MG4 Granny Charge versus Public Charge Until Wallbox Installed

[FrancisM]

Like you, I was waiting to see what it came with. My old stock new car got separated from its cable. The dealer gave me a type 2-type 2 cable. There are MG granny chargers on ebay but they only come with a 5m cable which is not as long as you might think. I bought a granny charge with 10m IP66 waterproof cable, adjustable current, off eBay, but haven't used it yet.

 

[Fluffykins]

Make sure you get a 32 amp type 2 cable rather than a 16 amp one. You'll be able to charge at full chat on a 7kW public bring-your-own-cable (untethered) charger

 

[Muffler]

Like you, I was waiting to see what it came with. My old stock new car got separated from it's cable. The dealer gave me a type 2-type 2 cable. There are MG granny chargers on ebay but they only come with a 5m cable which is not as long as you might think. I bought a granny charge with 10m IP66 waterproof cable, adjustable current, off eBay, but haven't used it yet.

My XPower (rec'd this week) came with 5m type 2 cable only, no granny. To be fair the only mention of any cables on the order confirmation was 'free type 2 cable' but was still half-expecting the granny alongside it. Seems to be luck of the draw...

 

[salty]

Seems to be luck of the draw...

Think it is. Unless you specifically ask.
Luckily I did, and got both. ??

 

[HazardLights]

Think it is. Unless you specifically ask.
Luckily I did, and got both. ??

I will see if I get an opportunity. I appear to have annoyed my salesman by asking for an indication of when my car will be delivered so I can plan my day as I have other things to do so I will leave it until I hear from him.

 

[Guru]

We charged using the granny charger for the first 6 months without a problem. Contrary to what a lot of scaremongers would have you believe home wiring in good condition can deal with a sustained 10 amp load. If you can avoid using an extension lead as the plug on the granny charger has a temperature sensor that allows it to reduce and even stop the charge if the plug overheats. Obviously using an extension stops this protection. I would also check every hour or so on the first charge or 2 just to make sure the socket isn't getting hot.
We do around 60 miles every day and the granny charger was able to keep up. We do now have a fast charger but this was only because I ran the cables in as part of an extension and got an Ohme Go for £199. Without that I doubt we'd have bothered and indeed we're going to become a 2 EV household shortly with the second being granny charged using the outside socket.

 

[HazardLights]

If they don’t give you a granny charger I would politely wave the website page under their nose. ?

Or give them a call to ask them to confirm what it comes with as you need to buy one otherwise.

Apparently getting both cables has come to an end but I am assured that I will get both with mine as they had some extras in stock. I will use the granny charger to cover me for a month until the Ohme is installed. The garage socket is on it's own 30A RCD. I just need to decide how many amps I should limit it to on the MG. I'll start at the minimum and see how that goes.

 

[mikgle]

I am finally getting an MG4 Trophy LR next week but my Wallbox isn't getting installed until a month after I get the car. I have a 30A RCD supplying a socket just inside my garage door. I am wondering should I:

I doubt that your RCD is 30 amp, you probably mean 30mA which is the fault tripping current. Have another look and it should have a current rating on it too, usually 40A, 63A or some such figure. Also is the garage socket on a circuit which has an MCB fuse protecting it? this also will have the current rating, usually 16A, 20A or 32A. you can check by switching off each circuit and seeing if a lamp plugged into the socket goes out.
Probably nothing to worry about but best to make sure what is the electrical protection on the socket. There is a 13A fuse in the plug so that will almost certainly be less than the circuit protection.
Theres nothing wrong with granny lead charging (also called mode 2, as distinct from type 2 connector). Wall box is mode 3. Just dont use an extension lead unless its an emergency, more resistance and more to go wrong! Hope this helps, I am a (semi) retired electrician.

we're going to become a 2 EV household shortly with the second being granny charged using the outside socket.

If youre going to use an outside socket regularly to charge I would recommend replacing it with the Masterplug EV socket, sold by Halfords online, about £50. Not a lot of difference (quite a bit bigger and with an integrated RCD) but maybe worth it for peace of mind. Oh and the socket is switchless - the switch is often the weak point on a socket in my experience due to the small contact area.

