MG4 EV charging

[Villamark]

Hello all, I have just taken possession of my first ev an MG4 Trophy long range and I have a question. Is it ok to use a rapid charger on a regular basis as this is currently my only means available to me to charge my car? I am told it may affect the battery life ? Would appreciate your comments please?
Cheers.

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

Best practice and real world is different for us all.

I can only use Fast Charging (Tesla Superchargers) 99% of the time.

10500 miles and just over a year later, my battery SOH (State of Health) is still at 100%

I.E. No degradation.

I've never lost any sleep over my battery and I suggest you don't either.

The battery is warranted to be at 70% SOH at the 7 year point regardless of how you charge it.

I try to keep it between 20% and 80% percent as a rule though, and don't discharge to under 10% and leave it discharged.

And although I regularly charge to 100%, I don't leave it like this for days on end.

 

[wattmatters]

MG have charging recommendations in the user manual. See pages 171, 179, 293, 294. Suggest familiarising yourself with manufacturer's recommendations.

MG don't recommend only using DC fast charging (ref page 171).

Where possible try to arrange for the occasional slow charge using an AC charger (ref page 179 and page 294). Once a month for balancing is the recommendation from MG. It will perform a cell equalisation which is good for the long term health of the battery. Note that NMC battery models (64 & 77) will do an equalisation at states of charge less than 100% (LFP will need to be charged to 100% for this).

MG also recommend a full charge, i.e. discharge to ~10% and slow charge to 100% every few months (ref page 293), to recalibrate the BMS as the state of charge indicator will drift over time and lose accuracy.

 

[wattmatters]

10500 miles and just over a year later, my battery SOH (State of Health) is still at 100%

I.E. No degradation.

A SOH value of 100% does not automatically imply there is no degradation. Any buffer capacity of the pack tends to absorb the initial degradation. SOH measurement also relies on performing a full discharge/slow recharge to 100%.

 

[salty]

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

A SOH value of 100% does not automatically imply there is no degradation. Any buffer capacity of the pack tends to absorb the initial degradation. SOH measurement also relies on performing a full discharge/slow recharge to 100%.

Fair enough, but as said, the warranty covers you regardless of how you end up charging the battery.

I will never find out though tbf.
I've never had a car longer than 3 years so it will never be my problem however it turns out.

 

[kenneth104]

Trophy long range You can refer to XPOWER's approach, since you all have the same type of battery. That is, keep the battery at 20-80%, no need to be very precise, fully charging 100% is also OK, but do not keep the battery at 100% for many days in a row. Use the vehicle as soon as possible after fully charging.

 

[Villamark]

Thanks for all the advice much appreciated

 

[Villamark]

View attachment 32680

Thanks for the Welcome look forward to getting to know you all and my MG4

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

Do you think 350,000 kms with fast charging only will be enough for you?
(217,479 miles)

@3.35 in video.

Very interesting.

 

[salty]

Great video.

 

[DrJohn20]

Hello all, I have just taken possession of my first ev an MG4 Trophy long range and I have a question. Is it ok to use a rapid charger on a regular basis as this is currently my only means available to me to charge my car? I am told it may affect the battery life ? Would appreciate your comments please?
Cheers.

As an MG4 owner, if you use rapid charger do not allow above 80 percent most times. You can charge to 100 percent now and again,but to keep battery happy keep to 80.
Enjoy your car.

 

[ReintjeWA]

As an MG4 owner, if you use rapid charger do not allow above 80 percent most times. You can charge to 100 percent now and again,but to keep battery happy keep to 80.
Enjoy your car.

Although sound advice in general, in our specific cars it doesn’t seem to really hold up much any more. The LFP batteries don’t mind 100% at all, and the NMC batteries appear to have such low levels of nickel in them that it doesn’t really affect them either.

It is also recommended to charge to 100% about every month to balance the load cells, although I’ve also read the NMC batteries do this at certain points through any charge anyway.

I think the most important thing is that you don’t let your battery sit unused while at 100% for too long, but again that’s just what I’ve seen others say.

 

[Rolfe]

That seems to be the message. Mainly, don't stress about it, but keep a couple of simple principles in mind.

With my LFP battery, if I'm only doing short trips I leave it till it's getting down to around 40% or if I'm planning a long trip the next day before charging to 100% and balance. If I've come back from a long trip very low I might charge 11.45 to 5.30 on the cheap rate, taking the car to about 85%, then finish the charge to 100% and balance the night before I next need the car.

That means the car is always sitting with enough charge to get me somewhere if something crops up, but not usually sitting a long time at 100% just in case there's anything in the tales that that isn't great for LFP batteries either. But I don't stress about leaving it at 100% if that's what's convenient.

I might actually have to give it a few peak-rate kWh on Friday though. I have to take a friend to hospital in the morning, 72 mile round trip, then two more people to our choir rehearsal and concert in the afternoon/evening, probably another 40 miles. Could be pushing it if it's cold. I'll see what it looks like when I get back from the hospital. Not risking trouble on the way back from Edinburgh late in the evening when the road home climbs from sea level to 1,000 feet and I have two passengers!

 

[Tight Git]

If you plug in when you get back in the morning and ask IOG to add 100% by 4am it will probably allocate some extra slots (outside of 'lunch time'). I've quite often had up to 12:30 then 14:00 onwards allocated at the cheap rate. If it doesn't give any/enough just bump charge it...

 

[Rolfe]

That's a thought. Although I don't really mind adding 10% at peak rate if I need it. If I was really in a hurry I could use the 50 kw DC charger that's 5 min walk away, but 60p/unit!