cheaper slower ones available, since it is unlikely anyway that you will be able to charge any faster on the costlier ones. This can save 10p – 20p or so per kWh.​

​

10. On our return journey, we planned our stops from our trials going down and, apart from a couple of hiccups (due to my last-minute changes of mind!), all went very smoothly. We made just five commercial charging stops over the three days/two nights, having departed at 1.00 pm on day one, fully-charged up to 100%, and arriving home around 4.00 p.m. on day three with 21% in the tank.​

​

The first three legs were mainly cross-country, the remainder mainly motorway:​

​

Leg 1: to Powerdot charger, Super-U, PINEUILH​	188 km / 119 miles @ 16.1 kWh/100km / 3.85 mi/kWh; added 22 kWh (29%)​
Leg 2: to hotel​	50 km / 31 miles; (no charge)​
Leg 3: to Ionity charger, A10 aire, SAINT-ÉPAIN​	258 km / 161 miles (missed out the intended Tesla charge at Poitiers as too soon, and also the replacement one by mistake!)​
Total Legs 2 + 3 ​	- 308 km / 192 miles @ 17.2 kWh/100km / 3.60 mi/kWh; added 56 kWh (73%)​
Leg 4: to TotalEnergy charger, A28 aire, ALENÇON​	178 km / 111 miles @ 19.9 kWh/100km / 3.12 mi/kWh; added 38 kWh (50%)​
Leg 5: to hotel​	28 km / 17 miles @ 15.9 kWh/100km / 3.90 mi/kWh; added 16 kWh (21%) (FOC)​
Leg 6: to IECharge charger, off A16, RUE​	265 km / 165 miles @ 18.9 kWh/100km / 3.28 mi/kWh; added 42 kWh (56%)​
Leg 7: to home​	230 km / 143 miles @ 18.5 kWh/100km / 3.35 mi/kWh; to 100% = 59 kWh (78%)​
Overall return trip: 1,197 km / 746 miles @ 19.2 kWh/100km / 3.23 mi/kWh​

​

11. In respect of charging speeds, as we were travelling in relatively cool temperatures, we found that charging speeds were of course also affected, as well as the mi/kWh performance levels. However, we did record what happened through one or two deeper recharges from 10-15% < max 85-90%:​

• From a 10-15% start up to 30%, ran at 136 (max) > 130 kW
• From 30% up to ca. 40%, declined down to 110 kW
• From 40% up to ca. 60%, declined down to 90 kW
• From 60% up to ca. 75%, declined down to 70 kW
• From 75% up to ca. 85-90%, declined rapidly down to 40 > 30 kW
• When above 90%, the speed dropped very rapidly down towards single figures

The average overall charge speed for each longer/deeper charge varied from 50 – 80 kW depending on the starting level. It is anticipated that all these stats should improve somewhat on our next late summer road trip in late August – mid-October.​

​

12. Finally, we used 501 kWh in total, covering a total of 2,672 km (1,665miles) at an average of 18.6 kWh/100 km (3.33 mi/kWh), and the total cost of electricity consumed (including two hotel ‘freebies’ (43 kWh in total), plus home ‘Granny’ top-ups to 100% both in France and the UK at domestic rates), was £163, or ca. 10p/mile – predominantly via commercial public fast chargers (at any available rate up to 350 kWh). Fastest actual charge rate obtained (briefly) was 136 kW from 13% SoC. Average speed over the total 1,665 miles was 31 mph! The longest distance we did between charges was 308 km/192 miles (75% cross-country), but a more ‘comfortable’ March/April-time motorway distance between charging stops seemed to be around 150 miles (240 km) for our MG4 ER. It will be interesting to see what the next late-summer equivalent is.​

​

Diesel fuel consumption for the Mercedes C220 for the same journey would currently have cost around £265, or 16p/mile.​

There are undoubtedly many Es&OsE in all the above; so any qualified corrections always welcome.

P.S. I can’t believe I've been so boring as to record all of this down and then try to inflict it on others! But it was all part of my personal learning-curve. I think I am reasonably content ... so far. And maybe there might be something of vague interest to others too?

