New MG4 owner... any tips?!

[Wil Tryharder]

My son in law bought a Kia and he’s just had it stolen by a kid with a Gameboy (imported from Thailand ready for hacking). The London Met police said it’s probably on a container somewhere heading for Africa. They lost 10k on the insurance swindle.
So…. Enjoy it while it lasts. ?

 

[Mark Hewitt]

Thanks!

I will get one eventually, however from what I've seen so far, they're between £800 - £1000 to have installed. I just can't warrant shelling out that sort of cash right now! (Its a busy time of year for our family with birthdays etc & Christmas round the corner)

I can understand that for sure. I have a setup from my PHEV which has an external socket with a RCBO cutout and is certified for EV charging.

Even charging at 8A or even 6A the car is charged fast enough for my needs. So dropping £1,000 on a charger would be hard to justify.

 

[OriginalBigAl]

People put double glazing in their properties because its beneficial and increases the property's value. Think of it in those terms. Once the correct wiring and consumer unit are in the actual EVSE can be updated at a later date for minimal outlay, should a future prospective buyer deems it necessary. Future proofing?

 

[Mark Hewitt]

People put double glazing in their properties because its beneficial and increases the property's value. Think of it in those terms. Once the correct wiring and consumer unit are in the actual EVSE can be updated at a later date for minimal outlay, should a future prospective buyer deems it necessary. Future proofing?

I can see future proofing in terms of if my needs change to doing more miles on a daily basis than the 3-pin can support. But I don't see it being a selling point for the house, at least at the moment.

 

[Ian Key]

Another way to look at it is in another couple of years the labour cost of the electrician will have gone up, the price of copper in the cabling and the consumer unit will have gone up and the wall chargers might have gone up too.

 

[tsedge]

I’d certainly recommend a wall charger, and going to a cheap overnight tariff. This way, you’ll be charging your car to 100% (for a long trip) in one go, and will cost you just £3 or £4. If you go the home charger route, I’d also recommend an untethered unit - this will mean you’ll have to also buy a cable, but many destination chargers (at hotels etc., which are often free) will require your cable.

Just wondering why you recommend untethered?

I know some people do it for aesthetic reasons, others for security.

But I find the convenience of tethered hard to beat, jump out the car and plug in.

 

[tsedge]

That's a helluva high usage for leccy - almost double mine (even accounting for having my EV; I guess you must do a lot more miles than me and so charge up much more often).

Not that dissimilar to our annual usage and there's only 2 of us... it all depends how many miles you do, how many appliances you have and whether you have energy hungry use cases (eg we run a hot tub which can be 1/3rd of our total electricity usage).

 

[tonybridge]

Just wondering why you recommend untethered?

I know some people do it for aesthetic reasons, others for security.

But I find the convenience of tethered hard to beat, jump out the car and plug in.

I thought I had explained why... part of the reason, initially, was for security. I didn't realise until after installation, that you could effectively lock the charger. But the first time I stayed at a hotel for the weekend, I found that they had untethered chargers (but free to use), and my cable in the boot came in very handy.

OK, with my untethered home charger, I have an extra plugin operation but that adds 2.45 seconds to my day...

 

[Ian Key]

I have an untethered home charger too. I keep the cable in the hall on a coat hook so when I need to charge the car it's easy to grab a dry cable as I walk out of the door. I also think it looks neater as the wall charger is visible from the road.
I keep a second cable in the car in case I need it.

 

[Rolfe]

My Zappi is in the garage, right beside the car's charging port. I don't even need to uncoil one coil of the tethered cable to plug it in. So convenient. The cable is also long enough so that I can charge the car while it's sitting on the drive.

I have a separate type 2 cable I bought with the car which lives permanently under the bonnet.

 

[NickHeynes]

Yeah it's a bit of an outlay but the sooner you get one the sooner you start saving. They're much cheaper now and plenty of used ones available now or new ones on 0% ?

British Gas ( I know!) are doing 6 months 0 % and 1 yr (actually around 8k miles) free charging at the moment , although they cant install as they're so busy. I've taken the plunge as I've been a customer of theirs for years. Once the free charge runs out I may look to change.

 

[fshuk1]

Hi all!

Just about to take delivery of my MG4 Trophy LR (73 plate). I'm new to MG's AND new to EV's... so please be gentle with me.

I dont have a home charger installed so will be granny charging and using public chargers for the most part.

I've downloaded Electroverse (Im an Octopus energy customer) and I've also downloaded ZapMap.

Any tips, tricks, hints or info would be greatly accepted ?

Enjoy the car. It drives beautifully. A lot of people love their car, so enjoy.

 

[NewbieDoo]

Enjoy the car. It drives beautifully. A lot of people love their car, so enjoy.

It's amazing! Handles really well, looks great and so far I've had no real issues with the infotainment system or computery bits. Great that there are plenty of Tesla chargers about if I need them, too!

 

[CuriousIslander]

Welcome. If using a socket in the garage and charging on the driveway, then I assume you'd need an extension lead for the granny charger. If so, make sure you have one rated for granny charging. Normal extension leads will heat up and melt under the constant 10amp load. Cable needs to have wires with 1.5 sq.mm inner diameter minimum. There's a post on here if you use the search function about suitable extension leads. They aren't particulary expensive. I have one myself.

I bought mine from Screwfix (10 metres) About £16 as far as I recall. I have used it once and it seems to cope. Good luck with your new car. You won't regret buying it I feel.

 

[APH]

I would also recommend getting an EV home charger, as i echo everyone’s comments on this post about the benefits of having one. Mine is a Zappi on Octopus GO, its a doddle,

I’ve have my EV a year now and the first service is booked in for the middle of October. My biggest gripes are the tyre pressure warning indicators were continuously activating in the mornings (when cold), until i increased tyre pressure to over compensate, and Apple Car play is very (very) hit & miss as to it working or not (hard wire or wireless). I am hoping the service software updates will fix!!

 

[siteguru]

You weren't over compensating ... general ambient temperature has dropped nearly 10°C so tyre pressures are genuinely lower and need increasing.

 

[APH]

You weren't over compensating ... general ambient temperature has dropped nearly 10°C so tyre pressures are genuinely lower and need increasing.

I’ve had this problem for a long time (all through the spring & summer months) not just the past week or two.

 

[Rolfe]

I started (or rather re-started) having the problem in August, during a cold snap. I pumped all the tyres up to 2.7 bar, and not a cheep out of the thing since.