MG5 FL KERS button not working

[Klaus]

Took delivery of my new MG5 Long Range not even 4 weeks ago.
KERS defaults to '2' when starting the car and can only be switched to '1'. Switching from '1' to '2' or from '2' to '3' not possible.
Took the car in for a repair but was told that this is the way the KERS system works for the MG5.
The owners manual tells a different story though.

Does anyone else have experienced problems with the KERS?

 

[Verdigris]

Yes, it defaults to normal mode (2).

I assume you are pulling the switch back, to get eco. What are you doing to try to select 2 or 1 from there?

 

[Archev]

Took delivery of my new MG5 Long Range not even 4 weeks ago.
KERS defaults to '2' when starting the car and can only be switched to '1'. Switching from '1' to '2' or from '2' to '3' not possible.
Took the car in for a repair but was told that this is the way the KERS system works for the MG5.
The owners manual tells a different story though.

Does anyone else have experienced problems with the KERS?

I have the pre face lift car and it also defaults to Normal and ‘2’.
Way back when I got the car the joke was that we employed the
“Pensioner’s Pinch” to get eco and regen ‘3’ by pinching the regen switch forward with the thumb and at the same time pinching the power selector back with the forefinger.
But I can choose any setting with either switch stationary or mobile.
I don’t know if it’s meant to be the same with the face lift model - I’ve never seen one.

 

[Klaus]

Yes, it defaults to normal mode (2).

I assume you are pulling the switch back, to get eco. What are you doing to try to select 2 or 1 from there?

I'm pushing the button forward. Doesn't do anything though.

 

[kevin ellard]

Took delivery of my new MG5 Long Range not even 4 weeks ago.
KERS defaults to '2' when starting the car and can only be switched to '1'. Switching from '1' to '2' or from '2' to '3' not possible.
Took the car in for a repair but was told that this is the way the KERS system works for the MG5.
The owners manual tells a different story though.

Does anyone else have experienced problems with the KERS?

It is astonishing how little some dealers staff know about the cars that they sell. Yes it does always switch to 2 when turned on but you should be able to change it to 1 or 3 by pulling or pushing the button.

 

[slmorgan42]

As people have said it will default to 2 which personally I leave it at but you can change it.

If i have it round the right way in my head.
From 2 push forward and it goes to 3.
From 2 pull towards you and it goes to 1.

If you are in 3 pull towards you goes to 2 pull again and goes to 1.

If in 1 push goes to 2 push again to 3.

 

[Jomarkh]

Took delivery of my new MG5 Long Range not even 4 weeks ago.
KERS defaults to '2' when starting the car and can only be switched to '1'. Switching from '1' to '2' or from '2' to '3' not possible.
Took the car in for a repair but was told that this is the way the KERS system works for the MG5.
The owners manual tells a different story though.

Does anyone else have experienced problems with the KERS?

Hi, what is the SOC as it won't go into kers3 above 97% SOC

 

[Klaus]

Hi, what is the SOC as it won't go into kers3 above 97% SOC

Tried it at various states of charge. Same problem at 30% or 70%. Just would not swich up. Only down.

 

[google1901]

I've FL (Mar '23), but have not encountered the issue. As someone else mentioned it wont let me if high % battery.

 

[Gauthier]

Tried it at various states of charge. Same problem at 30% or 70%. Just would not swich up. Only down.

Do you have an update on this? It's annoying when you accidentally (or just to try it out) go to 1, then cannot go back to 2.

 

[SimonMG5]

Definitely a problem. Would be mad if you can only ever switch down ?

 

[Alibro]

Sounds like a faulty switch (in the forward direction)
Mine always changes up and down if I want to but I still have to hear a proper argument for using 3 other than personal preference.
In two the car slows down a bit and if you need to slow down more touch the brakes. All of the initial braking is KERS anyway.
On a motorway using one would probably be more efficient as it will always take more energy to speed up than can be collected by KERS so coasting is better if it's possible.

 

[kevin ellard]

Sounds like a faulty switch (in the forward direction)
Mine always changes up and down if I want to but I still have to hear a proper argument for using 3 other than personal preference.
In two the car slows down a bit and if you need to slow down more touch the brakes. All of the initial braking is KERS anyway.
On a motorway using one would probably be more efficient as it will always take more energy to speed up than can be collected by KERS so coasting is better if it's possible.