 

[tsedge]

Thank you. It is fascinating to read these accounts and they are very useful for those planning trips abroad with their MG.

 

[Rolfe]

Seconded!

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

Thirded.?

 

[EVsince2016]

9. In the end, we used Tesla chargers only a couple of times, but always without hitch via an account on its app. But I largely used just the one Electroverse app to pay for nearly everything via my home electricity account. I tried the Shell Recharge app once and it worked fine, but was more expensive than Electroverse (which sometimes has discounts, such as with Ionity), and Shell also has a small but annoying transaction charge. I had back-up cards for both too, but didn’t need to use them.​

​

I also ‘discovered’ two excellent smaller cheap fast providers: One, IECharge, I found just before we left the UK so I signed-up to their excellent app too (and subsequently it’s also now included on Electroverse); and the other, Powerdot, which often appears at supermarkets. Both tend to be a mile or two off motorways, but both are very cheap. IECharge sites are usually rather out in the wilds, with just four chargers, and no ancillary services at all (so go prepared!). Going home, they were on special offer at 0.25€/kWh (21.5p/kWh) but ending shortly – normally 0.30€/kWh (26p/kWh). Powerdot was 45p/kWh via Electroverse.​

​

Typical IECharge point, our first stop since leaving home, at Rue, 60 miles south-west along the A16 from Coquelles (Shuttle) ...​

​

View attachment 26496​

Each pod has one 160kW and one 320kW connector ... so take your pick. They have a very user-friendly app to charge (as well as the usual cards etc). We used it over a late lunch and, as an experiment, took it from 31% right up to 95% - which took 51 minutes, with the last 4% taking 9 minutes and slowing right down from 28kW at 91% to 12kW at 95%. The average though over the full charge was a reasonable 51kW, as may be seen from a couple of images of the user screen - the first being the charging screen and the second the detailed receipt ...​

​

View attachment 26497​

​

View attachment 26498​

​

(At the same stop on the way home, and despite intermittent cold showers, two or three nightingales were singing competitively all around us - as they had been when we left the south-west ... delightful!)​

​

Of other chargers, Ionity was 48p/kW with Electroverse’s discount, while Tesla was between 0.43€ - 0.50€/kW (37p - 43p/kW) depending on time of day. Lidl can also be cheap (but not always, so check!), although we didn’t use any. We also used TotalEnergy when necessary on motorways, again via Electroverse, but they were dearer at 0.59€ / 51p/kW, and they also have a heavy ‘overstay’ charge after 45 minutes. But there are loads more to choose from so no stress …​

​

One obvious useful tip, if charging from a higher SoC, is not to bother with the fastest chargers if there are cheaper slower ones available, since it is unlikely anyway that you will be able to charge any faster on the costlier ones. This can save 10p – 20p or so per kW.​

​

10. On our return journey, we planned our stops from our trials going down and, apart from a couple of hiccups (due to my last-minute changes of mind!), all went very smoothly. We made just five commercial charging stops over the three days/two nights, having departed at 1.00 pm on day one, fully-charged up to 100%, and arriving home around 4.00 p.m. on day three with 21% in the tank.​

​

The first three legs were mainly cross-country, the remainder mainly motorway:​

​

Leg 1: to Powerdot charger, Super-U, PINEUILH​	188 km / 117 miles @ 16.1 kW/100km / 3.85 m/kW; added 22 kWh (29%)​
Leg 2: to hotel​	50 km / 31 miles; (no charge)​
Leg 3: to Ionity charger, A10 aire, SAINT-ÉPAIN​	258 km / 160 miles (missed out the intended Tesla charge at Poitiers as too short, and the replacement one by mistake!)​
Total Legs 2 + 3 - 308 km / 191 miles @ 17.2 kW/100km / 3.60 m/kW; added 56 kWh (73%)​
Leg 4: to TotalEnergy charger, A28 aire, ALENÇON​	178 km / 111 miles @ 19.9 kW/100km / 3.12 m/kW; added 38 kWh (50%)​
Leg 5: to hotel​	28 km / 17 miles @ 15.9 kW/100km / 3.90 m/kW; added 16 kWh (21%) (FOC)​
Leg 6: to IECharge charger, off A16, RUE​	265 km / 165 miles @ 18.9 kW/100km / 3.28 m/kW; added 42 kWh (56%)​
Leg 7: to home​	230 km / 143 miles @ 18.5 kW/100km / 3.35 m/kW; to 100% = 59 kWh (78%)​
Overall return trip: 1,197 km / 744 miles @ 19.2 kW/100km / 3.4 m/kW​

