Battery thermal management

[riddick]

For the MG ZS EV (2023), at what temperature do you start preheating the battery? 10 °C or even earlier when the temperature is slightly higher? Do you deal with 'battery cooling' on hot days, or does the MG (according to what I’ve read) have automatic liquid cooling for the battery? I assume that while driving, the MG manages the battery temperature on its own without the need to activate battery heating before charging.

 

[mikgle]

For the MG ZS EV (2023), at what temperature do you start preheating the battery? 10 °C or even earlier when the temperature is slightly higher? Do you deal with 'battery cooling' on hot days, or does the MG (according to what I’ve read) have automatic liquid cooling for the battery? I assume that while driving, the MG manages the battery temperature on its own without the need to activate battery heating before charging.

Dont know about the ZS but on my MG4 SE whenever Ive tried battery heating it comes up with "Not required".. I did ask at the last service and they said it had to be really cold to be useful, Im assuming sub zero, as in scandinavian winters.

 

[riddick]

Dont know about the ZS but on my MG4 SE whenever Ive tried battery heating it comes up with "Not required".. I did ask at the last service and they said it had to be really cold to be useful, Im assuming sub zero, as in scandinavian winters.

That's surprising, I would have expected it to be required below 10.

 

[mikgle]

That's surprising, I would have expected it to be required below 10.

Why 10C exactly? My LFP Givenergy battery is programmed not to charge below a battery temp of 0C,
Dont forget the battery warms up whilst charging, my battery data shows it often goes above 40C whilst charging... you dont want it to overheat

 

[fred12345]

As far as I know, the only benefit of heating the battery is if you are about to use fast charger somewhere so it preconditions the battery to take that charge faster ...

 

[Slipstream]

For the MG ZS EV (2023), at what temperature do you start preheating the battery? 10 °C or even earlier when the temperature is slightly higher? Do you deal with 'battery cooling' on hot days, or does the MG (according to what I’ve read) have automatic liquid cooling for the battery? I assume that while driving, the MG manages the battery temperature on its own without the need to activate battery heating before charging.

The only purpose of the battery heater is to heat the battery prior to DC charging should used 20 minutes before charging.

 

[Marcus]

Hi guys I've had the long range ZS trophy for a year now and have not found any indication of how to warm the battery for charging or going to work at 3°C. could you enlighten me please as I've come to the conclusion that the tipping point for range loss in winter is 11°C. below this it drops off almost on a linear rate ie summer 230 range
Winter 170 if I'm lucky.

 

[Deleted member 17430]

Preheat would be for Scandinavian countries and the like where it actually gets cold. 10⁰C is not cold, that's like almost every morning.

Obviously the battery high temperature is automatically managed... But the one time I noticed it running full chat after a long drive with fast charging on a 40⁰C day, I was rather disappointed to find that it shut off as soon as I turned the car off. Wasn't best pleased, but jumped in the pool to take my mind off my cooking battery.

 

[Marcus]

Thank you I noticed on a long trip to the south of France that the Fastned only went up to 32 kW charge and worst at a Total Energies station 22 kW. This whilst covering about 1000 km constant driving 14 hours.

 

[Deleted member 17430]

Hmmm, that sounds bad! I've never really paid attention to which network we've used, but on the few times we've fast charged here in France we hit 90 something kW, for a bit!

 

[Ealing Guy]

I thought that when I happened to do a short 50kW top-up charge in the cold weather (when it was freezing a year or so ago) it might have warmed up the battery as afterwards I got more/better regen slowing down for roundabouts and possibly better miles per kWh in my Mk1 pre facelift. This is only beneficial if you need a top up of course, it is cheaper for me to charge at home.
The battery heater, if the button I have to change the default does switch on a heater, will waste electricity so I haven't tried it.
Maybe people will go back to keeping their electric cars in their garages in winter to keep the batteries warmer and drive more efficiently?

 

[Deleted member 17430]

A garage is a mega bonus for EVs all year round .keeps away a bit of the winter cold which keeps range up and keeps away a bit of the summer hot which staves off degradation.

 

[riddick]

I thought that when I happened to do a short 50kW top-up charge in the cold weather (when it was freezing a year or so ago) it might have warmed up the battery as afterwards I got more/better regen slowing down for roundabouts and possibly better miles per kWh in my Mk1 pre facelift. This is only beneficial if you need a top up of course, it is cheaper for me to charge at home.
The battery heater, if the button I have to change the default does switch on a heater, will waste electricity so I haven't tried it.
Maybe people will go back to keeping their electric cars in their garages in winter to keep the batteries warmer and drive more efficiently?

I've already charged at a Tesla DC station at around 90kW, but of course, it dropped afterwards. However, at another Tesla charger, it was only 50kW—the truth is, some charging stations share capacity, so it's important to check if there's someone else using the station.