New MG ZS EV Owner - Questions About Battery Type, Charging, and OBD2 Apps

[Michisha]

Hey everyone,

I’m new here and just got my 2019 MG ZS EV second-hand. I’m trying to get up to speed with a few things, and I’d really appreciate your help:

1. What is the battery type?
Is the battery is lfp or nmc ?
Charging Best Practices:
• Should i charge it to 80% for daily use?
• When should I charge it to 100% to balance the battery?
• I heard on an MG ZS EV podcast that you should let the battery drop to 5% and then charge to 100% every 3-6 months to balance its BMS. Is this something new? Is it necessary?
• What are the best apps to use with the MG ZS EV for detailed battery and vehicle data
And how do i check my bms version and how I check which is the latest

 

[Coulomb]

I’m new here and just got my 2019 MG ZS EV second-hand.

Congratulations, and welcome to the forum.

1. What is the battery type?
Is the battery is lfp or nmc ?

NMC.

Charging Best Practices:
• Should i charge it to 80% for daily use?

Yes.

• When should I charge it to 100% to balance the battery?

Roughly every month to every two months.

• I heard on an MG ZS EV podcast that you should let the battery drop to 5% and then charge to 100% every 3-6 months to balance its BMS. Is this something new? Is it necessary?

It's not new and in my opinion not really necessary. If you do it I would say every 6 months is plenty. It just gives the Battery Management System the best data for estimating the State of Health. So if you don't do this, the SoH figure may not be as accurate as it could be. Many people don't even know how to find the SoH percentage.

• What are the best apps to use with the MG ZS EV for detailed battery and vehicle data

These models have the advantage of an Android app specifically written for this model. It's called eZS and these days you can install it from the Google Play Store. There is no iPhone version. I also use the one called Car Scanner. All these require an OBD-II dongle of course. Don't get the very cheapest ones; these tend to leave out some needed commands.The "best" app is subjective.

And how do i check my bms version and how I check which is the latest

The eZS app can tell you the firmware version of every Electronic Control Unit, except I think for the On Board Charger. It's hard to know what the latest versions are, as MG don't publish these. Search this forum for a version number that you find to see what has been said about it. You can also join a Slack channel for the Open Vehicle Management System (OVMS); they have spreadsheets of which owners have which versions and the country.

MG EV Unofficial App Support & OVMS Forum

Discussing the MG EV app and Open Vehicle Monitoring System

www.mgevs.com

 

[Michisha]

Congratulations, and welcome to the forum.


NMC.


Yes.


Roughly every month to every two months.


It's not new and in my opinion not really necessary. If you do it I would say every 6 months is plenty. It just gives the Battery Management System the best data for estimating the State of Health. So if you don't do this, the SoH figure may not be as accurate as it could be. Many people don't even know how to find the SoH percentage.


These models have the advantage of an Android app specifically written for this model. It's called eZS and these days you can install it from the Google Play Store. There is no iPhone version. I also use the one called Car Scanner. All these require an OBD-II dongle of course. Don't get the very cheapest ones; these tend to leave out some needed commands.The "best" app is subjective.


The eZS app can tell you the firmware version of every Electronic Control Unit, except I think for the On Board Charger. It's hard to know what the latest versions are, as MG don't publish these. Search this forum for a version number that you find to see what has been said about it. You can also join a Slack channel for the Open Vehicle Management System (OVMS); they have spreadsheets of which owners have which versions and the country.

MG EV Unofficial App Support & OVMS Forum

Discussing the MG EV app and Open Vehicle Monitoring System

www.mgevs.com

Thank you for the informative response, is it possible to set charge limit on my car ? And if no how should i know its in 80% since I don’t have presentage on the monitor only dots that show the charge

 

[Coulomb]

is it possible to set charge limit on my car ?

No, sadly.

And if no how should I know its in 80% since I don’t have percentage on the monitor only dots that show the charge

You can see the State of Charge percentage, but only when it's charging. When I charge mine, I look through the driver's window, shading out the sun if necessary. The information disappears after about half a minute, but you can make it reappear by pressing door lock on the key fob, or weirdly if you don't happen to have the fob handy, try to open the rear hatch. It won't actually open as the car is presumably locked, but it shows the charge percentage anyway.

I have a small piece of paper near my EVSE with the various approximate minutes per %SoC for each of several charge currents (6, 8, 10, 12, 14 A). I look at this when I start a charge, and mentally figure out when the charge should stop. Often I can see that the car won't get to 80% today, no need to worry. But if it's sooner than my solar cut-off time, I figure out when to stop charging, and enter that stop time into my EVSE. Mine is a home made monstrosity, part commercial unit, part OpenEvse, and I have a relay on the control pilot signal that connects it to +12 V a fraction of a second before the contactor opens. That avoids disconnecting charge power under load.

Obviously, this solution is not for everyone. Hopefully most "smart" chargers are able to safely terminate a charge at a given time. If you have to manually turn off the charge, just use the keyfob to unlock the car; this electronically and safely terminates the charge. Then you can turn off the EVSE's power, and lock the car.

 

[hmadsen]

These models have the advantage of an Android app specifically written for this model. It's called eZS and these days you can install it from the Google Play Store.

Just a small heads up regarding this.

This advice is not universally true, i tried yesterday to find it in the play store and was unable to, found it online while logged in and it said "This app is not available for any of your devices".

Tried forcing it by going to the google play store on the website on my phone, it then gives me the option to "open in another app" (The play store app) and when i clicked that it said that "app is not available in your country"

Found it on various apk sites, but it seems to be in the format of xapk, which need another app to install, making it a bit more "dangerous" to install.

 

[Michisha]

Just a small heads up regarding this.

This advice is not universally true, i tried yesterday to find it in the play store and was unable to, found it online while logged in and it said "This app is not available for any of your devices".

Tried forcing it by going to the google play store on the website on my phone, it then gives me the option to "open in another app" (The play store app) and when i clicked that it said that "app is not available in your country"

Found it on various apk sites, but it seems to be in the format of xapk, which need another app to install, making it a bit more "dangerous" to install.

Found it on pureapk but i have wifi obd can’t connect to the app only accepts bluetooth

 

[hmadsen]

Found it on pureapk but i have wifi obd can’t connect to the app only accepts bluetooth

Found it there as well, but it seems it is in the XAPK format and that needs an installer to install.

Did you download any installer for installing this XAPK file ? I can not see any "ordinary APK files that the phone can recognize directly.

 

[Michisha]

Found it there as well, but it seems it is in the XAPK format and that needs an installer to install.

Did you download any installer for installing this XAPK file ? I can not see any "ordinary APK files that the phone can recognize directly.

You have toturials on how to install xapk i think you can just unzip it on pc and get apk
I just installed pure apk as a market on my device

 

[hmadsen]

You have toturials on how to install xapk i think you can just unzip it on pc and get apk
I just installed pure apk as a market on my device

Ok, i was a little hesitant, it is not completely without risk, installing apps on your phone downloaded from different sites, but it seems this is ok.

I wonder why the developer chose to not make the app available in Denmark for example. We are pretty proficient in the English language

I will certainly download as you specify and cross my fingers, that my Bluetooth ELM327 mini dongle will work.

It certainly worked with my previous vauxhalls and the carscanner app.