​

11. In respect of charging speeds, as we were travelling in relatively cool temperatures, we found that charging speeds were of course also affected, as well as the m/kW performance levels. However, we did record what happened through one or two deeper recharges from 10-15% < max 85-90%:​

• From a 10-15% start up to 30%, ran at 136 (max) > 130 kWh
• From 30% up to ca. 40%, declined down to 110 kWh
• From 40% up to ca. 60%, declined down to 90 kWh
• From 60% up to ca. 75%, declined down to 70 kWh
• From 75% up to ca. 85-90%, declined rapidly down to 40 > 30 kWh
• When above 90%, the speed dropped very rapidly down towards single figures

The average overall charge speed for each longer/deeper charge varied from 50 – 80 kWh depending on the starting level. It is anticipated that all these stats should improve somewhat on our next late summer road trip in late August – mid-October.​

​

12. Finally, we used 501 kW in total, covering a total of 2,677 km (1,658 miles) at an average of 18.8 kW/100 km (3.33 m/kW), and the total cost of electricity consumed (including two hotel ‘freebies’ (43 kW in total), plus home ‘Granny’ top-ups to 100% both in France and the UK at domestic rates), was £163, or ca. 10p/mile – predominantly via commercial public fast chargers (at any available rate up to 350 kWh). Fastest actual charge rate obtained (briefly) was 136 kWh from 13% SoC. Average speed over the total 1,658 miles was 31 mph! The longest distance we did between charges was 308 km/191 miles (75% cross-country), but a more ‘comfortable’ March/April-time motorway distance between charging stops seemed to be around 150 miles (240 km) for our MG4 ER. It will be interesting to see what the next late-summer equivalent is.​

​

Diesel fuel consumption for the Mercedes C220 for the same journey would currently have cost around £265, or 16p/mile.​

There are undoubtedly many Es&OsE in all the above; so any qualified corrections always welcome.

P.S. I can’t believe I've been so boring as to record all of this down and then try to inflict it on others! But it was all part of my personal learning-curve. I think I am reasonably content ... so far. And maybe there might be something of vague interest to others too?

Excellent report!

I'm glad that more & more are travelling with their EVs and reporting on their experiences. France is the easiest in my opinion at the moment, with Portugal 2nd.

Aren't those French chargers easy & cheap versus the UK!

You should find that charge rates in the summer are even quicker.

I look forwards to your future reports. Anyone else too?

 

[EVsince2016]

P.S. I can’t believe I've been so boring as to record all of this down and then try to inflict it on others! But it was all part of my personal learning-curve. I think I am reasonably content ... so far. And maybe there might be something of vague interest to others too?​

Boring but helps newbies 'get it'

 

[Robf]

I only used the Electroverse card in France, and had no problems. I thought that the Electroverse card worked on Shell chargers as well?
Hopefully they might soon work on Tesla chargers, now that would stir things up.

 

[EVsince2016]

I only used the Electroverse card in France, and had no problems. I thought that the Electroverse card worked on Shell chargers as well?
Hopefully they might soon work on Tesla chargers, now that would stir things up.

For shell its the shell (old new motion) card/app. Its an awful system, tooks months to sort out a bill payment as my card had expired, no help line, no email responses, no way of paying it despite months of efforts. Finally got a contact & paid by bank transfer, so out dated!

 

[rjhfandclf]

I thought that the Electroverse card worked on Shell chargers as well?

