...Just ordered an MG4 Trophy ER (my first EV) any advice most welcome...

[HiFiDave]

Hello!
Newbie here... After a week or so reading reviews etc I've just ordered an MG 4 Trophy extended range. It will be my first EV, so I thought it would be really useful to shout out to owners, as I'm sure there will be things I'm not aware of, or don't fully understand.
I have a daily 20 mile each way commute on busy roads, so moving from a petrol manual (Mercedes C200 2.0 2017) should (hopefully) make the journey cheaper, less polluting and from what I've read, less unenjoyable.
I've not ordered a wall box yet, but have just done a survey with OVO, our present supplier. Planning to use the granny cable at first, as I seldom need to do a longer journey without notice.
Any advice that owners can give would be most appreciated, whether it be on which charger (or even energy supplier switch) to go with, tips with the infotainment, anything at all really...
The only thing I'm aware of is to try to keep the battery as near to 40-80% as possible, rather than running it right down and then full charging.
Whilst I don't think I'll need it often, any advice on public chargers would be welcome too.
I'm sorry if this is a boring thread, but it's going to be all new to me- hopefully I'll be able to post something more interesting once I get the car in a couple of weeks (from Croxdale MG, Durham)
Thanks guys...

 

[Tight Git]

40 miles per day will need approx 13kWh and with a granny charger take around 7 hours to replace what you use. Yes it will be doable with the granny but how long before it becomes a pain? You will also need to ensure your electrics are up to charging for that length of time without issue.

Before you commit to buying the charger from OVO do some sums and work out which tariff works best for you, then choose the charger that works with the tariff.

Enjoy your car when you get it!

 

[Montego]

Having committed to the car don't be afraid to change your electricity supplier. Don't let them determine which charger you buy.
I'm also on Ovo but I ignored their charger recommendations and went with PodPoint. I'm happy with that decision, but it means I cannot get an EV charging deal with Ovo. After 18 months of ownership I have enough electricity usage history to analyse alternative deals and tend to find that the EV deals offer a higher price for general consumption and the overall charges are not enough to persuade me to change and lose the flexibility to charge when I like.
With an ER and 40 mile commute a charger will give you the flexibility to charge twice a week rather than every night.
Good luck.

 

[Griffian]

We went straight for an Ohme Home Pro with 8m cable (£830 inc installation) and Octopus Intelligent Go. We can fully charge the 77kWh battery in eleven hours and Ohme will create a schedule for us so it's all at 7p per kWh. When we get a free hour from Octopus we can top-up over 6kWh for £0. In our first six months, 4,000 miles cost us £80 and overall our electricity bill didn't increase through load shifting.

 

[siteguru]

We went straight for an Ohme Home Pro with 8m cable (£830 inc installation) and Octopus Intelligent Go. We can fully charge the 77kW battery in eleven hours and Ohme will create a schedule for us so it's all at 7p per kW. When we get a free hour from Octopus we can top-up over 6kW for £0. In out first six months, 4,000 miles cost us £80 and overall our electricity bill didn't increase through load shifting.

And that's the key point about almost all of these types of tariff ... you need to be prepared to load shift. If you can't or won't (e.g. Mrs. Guru refuses to have heavy loads like washing machine etc. running overnight whilst we're sleeping) then such tariffs may not be any use. Obviously it also depends on how many miles you do hence how often you're recharging the car.

 

[Griffian]

And that's the key point about almost all of these types of tariff ... you need to be prepared to load shift. If you can't or won't (e.g. Mrs. Guru refuses to have heavy loads like washing machine etc. running overnight whilst we're sleeping) then such tariffs may not be any use. Obviously it also depends on how many miles you do hence how often you're recharging the car.

TBH we only do one load of washing at 23.30 when one of us is invariably still up and about. That's about the extent of the load shifting we do, really.

 

[siteguru]

A washing cycle for us typically takes about 2 hours ... there's no way we'd stay up until 1.30am

 

[salty]

Enjoy your new motor, when it arrives.

 

[Tig170]

If you're starting from scratch get a charger that uses Kraken technology, as it gives you access to all tarrifs. I was provided with an ohme pro ( more by luck ), but am so pleased that I was provided with this given what I know now.

EDIT: the car will be fine, you'll soon be getting solar, batteries & ASHP, and realise that even if you live in the 2nd coldest house in Britain (mine was/is the coldest with an EPC of 22,000kwlawh pa), that for everything you may be less than £1000 / year to run the car and house?

 

[Bam Bam]

A washing cycle for us typically takes about 2 hours ... there's no way we'd stay up until 1.30am

We haven't bothered doing it with the washing machine, but we have been using the delay timer on the dishwasher even before we went onto Octopus Go. It is ready about 5.30am ready for Pebbles to let dog out in the morning.

Nice to wake up to dishes being done.

 

[HiFiDave]

Hi All,
Thanks so much for all the replies... I've been happy with OVO and have been looking at their EV tariff, which looks to give 7.5p/kWh when smart charging overnight. It appears OVO don't officially support MG cars (or Kia/Hyundai amongst others), but from what I've read (please correct me if I've got this wrong) the Ohme Pro charger kind of acts as a bridge, so I charge using the charger settings (rather than the OVO app), and that liaises with OVO to get the 7.5p/kWh rate.
So a granny cable isn't such a good idea for regular use it seems, being slow and not getting the EV cheap tariff?
Yes, really excited to get the car, it's a bit of a leap into the dark for me, but I've got a couple weeks to get things sussed as best I can, so any info/advice etc gratefully received!
Couple other questions, if the car comes with a cable (3 pin mains socket) I gather I need a special cable for public charging, or do the chargers have these built in (tethered- there you go, I've learned something already!)
Thanks again guys...

