MG ZS EV Temperature and drastic drop in miles per kWh

[Delboy102000]

I have had my Long range trophy since February and a recent check states that battery condition is 100% having covered about 6000 miles.
Since the temperature has dropped over the last few weeks I have found the range on a calculator full charge has. Dropped from about 275/280 miles to about 220 with no changes in the way it is used. Have others had a similar experience.

 

[teepee]

Yes, cold weather is a range killer. I was getting 4 miles per kWh a month or so ago, now I'm lucky if I get 2.6

 

[Nutnut]

It's to be expected in an EV:

Cold = Less range.

Really is that simple.

Also cold = using heater and heated seats more which increases energy consuption along with lights and wipers being used more which also contributes to the increase in energy usage and decreased range.

N2STY posted some useful info in this thread:

Here it's the realistic range
Long range View attachment 13349

MG ZS EV Long Range

All details and specs of the MG ZS EV Long Range (2021). Compare price, lease, real-world range and consumption of every electric vehicle.

ev-database.uk

Standard rangeView attachment 13350

MG ZS EV Standard Range

All details and specs of the MG ZS EV Standard Range (2022). Compare price, lease, real-world range and consumption of every electric vehicle.

ev-database.uk

And there are a couple of others worth following to see what efficiency people are achieving in these colder months - gives a better idea of what drop range to realistically expect:

Battery range

My MGZS is 3 months old. The fully charged range was 198 mls but now it is down at 155. Has anyone had this problem or know what causes it. Cheers

www.mgevs.com

 

[Delboy102000]

It's to be expected in an EV:


N2STY posted some useful info in this thread:


And there are a couple of others worth following to see what efficiency people are achieving in these colder months - gives a better idea of what drop range to realistically expect:

Battery range

My MGZS is 3 months old. The fully charged range was 198 mls but now it is down at 155. Has anyone had this problem or know what causes it. Cheers

www.mgevs.com

Thanks for the information that you’ve posted I need a range would drop, but I am surprised to the extent of the sudden Ness of it as well. Like the first poster I was getting close to 4 miles/kWh which has suddenly dropped to the mid twos, it seems very extreme and quite a huge difference and possibly makes my diesel car. More efficient to use in cold weather given the cost now of charging.

 

[Gadget Geek]

Yesterday I did an experiment. After preheating the car with it plugged in, I set off on a local journey without the heater on, only switching it on after a couple of miles, and got 3.7m/kWh for that journey. Later that day I did the same journey with the heater on from the start, set to 22 degrees with fan on 4, and got 2.5m/kWh.

 

[DB Go Rex]

I'm currently getting 150 miles in my SR.

My Ioniq with much smaller battery would be getting 170 miles.

It's got a bigger a frontal area, but I don't think this car has an especially efficient drivetrain compared to some of the competition.

It is what it is I suppose.

 

[Nutnut]

Thanks for the information that you’ve posted I need a range would drop, but I am surprised to the extent of the sudden Ness of it as well. Like the first poster I was getting close to 4 miles/kWh which has suddenly dropped to the mid twos, it seems very extreme and quite a huge difference and possibly makes my diesel car. More efficient to use in cold weather given the cost now of charging.

I don't know if you might find this one worth watch too. I'm keeping an eye on it myself and hoping more people will eventually vote on the poll, as it's easier to gauge results that way:

Miles/ kWh - Winter

Hi guys, I love my MG ZS EV LR and wouldn’t look back m, and don’t get me wrong I knew the cold was always going to affect range but I feel the need to ask the question to see whether I need to either adjust my driving which I thought was quite tame or approach the garage to have it checked...

www.mgevs.com

 

[Delboy102000]

One thing I believe many people are kidding themselves over is when they say , on my tariff at night it only costs me x p per kw. The trouble is that all of the household rate is surcharged so if you do 3500 units per annum without the car which is surcharged at 10p per kilowatt the perceived saving is nowhere near the reality as you pay more for all other electricity.
Therefore for simplicity if you do 7500 miles which is about 2400 kw used you need to take into account the surcharge on you regular offtake and add it to get true cost. Also charging at night is not always convenient especially if the nighttime slot only gives you time to put in 30 or 35 kw per session.
Each time I have looked I have struggled to see the benefit in cost or convenience terms

 

[Lovemyev]

Regarding the question of drop in range.
I regularly charge upto 80% SOC and receive a predicted range of 212 miles, now I am only seeing a predicted range of 199 miles reported due to the colder conditions.
I will upload some photo evidence.
The car is completely frozen solid !.
Interested to see that temperature INSIDE of the car is one degree lower that the temperature OUTSIDE !.

 

[Striker]

Regarding the question of drop in range.
I regularly charge upto 80% SOC and receive a predicted range of 212 miles, now I am only seeing a predicted range of 199 miles reported due to the colder conditions.
I will upload some photo evidence.
The car is completely frozen solid !.
Interested to see that temperature INSIDE of the car is one degree lower that the temperature OUTSIDE !.

View attachment 13596

View attachment 13597

Is 199 miles after you have reset the trips? (I seem to remember you saying that you reset the trips each charge) If it is, that suggests that the GOM does take temperature into account, rather than purely using previous driving results

I've just charged mine to 90%, the app is showing a predicted range of 200 miles, but I haven't reset the trip recently and I've been using the remote heating a lot for short journeys, so it's no surprise that my range is down

 

[N2STY]

One thing I believe many people are kidding themselves over is when they say , on my tariff at night it only costs me x p per kw. The trouble is that all of the household rate is surcharged

Not me 28pkw house 5pkw charging 24/7 21p standing charge in January the 24/7 charging will be 10pkw but the rest is staying the same

 

[Tweed98]

My LR Exclusive is down to about 140/150 miles on a full charge.