Yes Electroverse cards do work (but not the app) with Shell Recharge and 'Ubitricity' (whatever that is - but seems centred around large conurbations in northern EU and UK?). You can filter to find them all separately on the Electroverse map. I only tried out one Recharge via app and it worked perfectly. But have never yet needed to try out any cards. I suppose I should do so one day.

Hopefully they might soon work on Tesla chargers, now that would stir things up.

A card might certainly have helped when the Tesla app failed to find a signal at the first S/C we tried - but I'm not sure Tesla are presently up to allowing other RFIDs or apps to work on their pods - or at least I personally know of none. They are beginning to become rather outnumbered now though, so perhaps competition might prevail?

EVsince2016:​

For shell its the shell (old new motion) card/app. Its an awful system, tooks months to sort out a bill payment as my card had expired, no help line, no email responses, no way of paying it despite months of efforts. Finally got a contact & paid by bank transfer, so out dated!

Good grief! They also charge a transaction fee - small, but annoying for a small 'fill'.

 

[EVsince2016]

Yes Electroverse cards do work (but not the app) with Shell Recharge and 'Ubitricity' (whatever that is - but seems centred around large conurbations in northern EU and UK?). You can filter to find them all separately on the Electroverse map.

The one I used near Bordeaux didn't accept Electroverse unfortunately.

 

[Afroboy70]

Really nice write up. I find it fascinating. Also super helpful to know Electroverse just works in France. Appreciate you taking the time.

 

[rossy70]

Many thanks for all the useful info here. I'm debating getting the MG4 extended range on a lease soon and keen to know what the real world range figures are like.
I currently have a Kia eNiro and it is pretty accurate, except when doing motorway driving for long ditances- I'd expect to get around 220 miles, rather than the 265mi range.
But my partner has the MG ZS and I haven't been impressed with the range figures on that - it often seems to be way less than expected on 30mile mixed road drives and we end up driving at 50mph to save battery.
So with a quoted figure of 320mi range for this MG4 what should I typically expect to get in the UK from spring to autumn on mixed road drives in normal mode with a bit of fun thrown in along the way?!

 

[Gomev]

Many thanks for all the useful info here. I'm debating getting the MG4 extended range on a lease soon and keen to know what the real world range figures are like.
I currently have a Kia eNiro and it is pretty accurate, except when doing motorway driving for long ditances- I'd expect to get around 220 miles, rather than the 265mi range.
But my partner has the MG ZS and I haven't been impressed with the range figures on that - it often seems to be way less than expected on 30mile mixed road drives and we end up driving at 50mph to save battery.
So with a quoted figure of 320mi range for this MG4 what should I typically expect to get in the UK from spring to autumn on mixed road drives in normal mode with a bit of fun thrown in along the way?!

From EV Database, but I'm sure if you ask on the MG4 forum they will have anecdotal answers for you.

MG MG4 EV Extended Range

All details and specs of the MG MG4 EV Extended Range (2023). Compare price, lease, real-world range and consumption of every electric vehicle.

ev-database.org

 

[rossy70]

Thanks

From EV Database, but I'm sure if you ask on the MG4 forum they will have anecdotal answers for you.

MG MG4 EV Extended Range

All details and specs of the MG MG4 EV Extended Range (2023). Compare price, lease, real-world range and consumption of every electric vehicle.

ev-database.org

Thanks. Yes, on paper, it looks very good! But I was a bit concerned by reports of people charging their MG4 to 100% and finding it was only showing around 220miles of range in winter - which would be 60% of the quoted figure for the the 77kWh version. Appreciate that driving conditions and style of driving make a difference.

On the Kia, I would expect to lose around 10% off the quoted total charged range in winter, and another 20% if driving it on motorway for most of the 220+ miles. So my 265 mile range car would be expected to get around 200-220 miles when driven on a long motorway journey, or 220-230 on short, slower drives. I was concerned to see suggestions that the 77kWh MG4 was only showing 250miles fully charged and delivering less than 200 - but maybe this was the smaller battery version, or only charged to 80%. Interested to know of anecdotal experiences in the UK or northern Europe.