 

[Bam Bam]

-yes, really excited to get the car, it's a bit of a leap into the dark for me, but I've got a couple weeks to get things sussed as best I can, so any info/advice etc gratefully received!

This is a nice friendly community to guide you through any questions/issues. Very reassuring when getting a first EV.

Check out the Jerry Pan You Tube videos on the MG4 and Burl Solomons if you haven't already.

Getting an outside socket, ideally a fully smart 7kW EVSE is advised.

Couple other questions, if the car comes with a cable (3 pin mains socket) I gather I need a special cable for public charging, or do the chargers have these built in (tethered- there you go, I've learned something already!)

You'll probably need a type-2 cable if you want to do AC charging out and about. Some AC might be tethered but most aren't.

We stayed at a cottage which advertised charging and it turned out you needed your own type 2 cable. Maybe the owners could have lent one, but we had insisted on getting one included with the car from the dealer and so we used that.

There is free AC charging in our local town centre, untethered. That is if you get there at a time when the two units aren't in use.

Having both kinds of cable means you are covered, but you could live with just using tethered if your home unit is tethered and you use rapid DC chargers when out and about.

 

[Griffian]

This is a nice friendly community to guide you through any questions/issues. Very reassuring when getting a first EV.

Check out the Jerry Pan You Tube videos on the MG4 and Burl Solomons if you haven't already.

Getting an outside socket, ideally a fully smart 7kW EVSE is advised.



You'll probably need a type-2 cable if you want to do AC charging out and about. Some AC might be tethered but most aren't.

We stayed at a cottage which advertised charging and it turned out you needed your own type 2 cable. Maybe the owners could have lent one, but we had insisted on getting one included with the car from the dealer and so we used that.

There is free AC charging in our local town centre, untethered. That is if you get there at a time when the two units aren't in use.

Having both kinds of cable means you are covered, but you could live with just using tethered if your home unit is tethered and you use rapid DC chargers when out and about.

We got a T2 cable with our Trophy ER back in February. The OP may get one as well?

 

[HiFiDave]

... This is all making sense, and it looks like the MG4 now comes with both cable types, so I should have all angles covered. Special thanks to Bam Bam, have just watched the first of the Jerry Pan youtube vids (on charging).. very informative in a nice straightforward way, just need to get time at the weekend to view all his others. Done an online survey with OVO, just waiting to hear back. Had to jump through some hoops (photos of main water stopcock???) -think I'll start looking into other energy suppliers just in case it starts to drag out...
Thanks again people, just got to get my present car on Auto Trader at the weekend, (and keep learning in the meantime)!

 

[tonybridge]

We're with Octopus and their Intelligent Octopus Go tariff, 7p/kWh night-time at the moment, and 26.02/kWh day (standing charge is quite high at 62.22 per day). We have the Ohme ePod charger, which is fantastic - whichever one you get, only schedule your charges via the app, don't use the car to set up charging.

Your running costs will be dramatically lower with your new EV

 

[APMG]

Just get a charger installed, set a schedule on the car and plug in and forget about it on the overnight rates.

Tomato Energy is 5p/kWh for 6 hours overnight, other tariffs are around 7-8 with octo etc.

 

[HiFiDave]

...Yes, fuel costs look to plummet somewhat, hopefully with a corresponding increase in driving fun :=) ...My work commute is a busy rush hour 20 miles each way, 5 days/week, and I typically I achieve 35-40 MPG (average speed 15-20 MPH). Quick sums predict a weekly fuel bill of £40 dropping to about £6 when charged on an EV overnight plan. Hey, even if it ended up being twice that I'd be well on the right side.

 

[Bam Bam]

...Yes, fuel costs look to plummet somewhat, hopefully with a corresponding increase in driving fun :=) ...My work commute is a busy rush hour 20 miles each way, 5 days/week, and I typically I achieve 35-40 MPG (average speed 15-20 MPH). Quick sums predict a weekly fuel bill of £40 dropping to about £6 when charged on an EV overnight plan. Hey, even if it ended up being twice that I'd be well on the right side.

Three quid to put 100 miles on the car the other night.

Would have cost twelve with an efficient petrol car, more if you add carbon offsetting.

 

[Griffian]

Just get a charger installed, set a schedule on the car and plug in and forget about it on the overnight rates.

Tomato Energy is 5p/kWh for 6 hours overnight, other tariffs are around 7-8 with octo etc.

With a 77 kWh battery, six hours isn't enough. An Ohme/Octopus Intelligent Go dynamic schedule can start before 11.30pm and finish after 10am and still be charged at 7 p/kWh. It's not a true TOU tariff. That only applies to the rest of the house.

 

[Griffian]

As an example, my last 100% equalisation charge started at 7pm on 26 September and ended at 10am on 27 September. The Ohme picked the slots and the total "off-peak" use was 81kWh.