Driven normally with heaters on and heated seats and screen as required.

 

[JCFlippen]

Yes, cold weather is a range killer. I was getting 4 miles per kWh a month or so ago, now I'm lucky if I get 2.6

Yep your figures tally almost exactly with my TCLR. Rather glad to have the bigger battery to do all normal runs without charging other than overnight.

 

[hmadsen]

Yesterday I did an experiment. After preheating the car with it plugged in, I set off on a local journey without the heater on, only switching it on after a couple of miles, and got 3.7m/kWh for that journey. Later that day I did the same journey with the heater on from the start, set to 22 degrees with fan on 4, and got 2.5m/kWh.

Yeah, the electric heater on the ZS EV is really thirsty.

I remember the seller trying to convince me that the resistive heater was not really a problem, compared to cars with the heatpump.

I wish they would make a ZS EV 3.gen based on the MG4 platform. The MG4 seems to have most, if not all of the features they "forgot" in the Mk2 (Heatpump, heated steering wheel, dimming rearview mirror, anti-pinch windows all around, and regenerative braking when using ACC)

Would have been absolutely fantastic if they did a MG4, with 80Kwh battery, at about the same price as the MG ZS EV LR, as this would probably pierce the 500 km range.

 

[Roldorf]

The ZS long range does have a heatpump which sends fluid circulating through the battery, don't know if that circulates the fluid through the heater though.

 

[DB Go Rex]

Yeah, the electric heater on the ZS EV is really thirsty.

I remember the seller trying to convince me that the resistive heater was not really a problem, compared to cars with the heatpump.

I wish they would make a ZS EV 3.gen based on the MG4 platform. The MG4 seems to have most, if not all of the features they "forgot" in the Mk2 (Heatpump, heated steering wheel, dimming rearview mirror, anti-pinch windows all around, and regenerative braking when using ACC)

Would have been absolutely fantastic if they did a MG4, with 80Kwh battery, at about the same price as the MG ZS EV LR, as this would probably pierce the 500 km range.

Agree, I think the heat pump is a significant difference in these cold temps. In the Ioniq 38 it was standard and the delta between winter and summer was much smaller.

 

[Gadget Geek]

Agree, I think the heat pump is a significant difference in these cold temps. In the Ioniq 38 it was standard and the delta between winter and summer was much smaller.

It was the same for the Kona as well. Far less range loss with the heat pump.

 

[Delboy102000]

Not me 28pkw house 5pkw charging 24/7 21p standing charge in January the 24/7 charging will be 10pkw but the rest is staying the same

Well done you. How long is that fix for and who with. If it’s Octopus I have found myself getting stuck when they will not tell if they will accept my smart meter. Also last time I looked gas was more expensive. I would really like to do fix somewhere but it is difficult.

 

[Striker]

The ZS long range does have a heatpump which sends fluid circulating through the battery, don't know if that circulates the fluid through the heater though.

That's a battery heater

A heat pump recovers heat the ambient air**, then effectively uses the AC in reverse to extract that warmth, it's approximately 4x more efficient than resistive heating. Just like air source heating, in the home


** at least, this is what I read this weekend, I'd previously assumed that a heat pump recovers any heat generated by the cars motor/controller

 

[Cocijo]

One thing I believe many people are kidding themselves over is when they say , on my tariff at night it only costs me x p per kw. The trouble is that all of the household rate is surcharged so if you do 3500 units per annum without the car which is surcharged at 10p per kilowatt the perceived saving is nowhere near the reality as you pay more for all other electricity.
Therefore for simplicity if you do 7500 miles which is about 2400 kw used you need to take into account the surcharge on you regular offtake and add it to get true cost. Also charging at night is not always convenient especially if the nighttime slot only gives you time to put in 30 or 35 kw per session.
Each time I have looked I have struggled to see the benefit in cost or convenience terms

That’s a very interesting point and perfectly relevant. We seldom look at the complete picture when calculating costs (particularly cost per mile). A reduced off-peak cost nearly always comes with a higher peak cost as you mention. The financial impact does depend on how much off peak v peak that you consume too.

In the current market on an EV tariff you typically can pay about 10p/KwHr more on your peak rate compared to a tariff without the benefit of EV off peak discounted rate, in order to get the convenience of that cheaper off peak tariff. Although who knows how this figure will continue to fluctuate…

I use around 3000kwhr a year peak so I’m paying around £300 extra on my ‘home’ usage to subsidise my off peak EV charging which uses around 4000kwhr a Year at about 12p/KwHr.

I travel about 15000 miles year = approximately 3p/mile - if you add in the extra that I need to pay off peak to get the cheaper peak tariff (£300) - that increases to about 5/mile (so it not far off doubles the cost in my case). The standing charges are very similar on both types of tariff.

Off course if I charged my EV using peak rates it would cost around three times more and instead of around £480 a year more like £1500 a year, but that’s for me and not everyone.
If you’re travelling relatively short distances a Year (you mention 7500miles), or can’t charge using a competitive off peak tariff, then the current financial benefits of an EV are really not that great any more (this has been done to death elsewhere).

Still the most economic way to go for me is a cheaper off peak tariff, but if that starts to creep up it will soon become less relevant.
It’s a good point that you make.