 

[rossy70]

9. In the end, we used Tesla chargers only a couple of times, but always without hitch via an account on its app. But I largely used just the one Electroverse app to pay for nearly everything via my home electricity account. I tried the Shell Recharge app once and it worked fine, but was more expensive than Electroverse (which sometimes has discounts, such as with Ionity), and Shell also has a small but annoying transaction charge. I had back-up cards for both too, but didn’t need to use them.​

​

I also ‘discovered’ two excellent smaller cheap fast providers: One, IECharge, I found just before we left the UK so I signed-up to their excellent app too (and subsequently it’s also now included on Electroverse); and the other, Powerdot, which often appears at supermarkets. Both tend to be a mile or two off motorways, but both are very cheap. IECharge sites are usually rather out in the wilds, with just four chargers, and no ancillary services at all (so go prepared!). Going home, they were on special offer at 0.25€/kWh (21.5p/kWh) but ending shortly – normally 0.30€/kWh (26p/kWh). Powerdot was 45p/kWh via Electroverse.​

​

Typical IECharge point, our first stop since leaving home, at Rue, 60 miles south-west along the A16 from Coquelles (Shuttle) ... and empty - again!​

​

View attachment 26496​

Each pod has one 160kW and one 320kW connector ... so take your pick. They have a very user-friendly app to charge (as well as the usual cards etc). We used it over a late lunch and, as an experiment, took it from 31% right up to 95% - which took 51 minutes, with the last 4% taking 9 minutes and slowing right down from 28kW at 91% to 12kW at 95%. The average though over the full charge was a reasonable 51kW, as may be seen from a couple of images of the user screen - the first being the charging screen and the second the detailed receipt ...​

​

View attachment 26497​

​

View attachment 26498​

​

(At the same stop on the way home, and despite intermittent cold showers, two or three nightingales were singing competitively all around us - as they had been when we left the south-west ... delightful!)​

​

Of other chargers, Ionity was 48p/kWh with Electroverse’s discount, while Tesla was between 0.43€ - 0.50€/kWh (37p - 43p/kWh) depending on time of day. Lidl can also be cheap (but not always, so check!), although we didn’t use any. We also used TotalEnergy when necessary on motorways, again via Electroverse, but they were dearer at 0.59€ / 51p/kWh, and they also have a heavy ‘overstay’ charge after 45 minutes. But there are loads more to choose from so no stress …​

​

One obvious useful tip, if charging from a higher SoC, is not to bother with the fastest chargers if there are cheaper slower ones available, since it is unlikely anyway that you will be able to charge any faster on the costlier ones. This can save 10p – 20p or so per kWh.​

​

10. On our return journey, we planned our stops from our trials going down and, apart from a couple of hiccups (due to my last-minute changes of mind!), all went very smoothly. We made just five commercial charging stops over the three days/two nights, having departed at 1.00 pm on day one, fully-charged up to 100%, and arriving home around 4.00 p.m. on day three with 21% in the tank.​

​

The first three legs were mainly cross-country, the remainder mainly motorway:​

​

Leg 1: to Powerdot charger, Super-U, PINEUILH​	188 km / 119 miles @ 16.1 kWh/100km / 3.85 mi/kWh; added 22 kWh (29%)​
Leg 2: to hotel​	50 km / 31 miles; (no charge)​
Leg 3: to Ionity charger, A10 aire, SAINT-ÉPAIN​	258 km / 161 miles (missed out the intended Tesla charge at Poitiers as too soon, and also the replacement one by mistake!)​
Total Legs 2 + 3 ​	- 308 km / 192 miles @ 17.2 kWh/100km / 3.60 mi/kWh; added 56 kWh (73%)​
Leg 4: to TotalEnergy charger, A28 aire, ALENÇON​	178 km / 111 miles @ 19.9 kWh/100km / 3.12 mi/kWh; added 38 kWh (50%)​
Leg 5: to hotel​	28 km / 17 miles @ 15.9 kWh/100km / 3.90 mi/kWh; added 16 kWh (21%) (FOC)​
Leg 6: to IECharge charger, off A16, RUE​	265 km / 165 miles @ 18.9 kWh/100km / 3.28 mi/kWh; added 42 kWh (56%)​
Leg 7: to home​	230 km / 143 miles @ 18.5 kWh/100km / 3.35 mi/kWh; to 100% = 59 kWh (78%)​
Overall return trip: 1,197 km / 746 miles @ 19.2 kWh/100km / 3.23 mi/kWh​

