Can’t fault it

[Cricketer007]

This forum covers a lot of issues with the ZS EV which no doubt helps generally, but I wanted to share my opinion.

So I have just got back from a 1400 mile road trip across the UK. Dorset to Cornwall to Somerset, Wales, Midlands etc. Family of 4 with a full load in the boot - full to the rim, daily mileage etc.

The car performed like a trooper. Solid driving, never winced and gave me about 160 miles per charge and I was doing a lot of motorway, dual carriageway drives.

I had the zap-map loaded and used it to inform me of when and where to stop. Mostly used 50 KWh chargers (CCS) and had no issues waiting (had to wait once for around 30 minutes). Family had a coffee, stretched their legs etc. Car was charged to about 90% each time in about 40 minutes.

Used ACC and lane assist and it worked like a treat. Wonderful technology.

Even drove it up the black mountain pass way in Brecon Beacons with everyone in it and although the miles per KWh did go down a tad, it was fine.

We used the Air con as much as we needed.

10/10 for me.

All the best.

 

[Cocijo]

This forum covers a lot of issues with the ZS EV which no doubt helps generally, but I wanted to share my opinion.

So I have just got back from a 1400 mile road trip across the UK. Dorset to Cornwall to Somerset, Wales, Midlands etc. Family of 4 with a full load in the boot - full to the rim, daily mileage etc.

The car performed like a trooper. Solid driving, never winced and gave me about 160 miles per charge and I was doing a lot of motorway, dual carriageway drives.

I had the zap-map loaded and used it to inform me of when and where to stop. Mostly used 50 KWh chargers (CCS) and had no issues waiting (had to wait once for around 30 minutes). Family had a coffee, stretched their legs etc. Car was charged to about 90% each time in about 40 minutes.

Used ACC and lane assist and it worked like a treat. Wonderful technology.

Even drove it up the black mountain pass way in Brecon Beacons with everyone in it and although the miles per KWh did go down a tad, it was fine.

We used the Air con as much as we needed.

10/10 for me.

All the best.

Sounds great. Did you actually get 160 miles between charges at motorway speeds fully loaded? what average miles/kwh did you achieve?

 

[Kithmo]

Sounds great. Did you actually get 160 miles between charges at motorway speeds fully loaded? what average miles/kwh did you achieve?

Should theoretically be 3.8-3.9 m/kWh, based on 42.5kWh usable battery, not difficult I would think.

 

[Deleted member 823]

Nice - thanks for sharing, always good to hear about longer journeys. Due to lockdown/lack of employment (thanks COVID ), I've yet to stretch the range of my ZS.

 

[Cocijo]

Should theoretically be 3.8-3.9 m/kWh, based on 42.5kWh usable battery, not difficult I would think.

I would doubt that at any higher speeds (say average 40mph) a real world useable 160miles is achievable between charges without some very very low battery levels. Yes, around town at low speeds with sensible use It’s not unrealistic.

 

[Cricketer007]

So I stuck to maximum 55 mph and didn’t exceed this too often. 160 is the average. Some journeys were lower and some were higher etc. Downhill it sometimes added miles.

 

[Pepe]

I'd like to add to this. We live in Australia. Before various border closures I drove the MG from Currumbin Valley down to just north of Sydney on the Pacific Highway and back on the New England Highway. A long journey over 2,000kms - the car was a delight to drive and re-charging on the highway Tritium super fast chargers was easy. There are chargers every 100kms or thereabouts. Having enjoyed that so much I decided a few weeks ago to drive north to test out the Queensland Electric Super Highway which runs from the bottom of Queensland to Port Douglas - nearly 2,000kms. The chargers are all similarly spaced out and located in wonderful towns on the way up. The only issue I had is when all the software controls for ACC, pedestrian alert and one other (escapes me now) suddenly went off on a particular bend heading north and just before Mackay. I took it into MG there who reported a number of error messages that had effectively disabled the radar located under the bonnet. Re-setting the number plate and wiping the error codes returned the car to its previous operating state which had been great. I headed north with no problems for another 700 kms or so to Port Douglas. All the way back the car's software system performed perfectly until I reached the same bend and same location that crashed the software on the way up. I was amazed. The coincidence seemed inexplicable. The only random variable that I could wonder about concerned the fact that on each software crash I was driving through the Shoal Water military base and testing grounds during the time a major multinational defense programme was being played out (The Talisman Programme). I have no idea whether there was any interference going on but it was remarkably strange that the software systems all crashed at the same spot. It's great car for the money and I can't wait to see what MG will launch as the upgrade model.

