ITALY AND BACK

[MG4cherry]

I have just returned from a trip to Italy, a month near Venice. So I have covered approx 2,500 miles.

I had one major problem which I will save to the end because I believe it was the fault of the dealer not the car.

The MG4 drove beautifully, extremely smoothly and gave me almost no cause for concern whatsoever. I drove on Autobahns, hit 100mph on just one occasion and drove up the Passo Giau which involved 23 hairpin bends and a climb to 2250 metres. I've travelled up such roads before shifting gears on hairpins and steep inclines, the Electric car was unbelievably smooth and took it completely in its stride, brilliant. EV consumption about 3.8 overall but mostly due to rarely exceeding 70mph on the motorways


The only slight issue was a charging issue which came from CCS2 charging, especially IONITY. It is my belief that having charged in extremely heavy rain, water got into the bottom 2 sockets and the chargers started up and then shut down. I think they detected the water because after I swabbed it out with cotton buds, it didn't re-occur. Is IONITY more sensitive because others worked when theirs didn't? My journey was not spoiled I just chose other nearby pumps. Loads of charging stations all the way.

The major issue involved the Aircon. 2 days before I departed I had a new system/ compressor fitted because it was leaking refrigerant. After a few miles I realised that there was no cooling effect at all. I was extremely disappointed/angry because I expected hot weather. The temperature in Germany reached 30º and after 250 miles the car went haywire, RED lights filled the dash and a warning telling me that the main battery was about to shut down, stop the car and get the dealer to look at it. Then the cruise control tried to accelerate away and other warnings came up. I was close to my booked overnight stop and parked up there. The next days were cooler and I continued to Italy. I took the car to an Italian dealer who recognised the problem and carried out two downloads which I believe should have been carried out at the time the compressor was fitted. I understand that the compressor cools the main battery and overheating was the reason for the intended shut down.
Problem solved!

All in all, I love the car!!

 

[richlove]

Nice, sounds like you enjoyed some spectacular roads. I've cycled Passo Giau a few times, quite a beast, though worth it for the views ? Can imagine the MG4 being quite at home on twisty mountain passes

 

[chiarabrixia]

I learnt to ignore RED lights and whatever warning as they usually disappear the next day or next time you turn off/on the car.

 

[Buster72]

I have just returned from a trip to Italy, a month near Venice. So I have covered approx 2,500 miles.

I had one major problem which I will save to the end because I believe it was the fault of the dealer not the car.

The MG4 drove beautifully, extremely smoothly and gave me almost no cause for concern whatsoever. I drove on Autobahns, hit 100mph on just one occasion and drove up the Passo Giau which involved 23 hairpin bends and a climb to 2250 metres. I've travelled up such roads before shifting gears on hairpins and steep inclines, the Electric car was unbelievably smooth and took it completely in its stride, brilliant. EV consumption about 3.8 overall but mostly due to rarely exceeding 70mph on the motorways


The only slight issue was a charging issue which came from CCS2 charging, especially IONITY. It is my belief that having charged in extremely heavy rain, water got into the bottom 2 sockets and the chargers started up and then shut down. I think they detected the water because after I swabbed it out with cotton buds, it didn't re-occur. Is IONITY more sensitive because others worked when theirs didn't? My journey was not spoiled I just chose other nearby pumps. Loads of charging stations all the way.

The major issue involved the Aircon. 2 days before I departed I had a new system/ compressor fitted because it was leaking refrigerant. After a few miles I realised that there was no cooling effect at all. I was extremely disappointed/angry because I expected hot weather. The temperature in Germany reached 30º and after 250 miles the car went haywire, RED lights filled the dash and a warning telling me that the main battery was about to shut down, stop the car and get the dealer to look at it. Then the cruise control tried to accelerate away and other warnings came up. I was close to my booked overnight stop and parked up there. The next days were cooler and I continued to Italy. I took the car to an Italian dealer who recognised the problem and carried out two downloads which I believe should have been carried out at the time the compressor was fitted. I understand that the compressor cools the main battery and overheating was the reason for the intended shut down.
Problem solved!

All in all, I love the car!!

I can well imagine your frustration at the air con problem. Not much fun driving in those temperatures.
But equally I can imagine the enjoyment of driving along that particular stretch of road and not having to keep changing gears.

Thank you for posting such an interesting journey.
What standard of MG4 do you have?

 

[MG4cherry]

I can well imagine your frustration at the air con problem. Not much fun driving in those temperatures.
But equally I can imagine the enjoyment of driving along that particular stretch of road and not having to keep changing gears.

Thank you for posting such an interesting journey.
What standard of MG4 do you have?

Hi, yes it was extremely enjoyable. So smooth, helped by the fact that I only saw 1 pothole throughout my trip.
My MG is a Trophy LR. I'll add the range was around 250 miles, though I did take coffee and dog walkies breaks etc and kept it over 40% whilst doing so.

 

[siteguru]

Trophy LR or ER? (Your forum profile shows the latter).

 

[MG4cherry]

Ooops! ER

 

[Ian Key]

Ooops! ER

Don't you mean "ooh-err missus"? ?

 

[MG4cherry]

I had to Google who says that... I thought it was Dick Emery. Anyway I got confused as to which was farther or further, "Long" or "Extended"… So here is a full clarification:
"To lengthen is to make longer, either in a material or an immaterial sense: to lengthen a dress. To extend is to lengthen beyond some original point or so as to reach a certain point: to extend a railway line by a hundred miles. To stretch is primarily to lengthen by drawing or tension: to stretch a rubber band"