​

11. In respect of charging speeds, as we were travelling in relatively cool temperatures, we found that charging speeds were of course also affected, as well as the mi/kWh performance levels. However, we did record what happened through one or two deeper recharges from 10-15% < max 85-90%:​

• From a 10-15% start up to 30%, ran at 136 (max) > 130 kW
• From 30% up to ca. 40%, declined down to 110 kW
• From 40% up to ca. 60%, declined down to 90 kW
• From 60% up to ca. 75%, declined down to 70 kW
• From 75% up to ca. 85-90%, declined rapidly down to 40 > 30 kW
• When above 90%, the speed dropped very rapidly down towards single figures

The average overall charge speed for each longer/deeper charge varied from 50 – 80 kW depending on the starting level. It is anticipated that all these stats should improve somewhat on our next late summer road trip in late August – mid-October.​

​

12. Finally, we used 501 kWh in total, covering a total of 2,672 km (1,665miles) at an average of 18.6 kWh/100 km (3.33 mi/kWh), and the total cost of electricity consumed (including two hotel ‘freebies’ (43 kWh in total), plus home ‘Granny’ top-ups to 100% both in France and the UK at domestic rates), was £163, or ca. 10p/mile – predominantly via commercial public fast chargers (at any available rate up to 350 kWh). Fastest actual charge rate obtained (briefly) was 136 kW from 13% SoC. Average speed over the total 1,665 miles was 31 mph! The longest distance we did between charges was 308 km/192 miles (75% cross-country), but a more ‘comfortable’ March/April-time motorway distance between charging stops seemed to be around 150 miles (240 km) for our MG4 ER. It will be interesting to see what the next late-summer equivalent is.​

​

Diesel fuel consumption for the Mercedes C220 for the same journey would currently have cost around £265, or 16p/mile.​

There are undoubtedly many Es&OsE in all the above; so any qualified corrections always welcome.

P.S. I can’t believe I've been so boring as to record all of this down and then try to inflict it on others! But it was all part of my personal learning-curve. I think I am reasonably content ... so far. And maybe there might be something of vague interest to others too?

Hello. Very interesting post - lots of great data here. I know you focused mostly on charging costs and driving efficiency, but I was interested to know what sort of range you were seeing when charging and driving? In theory, you should have been seeing about 300miles on the battery if charging to 90%, right? When driving, could you tell if the car was delivering on that accurately at speeds less than 65mph, which I tend to find is the 'tipping point' for bigger battery loss? It looks like you did a lot of miles, and I'm guessing you were aware of how accurate the range forecast fared against your journey distance each leg?

 

[rjhfandclf]

Hello. Very interesting post - lots of great data here. I know you focused mostly on charging costs and driving efficiency, but I was interested to know what sort of range you were seeing when charging and driving? In theory, you should have been seeing about 300miles on the battery if charging to 90%, right? When driving, could you tell if the car was delivering on that accurately at speeds less than 65mph, which I tend to find is the 'tipping point' for bigger battery loss? It looks like you did a lot of miles, and I'm guessing you were aware of how accurate the range forecast fared against your journey distance each leg?

