Charging MG4 Trophy LR, how much do you get at home in 4 hrs?

[Ian Key]

I've gone with the Ohme on Octopus will get the Intelligent when it's installed. After the Grant it'll cost me £649 and that's with a non std install as we turned our car port into a room, so the Cable will have to go through that.

All of this was arranged through Octopus and they deal with the grant for you. Just one form to apply and it's done. Hopefully it'll be installed in about 8 weeks.

Until then it's 1.8 kW charge on our std outside socket.

That's a good price, I guess you rent your home to get the grant.

 

[yellowking]

That's a good price, I guess you rent your home to get the grant.

That's right Housing Association

It's too expensive for a mortgage on a cardboard shoebox these days.

 

[Bluesparky]

It is less than that due to losses - 7kW charger will deliver perhaps 6.4kW to the car. We get around 40% in 4 hours on our LR Trophy.

WOW, how long is your charge lead, where do you lose 1kw ????, A 7kW charger is generally 7.4kW, there shouldn't be virtually any loss going to the car. I regularly do the maths of charge given, mileage gained, time on charge, cost of electric used etc etc and the figures work out pretty exact. Both charger and smart meter give the same results too.

 

[Ayoull]

WOW, how long is your charge lead, where do you lose 1kw ????, A 7kw charger is generally 7.4kw, there shouldn't be virtually any loss going to the car. I regularly do the maths of charge given, mileage gained, time on charge, cost of electric used etc etc and the figures work out pretty exact. Both charger and smart meter give the same results too.

Assuming UK models:

MG4 LR MY22 are 7kW capable when running in 1ph mode on the 3ph onboard charger, but the LR MY23 are only 6.6kW 1ph

 

[Bluesparky]

Assuming UK models:

MG4 LR MY22 are 7kW capable when running in 1ph mode on the 3ph onboard charger, but the LR MY23 are only 6.6kW 1ph

seems a bit of a step backward

 

[Ayoull]

seems a bit of a step backward

All MG 1ph OBCs are only 6.6kW rated. While the 3ph OBCs manage 7kW when utilising 2 charger pathways in 1ph mode.

 

[gazza487]

WOW, how long is your charge lead, where do you lose 1kw ????, A 7kw charger is generally 7.4kw, there shouldn't be virtually any loss going to the car. I regularly do the maths of charge given, mileage gained, time on charge, cost of electric used etc etc and the figures work out pretty exact. Both charger and smart meter give the same results too.

I get about the same 6.4 even on the 3phase at work on my SE. You have supply voltage variation but I do believe there were different power modules fitted hence some got 3ph in uk, others didn’t. I seem to recall some too out at 6.6 - though I could be dreaming that number up.

 

[siteguru]

You're right - the single phase charger is rated at 6.6kW.

 

[wattmatters]

WOW, how long is your charge lead, where do you lose 1kw ????, A 7kw charger is generally 7.4kw, there shouldn't be virtually any loss going to the car.

The car's single phase on board charger is only capable of charging at up to ~6.6 kW on the DC side.

So unless they were actually measuring the AC power draw, one cannot assuming they have such sizeable losses.

I actually have power monitoring on my home's EV circuit (amongst others). This is an example of the wall EVSE set to supply the maximum the car will accept:

The highest AC power draw was 6.72 kW.

Between the car's charge port and the main circuit board where I measure the power would be ~45 m of wiring. The losses are not that high (there will be some converting AC to DC).

 

[Tigger]

WOW, how long is your charge lead, where do you lose 1kw ????, A 7kw charger is generally 7.4kw, there shouldn't be virtually any loss going to the car.

Agreed, there isn't any loss going to the car, apart from a miniscule amount heating the cable. The loss happens in the car, in the converter, as @wattmatters points out. @tsedge experiences a loss from 7 to 6.4kW, which is 8.5%. When I measured it last on my Trophy I made it 8% loss, so much the same.

7kW gets to the car, but only 6.4kW gets into the battery. I assume DC chargers don't lose as much - no conversion necessary.

 

[gazza487]

Agreed, there isn't any loss going to the car, apart from a miniscule amount heating the cable. The loss happens in the car, in the converter, as @wattmatters points out. @tsedge experiences a loss from 7 to 6.4kw, which is 8.5%. When I measured it last on my Trophy I made it 8% loss, so much the same.

7kw gets to the car, but only 6.4kw gets into the battery. I assume DC chargers don't lose as much - no conversion necessary.

Drifting way off track but … I wonder how they measure at DC chargers are you paying for their losses (probably not, most likely power delivered) but that leads on to another question. Is there weights and measures on chargers like a petrol pump. Now massively different to a mechanical fuel volume and electronics shouldn’t drift etc just made me wonder.

 

[Ayoull]

Drifting way off track but … I wonder how they measure at DC chargers are you paying for their losses (probably not, most likely power delivered) but that leads on to another question. Is there weights and measures on chargers like a petrol pump. Now massively different to a mechanical fuel volume and electronics shouldn’t drift etc just made me wonder.

All public use chargers had to comply with MID metering regulations that stipulate a level of permitted error usually 1% for billing purposes.

 

[wattmatters]

7kw gets to the car, but only 6.4kw gets into the battery. I assume DC chargers don't lose as much - no conversion necessary.