Personal preference is the only reason. In KERS 3 you don't have to move to the brake pedal so often but you do have to have precise control of the throttle in order to coast. Some people (me included) really like that but it really annoys others. Its a shame that the car doesn't remember the setting as that annoys almost everybody.

 

[Alibro]

Personal preference is the only reason. In KERS 3 you don't have to move to the brake pedal so often but you do have to have precise control of the throttle in order to coast. Some people (me included) really like that but it really annoys others. Its a shame that the car doesn't remember the setting as that annoys almost everybody.

KERS 3 is great on twisty country roads. In that situation I love it but for normal driving I don't bother to change from KERS 2.
For no other reason than personal preference I usually change to Eco mode but even then I might do four or five shortish trips per day so often forget to change. I like being able to rest my foot on the pedal and move it about with less response.
It would be nice if the changes we make would stay after the car is turned off.

 

[CarlThom]

Sounds like a faulty switch (in the forward direction)
Mine always changes up and down if I want to but I still have to hear a proper argument for using 3 other than personal preference.
In two the car slows down a bit and if you need to slow down more touch the brakes. All of the initial braking is KERS anyway.
On a motorway using one would probably be more efficient as it will always take more energy to speed up than can be collected by KERS so coasting is better if it's possible.

You can override Kers completely for motorway use. At about 30mph or thereabouts set cruise control then accelerate past that speed and the kers switches off, let cruise control adjust the speed and it uses little energy going back to motorway speeds

 

[Gauthier]

Sounds like a faulty switch (in the forward direction)

No, the dashboard displays a messge on attempting to switch up.

But this week I was able to switch up, I don't know why, maybe lower charge level. But why would they block KERS3 for anything below 90 %? And why wouldn't the error message explain why it won't do it?

 

[ClaireMG]

Took delivery of my new MG5 Long Range not even 4 weeks ago.
KERS defaults to '2' when starting the car and can only be switched to '1'. Switching from '1' to '2' or from '2' to '3' not possible.
Took the car in for a repair but was told that this is the way the KERS system works for the MG5.
The owners manual tells a different story though.

Does anyone else have experienced problems with the KERS?

I've had my MG5 Standard range for over 3 years. Others are correct - the default is N2. I have always driven it with E3 and never had a problem changing it up until it went back to the dealers for a software upgrade 3 weeks ago. Now regen won't change up (either 1-2 or 2-3) when the battery is at 100%, until it has dropped to around 97%. It wasn't like this originally so they've obviously changed something and not for the better!

 

[Alibro]

I've had my MG5 Standard range for over 3 years. Others are correct - the default is N2. I have always driven it with E3 and never had a problem changing it up until it went back to the dealers for a software upgrade 3 weeks ago. Now regen won't change up (either 1-2 or 2-3) when the battery is at 100%, until it has dropped to around 97%. It wasn't like this originally so they've obviously changed something and not for the better!

You should never have regen if the battery is at 100%. To do so would damage the battery by overcharging it. This is completely normal for all EVs and if it did this before that was a bad thing not good, the upgrade will help protect your battery.

 

[Dino]

In my PFL SR the KERS could only be set to 3 from 97% or less (and could only get back to 2 if I set it to 1 when above 97%).
However, I’ve noticed in my FL SE I can set it to 3 even at 100%

 

[Jaumg]

You should never have regen if the battery is at 100%. To do so would damage the battery by overcharging it. This is completely normal for all EVs and if it did this before that was a bad thing not good, the upgrade will help protect your battery.

I've not had this update so my car does let me switch to KERS 3 at 100% SOC, but I never worry about it because it barely does any regen by itself anyway until a lower percentage, presumably limited by the BMS, so I doubt there was ever a problem with damaging the battery significantly.

I expect that this update is to avoid user confusion when regen doesn't work very strongly at a high SOC, although it looks like it's causing more confusion than it's preventing, especially if it starts on KERS 2 but if you change to 1 it won't let you back to 2. That just makes no sense and is sloppy engineering.

Also this might be stating the obvious, but unless you set off down a big hill, any regen even when the car is showing 100% will return less energy to the battery than was used to get to the speed you're slowing down from in the first place, so there's almost never a situation where the car should limit itself to 0 regen altogether.