To answer your specific question is very difficult. I too am still on a learning curve re any electric car, and I too was particularly glued to the idea that the MG4 ER had some useful distance figure quoted for its larger battery. But one thing I have found is that such figures are inevitably totally unreal and somewhat irrelevant because every journey is different in so many ways. Also, I'm not sure, but I think that there may be some interaction between a driver's historic usage and what a 100% fill-up might show. Others more experienced may correct any of this. Nevertheless, although I only fill to 80% for daily running-around, when I do go to 100%, I think it usually says something around 312 miles - presumably for the 'useable' 74.4kWh of the battery - so that equates to my 4.2 mi/kWh for 'cross-country' (under 65 mph) journeys, and as for home runaround. With mixed incl motorway (seldom over 75mph; more often ca 65-70mph if not pressed - as we tend to keep it these days).

However, all my long-distance driving is across France (incl 85mi motorway on the way in the UK), so I never use public chargers in the UK, as having a Zappi at home is sufficient for me. Thus, I find that it pays always to plan my journey methodically in adavnce, so I aim never to get much below 20% SOC and mostly charge up to 85-90% (before it really slows down). This of course means, again, that the quoted/anticipated distances are not very relevant, as I never seek to exceed a max of 200 miles (ca. 75%). And, to be frank, even if one desires much more distance, stops for other purposes will still be necessary!

I think I said somewhere above that I wanted to update this thread with a comparative six-weeks trip in warmer weather - which we did make from 2nd Sept to mid Oct 24. This I put on another very informative thread started by @EVsince2026 (largely related to his own considerable MG5 performance experiences), but forgot to add to my own thread here as well ... my age yet again, I regret! Anyway, I will paste the relevant content below now, and hope it is of some use/interest.

The first two quotes refer to a particular two-days trip we made up into the Pyrenees during the six weeks stay - and shows a specific set of results:

At long last, this weird late summer/autumn broke into real warm sunshine for a few days and we took Beetlejuice up into the heart of the Pyrenees for a couple of days for her first proper jaunt there … and I am really very impressed at the performance in every way. The Pyrenees are not as high as the Alps perhaps, but very steep in places, and we tested her up the 2115m Col du Tourmalet pass – famous (and sometimes infamous too) as the most emblematic of Tour de France top category climbs. BLJ simply skipped up – and down of course. (Just don’t understand the problem with these cyclists!!)

View attachment 31132

After the Col we descended, then up again into the central massif to tour around in a circle, with overnight backdrop of the magical Cirque de Gavarnie with its 422m drop waterfall – the 2nd highest in mainland Europe.

Anyway, some rather interesting statistics from the relatively short 243km (151m) trip ... We start from being only 50km (30m) directly north of the mountains, but at only 250m alt, and as we were generally in sightseeing mode, we seldom drove above 80kph and the avge was nearer half of that, so we were hoping to see good consumption rates. We always use max regen and Normal mode (MG recommends Sport for mountains – no idea why). And as @EVsince2016 has already mentioned further above, the regen obtained over these long mountain descents is amazing, and we saw the SOC rise by 4% (+3kW) over the 18km descent from the Col to Luz-Saint-Sauveur (see photo above).:

Day 1: SOC at 100%. 120km in total. First 50km, down then generally flat with only a gentle rise, then increasingly steeper climbing 1865m to the Col at 85km. Then continuously down – up – down etc., right through to the homeward leg next day. SOC at end of first day was 71% so 29% or approx. 21.5kW used = 18kW/100km (3.5m/kW). Very pleased with that in view of all the climbing.

Day 2: SOC at 71%. 123km in total. First 50km, down towards Lourdes was a long continuous meandering descent of sufficient gradient to give us almost continuous regen – quite extraordinary – the first dozen km we were well into negative territory, and by Lourdes, our overall consumption rate was averaging out down to 5kW/100km (12.5m/kW)! And by the time we got home, the final figures registered for Day 2 were 58% SOC, so just 13% used (9.5kW) or 7.9kW/100km (coincidentally also = 7.9m/kW!)

Overall: The 243 km trip returned 31kW (42%) used at 12.75kW/100km or 4.9m/kW (if all my maths are correct!)

Indeed ... and another thought occurs: Presumably anyone with an EV living high up in the mountains has to remember NOT to charge up to 100% - otherwise they might lose out on regaining a few % regen when they first set off - an interesting different conundrum perhaps?!