 

[JodyS21]

So I stuck to maximum 55 mph and didn’t exceed this too often. 160 is the average. Some journeys were lower and some were higher etc. Downhill it sometimes added miles.

That makes sense then if you maxed out at 55mph to get that kind of range.
I can't bring myself to do 55 on a 70mph road. To be honest I don't think it's a great idea to go that much slower than most of the other traffic and cause practically all of the other traffic to have to overtake, lorries overtaking cars make me wince!

I presume you didn't actually average 160 miles before filling up, but rather your mpkwh averged 3.9+?

Recent long trip to the coast we did, ended up with 3.7 - was taking it carefully & not going much above 65 on fast roads, was reasonably happy with that. On the way home though in the rain, sticking to 70 where possible, only got 3.1. So much difference dependant on conditions.

 

[Coulomb]

All the way back the car's software system performed perfectly until I reached the same bend and same location that crashed the software on the way up. I was amazed. The coincidence seemed inexplicable.

Interesting.

I'm also in Australia, and at a local supermarket carpark, there are two spots near each other that confound the MG (but not our Leaf). The key fob doesn't lock the vehicle. Sometimes if I try really hard it will lock, but then when I return I can't unlock. I have no such problems anywhere else so far. I can't see anything different about that location.

These location sensitivities are probably unrelated, but I thought I'd mention it in case we can build a pattern with more reports. Maybe the key fob computer goes nuts from certain radio frequency interference (that doesn't seem to affect other cars), and it floods the CAN bus with messages or some such, in your case triggering other ECUs to crash.

 

[Pepe]

Interesting.

I'm also in Australia, and at a local supermarket carpark, there are two spots near each other that confound the MG (but not our Leaf). The key fob doesn't lock the vehicle. Sometimes if I try really hard it will lock, but then when I return I can't unlock. I have no such problems anywhere else so far. I can't see anything different about that location.

These location sensitivities are probably unrelated, but I thought I'd mention it in case we can build a pattern with more reports. Maybe the key fob computer goes nuts from certain radio frequency interference (that doesn't seem to affect other cars), and it floods the CAN bus with messages or some such, in your case triggering other ECUs to crash.

Thanks for the feedback and the CAN bus had over 29 error messages on it in Mackay which in itself should not be a problem but did indicate a recurring problem. One remote possibility was the partial obscuring of the bottom radar plate by the badly positioned number plate. It seemed logical on the way up but once the faults happened again at the same place that no longer seemed such a strong explanation. I'm curious about the key fob story too. Are there any obvious telecom towers or other sources of interference there?

 

[Coulomb]

Are there any obvious telecom towers or other sources of interference there?

Duh! That never occurred to me. Yes, there is a mobile phone array at the top of the sign advertising the shopping centre. They also recently (1-2 years ago) installed some shade cloth, with huge metal supports. I'll bet that the supports are focusing UHF energy onto that spot! I still don't know why the MG is sensitive to it but other cars not. Maybe it's an accident of the shape of the chassis, or something to do with the shark fin (UK models have different antennas), or other freakish circumstances.

Perhaps a well placed ferrite ring (preferably the openable type for ease of installation) would fix it. If I was a bit more RF cognisant, I could possibly guess some places and experiment. I suppose some wires to do with the fob detector might be a reasonable start.

 

[Coulomb]

A photo, in case it helps with someone else's sensitive spot (if any). Click on top photo for more detail.

[ Edit: I've found that there are plenty more sensitive spots than these. Sigh. ]

The lower satellite photo must be older than the street view one above; it has trees instead of UHF concentrators shade cloth frames. Think of it as an X-ray view through the frames.

I'm pretty sure that there is a pole for holding up the frames right near both of these sensitive spots.

I haven't tried parking right near the mobile towers; it's not shaded. But it might be an interesting experiment. The fields might be stronger there, but not reflected / focused by metal frames.