 

[FrancisM]

I'm doing my first charge now with an EVDance portable/granny charger (off eBay as used, but I can't see any signs of use). I can adjust the current with this, although I now realise the car has a setting for that too. The charger defaults to 13A so am trying that whilst checking the plug temp regularly. Charger says charging at 12A, 2.85Kw. iSmart App says 2.7Kw. I've used iSmart to set health mode to 70% charge.

If the plug gets too hot, I'll stop charging and adjust the charger to 10A then restart etc.

EDIT: I've revised the health mode to 60% to check it will obey the setting sooner.

 

[DixieTGS]

That all sounds sensible, but when you don't need the charge to finish by a given time I would still choose a lower setting.

 

[salty]

Seems to be a lot of faffing about with Granny chargers. I've had my X Power, two weeks now. The 1st time I used, it, it was simple. Plugged it in Hall socket, which is closest to the car, plugged it in the car and switched it on. Hey presto, guess what. It started charging. Did check the socket as recommended, but didn't even get warm. Result! ??

 

[FrancisM]

That all sounds sensible, but when you don't need the charge to finish by a given time I would still choose a lower setting.

I''d reduce it for overnight charging that's for sure. If the plug feels ok with the 12A going through it for a couple of hours then I'd probably go with 8A for overnight charging.

 

[LenEV2016]

Yes. I take it with me on long trips, just in case. I have never yet had to beg a householder for the use of a 13A socket and I hope I never do, but better safe than sorry. Also, if I'm not sure the car has balanced properly on the Zappi I take my empty bottles to the bottle bank, get back on 98% charge, and plug in the granny for an hour or so. Then I'm sure it has balanced.

I also found it useful before I had my export tariff and was trying to charge from sunbeams only. If I used the granny charger it would take what sunlight was there and some from the battery without the shenanigans the Zappi sometimes gets up to if the solar is intermittent. I think this is a bit of a niche requirement though and I don't do it any more now I'm exporting all the solar I can.

I do the same never quite sure how well my ohme has balanced the car so at least once a month I'll plug it into the granny and let it do it's thing for the last couple of %

 

[FrancisM]

Seems to be a lot of faffing about with Granny chargers. I've had my X Power, two weeks now. The 1st time I used, it, it was simple. Plugged it in Hall socket, which is closest to the car, plugged it in the car and switched it on. Hey presto, guess what. It started charging. Did check the socket as recommended, but didn't even get warm. Result! ??

Not really. I've just plugged it in and used iSmart to configure what I want and to monitor it. I haven't entered the car or done any unplugging or replugging.

 

[salty]

Not really. I've just plugged it in and used iSmart to configure what I want and to monitor it. I haven't entered the car or done any unplugging or replugging.

Fair enough. But I didn't even do that.
Just Plug and Play. Simple's. ??

 

[siteguru]

I just need to decide how many amps I should limit it to on the MG. I'll start at the minimum and see how that goes.

Just leave the car set at Maximum* - the MG granny box will control the charge rate to a maximum of 10A.

* I believe the car resets to Maximum after every charge anyway, if you've reduced the setting.

 

[davidfarmilo]

We got both leads with our trophy last week ( he said there were a few type 2 spare and saved one for us). I tried a charger the first night on a socket in the garage and short extension lead I think I'm either going to get an outdoor socket wired or ohme charger so we can get intelligent go. Are there any other chargers that support octopus?

 

[Rolfe]

Zappi.

 

[siteguru]

So does Wallbox apparently, but Ohme and Zappi are much more commonly used.

 

[mikgle]

We got both leads with our trophy last week ( he said there were a few type 2 spare and saved one for us). I tried a charger the first night on a socket in the garage and short extension lead I think I'm either going to get an outdoor socket wired or ohme charger so we can get intelligent go. Are there any other chargers that support octopus?

That's the way to go.. ohme are cheaper but I recommend the myenergi zappi, British made with good support, also best for solar integration in my opinion, the display is excellent so you can see what's happening.