The final one covers the more relevant comparison for the whole during warmer weather - albeit we have never driven down in really hot mid-summer:

Excuse me butting-in on your very interesting thread, but...

At long last I have sorted out the data from our last 6-weeks late summer/autumn trip down to the southern Gers in SW France and back home again – if of any interest. I think we have probably just about now managed to hone it down to the most efficient we can achieve. (Not included is any data re local trips/running around whilst there - such as #281 above). We aren’t aiming for record distances between charges, or excessive economy etc. – just stress-free, with only planned charging stops at best available prices. As always these days, we over-night twice on the journey each way.

The driving distance (i.e. excl Shuttle) was, curiously, virtually identical in both directions this time – 1,188 kms down and 1,186 back – as the route varies very slightly for one or two differing stops. Another relevant factor this time were the lower-than-average ambient temperatures, which dropped from around only the low 20s in early Sept down to high teens in mid-Oct – so not particularly hot or cold either way. But as always, it was raining in the Pas-de-Calais and Somme!

And finally; unfortunately, our helpful hotel that offered us FOC grannying can no longer do so because too many others are also now arriving in EVs! So, the relevant (corrected!) outcome was …

South: 1,188 kms (733 m) with total 205 kWh added @ £71 (= 5.9 p/km / 9.7 p/m)

Avge consumption: 17.3 kW/100km (3.6 m/kW) overall​

Total of 5 public charging stops (1 x IECharge, 1 x Total, 2 x Tesla, 1 x Powerdot)​

North: 1,186 kms (732 m) with total 225 kWh added @ £77 (= 6.5 p/km / 10.5 p/m)

Avge consumption: 19.0 kW/100km (3.3 m/kW) overall​

Total of 6 public charging stops (2 x IECharge, 1 x Total, 2 x Tesla, 1 x Powerdot)​

(NB I x Tesla at the Shuttle was a non-essential top-up whilst waiting)​

Overall: 2,374 kms (1,465 m) with 430 kWh added @ £148 (= 6.2 p/km / 10.1 p/m)

Avge consumption: 18.1 kW/100km (3.4 m/kW)​

Other:

• Avge motorway (mixed speeds) consumption was 21.7 kW/100km (2.9 m/kW)
• Avge cross-country (restricted) consumption was 15.0 kW/100km (4.2 m/kW)
• Lowest SOC before re-charge was 28%, so fastest speed seen was 120 kWh (IECharge)
• Avge charge cost overall was £0.34/kWh. Prices the same both ways, but some different chargers and volumes. These examples were the home data only:
• Highest cost was TotalEnergy (Electroverse) @ £0.47/kWh (39 kWh added)
• Lowest was IECharge (app (or Electroverse)) @ £0.225/kWh (63 kWh added)
• Others were Tesla (app – 65 kWh added (including the non-essential ‘extra’ at the Shuttle)) and Powerdot (Electroverse –19 kWh added) both @ £0.45/kWh.
• Away house top-up to 100% SOC costs £0.19/kWh (EDF standard) – included above
• Home top-up to 100% SOC costs £0.126/kWh (Octopus Cosy) – included above

My old C-class Mercedes 220 CDI estate would have cost me £220 (= 9.3 p/km / 15 p/m) for this same journey and time (diesel prices have dropped so maybe now ca £200 today) – always at a cheap supermarket – but only one fill each way ... although you do still, of course, have to stop much more often anyway.

So I’m pretty content with all that (E&OE).

Apologies as usual for the length of all of this.

 

[EVsince2016]

I have an MG5 and have been driving EVs Since summer 2016.

In general I get 4.0 miles per kWh in the summer overall, my wife gets 4.2 in her MG4

In the winter I can go as low at under 2 miles per kWh on short trips due to heating up / defrosting loads.

But, on a super long trip (UK to Portugal - over 3 days - 1350 miles)
Summer - 4.0
Winter = 3.6
so not that bad a drop.