MG ZS EV "Lost" front camera

[BarryH]

I can tell you a funny story about the front camera. Recently I had a fall and when I went to our
local medical centre to be patched up, I hit a bush with my front number plate and cracked the plastic surround. I later glued it up and used an old style large paper clip to hold it in place while it cured. A day or two later I got a warning that the cruise control following and pedestrian avoidance systems weren't working! As it happens I had left the big clip in place and the arms of the clip were blocking the view of the forward camera which is installed directly under and behind the number plate in my ZS. BTW I do NOT remember a forward view display, in fact I have a separate camera mounted on my dash and run off a USB port.
BTW does anyone know of a means of using regenerative braking under cruise control.
My area of NZ has a lot of 80 Km speed limits and the control is useful for this, does seem like
a waste of energy and wear on the brakes without regen though!!
My own car is 94% solar powered as I charge it from a 5 Kw solar roof and at 36 degrees South this
produces quite a lot of energy. I also power the house in daytime and export any surplus power back to the grid (about 300 kW/H last month) Southern summer of course.

I can certainly answer your KERS question. No, you can't get the ZS (mk1 or Facelift) to do regenerative braking when on AAC. The motor control system isn't capable of it. However, the MG5 which has a different motor control system from a different supplier/development stream has always had it baked-in from day 1. And of course, the MG4 on the new modular platform has it so all new models released by MG would have it also.

Now the good news. I have a ZS and I'm convinced it makes very little difference to the effective range. the reason being is that the types of trips, roads and speeds where ACC is appropriate to be used (straight cruising conditions) wouldn't actually be the trips where you would be varying the speed a lot in any case and therefore not the conditions under which KERS would be recovering a significant amount of energy. The benefit of smoother more consistent progress under ACC control rather than a fluctuating right foot more than makes up for the absence of KERS under ACC driving.

I can offer as evidence a trial I did on a mixed journey of 75 miles each way on which I drove outbound under ACC with MG Pilot at every opportunity in my ZS and homeward without either in operation. Traffic conditions were similar yet I used about 10 miles less of my range according to the depleted expected range on the dash. Maybe not wholly scientific but good enough for me not to be overly concerned by the lack of regenerative braking under ACC on the ZS.

 

[Kithmo]

There is a camera just under the front MG badge, just above the number plate

That's for the 360 degree view not the safety features.

 

[BarryH]

That's for the 360 degree view not the safety features.

True the front camera is only for 360 view but I could imagine that stray metallic bits on and around the number plate such as the clips used in the repair could cause unpredictable interference to the forward-facing ACC and collision prevention Radar even if not in direct "visible" line-of-sight since radio waves don't propagate exactly as light does.

 

[Kithmo]

True the front camera is only for 360 view but I could imagine that stray metallic bits on and around the number plate such as the clips used in the repair could cause unpredictable interference to the forward-facing ACC and collision prevention Radar even if not in direct "visible" line-of-sight since radio waves don't propagate exactly as light does.

That's the point I was making.

 

[crite40]

I can certainly answer your KERS question. No, you can't get the ZS (mk1 or Facelift) to do regenerative braking when on AAC. The motor control system isn't capable of it. However, the MG5 which has a different motor control system from a different supplier/development stream has always had it baked-in from day 1. And of course, the MG4 on the new modular platform has it so all new models released by MG would have it also.

Now the good news. I have a ZS and I'm convinced it makes very little difference to the effective range. the reason being is that the types of trips, roads and speeds where ACC is appropriate to be used (straight cruising conditions) wouldn't actually be the trips where you would be varying the speed a lot in any case and therefore not the conditions under which KERS would be recovering a significant amount of energy. The benefit of smoother more consistent progress under ACC control rather than a fluctuating right foot more than makes up for the absence of KERS under ACC driving.

I can offer as evidence a trial I did on a mixed journey of 75 miles each way on which I drove outbound under ACC with MG Pilot at every opportunity in my ZS and homeward without either in operation. Traffic conditions were similar yet I used about 10 miles less of my range according to the depleted expected range on the dash. Maybe not wholly scientific but good enough for me not to be overly concerned by the lack of regenerative braking under ACC on the ZS.

That's very reassuring. I have noticed that the cruise control is very "light footed" and keeps the speed down on corners etc. That is good because i live in a small country town in NZ and have 80 kM/Hr limits on parts of all the roughly 30 k each way journeys to local shopping areas. That makes driving even easier for me. One last question, how do you turn off the cruise control. I understand that using the normal foot control cancels it, but the digital display does not return to normal unless you power down the whole system and restart.
BTW went to a older peoples social club this morning and over 30% of the cars were either late hybrids or electric! We had a sunny day here so I got over 80km worth of charge!!! Makes me glad that I now live closer to the equator.

 

[N2STY]

how do you turn off the cruise control. I understand that using the normal foot control cancels it, but the digital display does not return to normal unless you power down the whole system and restart

Push the lower left stock all the way forward towards the dash can be a bit stiff on new cars

 

[AK OK]

True the front camera is only for 360 view but I could imagine that stray metallic bits on and around the number plate such as the clips used in the repair could cause unpredictable interference to the forward-facing ACC and collision prevention Radar even if not in direct "visible" line-of-sight since radio waves don't propagate exactly as light does.

... er like "straight" ?

 

[crite40]

Thanks a lot for the cruise control tip. I will be using the cruise a lot more now!! Yes, metallic objects would really mess up microwave radar especially at the high frequencies used these days.