MG4 in Australia

[wattmatters]

Good to know. Looking at all these other website guides all talking about 1.8-2kWh charging gave me the wrong impression. I can live with 1.4kWh.

Note, it's kW (power), not kWh (energy).

It will do more power if the charger unit can deliver it.

The one MG supply is limited to ~8A draw from a regular household AC power outlet, which is 1.8-1.9 kW but there are losses in the conversion to DC, plus as mentioned the auxiliary loads the car has.

MG are catering to the lowest common denominator with their charge brick able to be used in pretty much any power outlet.

But if you have a suitably rated higher amp outlet then you can plug in a different charge unit capable of supplying more power.

 

[leonkernan]

Yep, I bought a new Granny charger off Amazon and it's quite happy to be set to 10A.
That gets me closer to 2 kW showing on the cars display.

If I ever move to somewhere where I can upgrade the power point I can press a button to bump it up to 15A.

 

[ChrisR]

Once the car has finished needing some of the power for auxiliary systems (e.g. charging the 12 V battery) then it can use that power for the main drive battery charging. I have seen 1.6 kW using the MG supplied granny charger. But that's about the limit.
. . .
And it can drop back again later on if the car wants some power for those other systems. The mere act of observing the charge rate requires power which might trigger the 12V battery charging to start, or if you do it by getting in the car the aircon turns on, etc.

Good explanation, thanks. With 'mere act of observing' I first thought we were going to delve into quantum mechanics

 

[Rolfe]

Mine is on charge on the granny lead at the moment. (I drove 24 miles this morning, and as I have a trip of maybe 96 miles this afternoon I thought I'd just give it whatever it could get while I'm at home for a couple of hours.) It's been showing 1.8 to 1.9 kW most of the time. But I don't know if the mains supply in Australia makes it do anything different there.

 

[tsedge]

Mine is on charge on the granny lead at the moment. (I drove 24 miles this morning, and as I have a trip of maybe 96 miles this afternoon I thought I'd just give it whatever it could get while I'm at home for a couple of hours.) It's been showing 1.8 to 1.9 kw most of the time. But I don't know if the mains supply in Australia makes it do anything different there.

You'll be at 10A whereas it sounds as if Australians are limited to 8A.

 

[T1 Terry]

Yep, I bought a new Granny charger off Amazon and it's quite happy to be set to 10A.
That gets me closer to 2 kW showing on the cars display.

If I ever move to somewhere where I can upgrade the power point I can press a button to bump it up to 15A.

Do you have a link? My inverter will provide 20 amps @ 230vac so if I can find a "granny" charger that can handle 20 amps, yet adjustable back down when I'm not at home, then I'll get one of those as I don't have a charger lead at all.

T1 Terry

 

[leonkernan]

Do you have a link?

This is the one I bought:

https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B0CH9LVZ9J

 

[Lanster27]

I have zero knowledge about electrical stuff. I don't mind 1.3-1.4 kW if it will reduce the chance of overheating.

Look at some internet advice about whether to charge using granny leads, a point that get raised is heat damage to the cable/socket over relatively high current for long period of time. However most of them are talking about 2kW or more.

What's people's thought on this argument? Is it just a ploy to make people buy home EV chargers? Does it affect us MG owners?

 

[leonkernan]

What's people's thought on this argument? Is it just a ploy to make people buy home EV chargers? Does it affect us MG owners?

Remember that they are trying to accommodate every possible situation.

MG doesn't want an MG supplied granny charger burning a house down even though it was because it had 60 year old wiring and socket. That's why they limit the supplied charger to 8amps.

Anything built to modern Australian standards by a licensed electrician should be perfectly safe at 10amps, or 15amps if they've installed the appropriate socket.

 

[wattmatters]

You'll be at 10A whereas it sounds as if Australians are limited to 8A.

Power outlets in the UK are typically rated for 13 A, so supplying a 10 A charger means there is a decent safety margin. Power outlets in Australia are typically rated for 10 A, so an 8 A charger has that same safety margin. We do have 15 A outlets which some install so they can use a plug-in charger at higher power level.

 

[714]

Or just go to another MG dealer. Some are being more helpful and installing available updates for an hourly rate.

Only one dealer in NT 2 day trip to the next one..

 

[Lanster27]

Just realised when opened the boot goes up higher than expected and will hit my garage door (I got a tilt door). Can I adjust the height position of the boot door? I’ve looked at the cylinder and it doesnt look adjustable.

 

[Agrajag]

Can I adjust the height position of the boot door?

I don't think so. I had the same problem, I just stuck some soft foam to the garage door at points of contact to avoid damage.

 

[wattmatters]

I had the opposite issue, my last car I could not open the boot all the way. At least being electronic I was able to hit the stop button. But the MG4 boot has room to spare and is much easier!

Must be a pretty low opening not to be able to fully open the MG4 boot.

I just stuck some soft foam to the garage door at points of contact to avoid damage.

I added some pool noodle to the wall where the car door opens just in case as my garage is relatively narrow.

 

[T1 Terry]

I had the opposite issue, my last car I could not open the boot all the way. At least being electronic I was able to hit the stop button. But the MG4 boot has room the spare and is much easier!

Must be a pretty low opening not to be able to fully open the MG4 boot.

I added some pool noodle to the wall where the car door opens just in case as my garage is relatively narrow.

There is a rather humorous TV ad running at the moment regarding pool noodles being attached to the garage walls, hope you didn't pinch the kids pool noodles ....... or was that ad made at your place :lol:

T1 Terry

 

[Lanster27]

Must be a pretty low opening not to be able to fully open the MG4 boot.

Tilt doors are quite low compared to roller doors, as the door will be between the car and roof when opened.

Ended up fitting some thick rubber where the door meets door.

 

[wattmatters]

There is a rather humorous TV ad

Ha. Not seen it, rarely watch any TV with ads.

 

[LeapOfFaith]

Hi all, I have a 51kWh Excite MG4, and using the trickle charge cable the car came with, it only charges at around 1.3kW (thought it was meant to be around 2.3)
Then at a 22kW charging station, it only charged at 3.6kW (and I believe the 51 exite will only accept up to 6.4 kW on AC)
Is anyone else experiencing this or know why this would be?

 

[Martinonline]

Please read the thread 'MG in Australia', currently on Forum page 2. Go to post 676 on the penultimate page of the thread. Answers your question.

 

[Rolfe]

Merged into that thread in the interests of general tidiness.