Sometimes when AC charging I suspect some of the power is also directed to other functions, such as charging the 12 V system battery / powering the 12 V system. It's more noticeable when using a granny charger because it takes up a greater slice of the delivered power.

 

[tsedge]

WOW, how long is your charge lead, where do you lose 1kw ????, A 7kW charger is generally 7.4kW, there shouldn't be virtually any loss going to the car. I regularly do the maths of charge given, mileage gained, time on charge, cost of electric used etc etc and the figures work out pretty exact. Both charger and smart meter give the same results too.

This is quite normal, my charge lead is the standard lead that comes with a Zappi, I think it will do 10m? Never actually unrolled it completely.

7kW chargers are not generally 7.4kW, they are almost always less than 7kW, then you have the losses in the cable and the Ac-DC conversion.

 

[tonygm]

Why not use Octopus Intelligent Go? You don't have to worry about the car not being recognised by Octopus if you install a recognised charger.

I have the MG4 Extended range with the Zappi charger and it works good for me. Just plug the car in and that's it - it charges to my set voltage (80%) by my set time (08:00) without any faffing about.

Before that i had Octopus Go and with the Zappi, it would add around 38% between 00:30 and 04:30. Bear in mind that the battery is 74kWh so roughly 28 kWh charge added. Which would make sense, 4 hrs x 7kW charger.

Hi, I have a very similar (just installed) setup and am very new to EV charging. I am not convinced that my system is changing at low rates as when I plug in charging seems to begin immediately. Could you possibly tell me what setting you are using for all three elements, Car/Zappi/Octopus? I feel that I need to go through all the settings carefully to find out what I am getting wrong. Octopus app tells me I am on IO Go.
many thanks for any clarity you can bring.
Tony Mortimer

 

[Ian Key]

Hi, I have a very similar (just installed) setup and am very new to EV charging. I am not convinced that my system is changing at low rates as when I plug in charging seems to begin immediately. Could you possibly tell me what setting you are using for all three elements, Car/Zappi/Octopus? I feel that I need to go through all the settings carefully to find out what I am getting wrong. Octopus app tells me I am on IO Go.
many thanks for any clarity you can bring.
Tony Mortimer

Might be worth joining the myenergi users group. They helped me when I first got my Zappi charger.

myenergi

The place for myenergi customers, supporters and fans to meet, discuss, provide feedback and share ideas

myenergi.info

 

[Mickser]

Hi,

This is MG4 specific - just trying to decide what type of charger to go for at home, external 13A socket or 7kW EV charger? Would like to know what others experience is.

I have an MG4 Trophy long-range (not extended).

Currently use the 13A charger that came with the car, looks like I usually charge from about 40% to 80% every other evening which is usually completed between 2am and 4am on the granny charger (6-8 hours).

I could get an EV charger (7kW) reasonably economically and go onto Octopus Go (NOT intelligent) and have 4 hours of cheap electricity between 12:30 and 4:30.

My question is, how much charge would this window of charging give me?
Would it cover my usual use?
What is the max charge I would get at the cheap rate, in terms of percentage of charge?

Cheers
dwoop

The granny charger is not intended for long term use only for emergencies or for topping up when say your visiting relatives who don't have a 7kw charger. I know some people regularly use the granny but MG don't recommend that.

 

[Adam C]

The granny charger is not intended for lo g term use only for emergencies or for topping up when say your visiting relatives who dnt have a 7kw charger, I know some people regularly use the granny but MG don't recommend that

I asked on here about recommended extension leads to use with my granny charger

Since then I spoke to a technician/mechanic where I got my MG4. Now he said until I can get a 7kwh home charger it’s better & safer ( not better on wallet ) to use public chargers than to rely on the granny lead, in fact he said he wouldn’t not use the granny charger more than once a month.

I’ve absolutely no idea myself, just repeating what he told me but I’ve read others who use them regularly with no issues.

 

[Rolfe]

Still works, though. And apparently without a hell of a lot of problems people will home chargers are experiencing!

 

[Raymond AB]

Why not use Octopus Intelligent Go? You don't have to worry about the car not being recognised by Octopus if you install a recognised charger.

I have the MG4 Extended range with the Zappi charger and it works good for me. Just plug the car in and that's it - it charges to my set voltage (80%) by my set time (08:00) without any faffing about.

Before that i had Octopus Go and with the Zappi, it would add around 38% between 00:30 and 04:30. Bear in mind that the battery is 74kWh so roughly 28 kWh charge added. Which would make sense, 4 hrs x 7kW charger.

I agree fully with you, I have a Zappi 7kw Charger and I am on the Octopus intelligent tariff, I plug my Car in when I get home, and I have the Octopus App on my Phone, once pugged in open the Octopus App, click on Devices on the Octopus App and you will see your charging schedule, i.e. the times when you car will charge at the cheap rate, Sometime you will get a cheap charging schedule from 08:30pm through to 06.00am, use this charging schedule and run your other appliances in you home, for example, Dishwasher, Washing Machine, Tumble Drier etc. its cheap electricity during this period. you car will not charge until the start of the schedule so you will never be charging your car at the dear rate.