New MG4 owner - newbie tips

[KernowBoy]

I was warned when I ordered mine that they don't come with any cables as standard anymore, it would be entirely up to dealer remaining stocks/generosity.

Just picked up my type 2 cable today from the dealer in a neat MG bag. 32A 5m. Must be a dealer by dealer thing.

 

[SBJames]

Hi,

I appreciate you’ve got a Zappi not Ohme, so this may only be guess work for you @aardvark5, but I’ve plugged in tonight (got car yesterday- absolutely fantastic, pleased I’ve gone for the ER rather than X Power, it’s quick enough as it is!) and I’ve got some weird schedule stuff. I don’t care when it charges, but do care that it’s on the low rate.

The first set of photos were set for 80% charge (to bed added - I’m not sure it knows there’s 30% left in the car) by 8am tomorrow (so maybe a bit tight?) and the. I changed it to 3pm tomorrow, and the schedule changed (maybe too early, before it had ‘settled down’).

But do you think it’s dynamic if charging I’m getting or it’s charging outside of the usual hours as well trying to provide me with enough juice?

I’ve set smart charging and all that, and not touched the ‘max charge’ (bump?) button….

 

[Rom]

Hi,

I appreciate you’ve got a Zappi not Ohme, so this may only be guess work for you @aardvark5, but I’ve plugged in tonight (got car yesterday- absolutely fantastic, pleased I’ve gone for the ER rather than X Power, it’s quick enough as it is!) and I’ve got some weird schedule stuff. I don’t care when it charges, but do care that it’s on the low rate.

The first set of photos were set for 80% charge (to bed added - I’m not sure it knows there’s 30% left in the car) by 8am tomorrow (so maybe a bit tight?) and the. I changed it to 3pm tomorrow, and the schedule changed (maybe too early, before it had ‘settled down’).

But do you think it’s dynamic if charging I’m getting or it’s charging outside of the usual hours as well trying to provide me with enough juice?

I’ve set smart charging and all that, and not touched the ‘max charge’ (bump?) button….

View attachment 34773

I've an ohme. There's no API for MG so chargers can't access your battery level.
You need to choose how much you want it to add yourself.
Have you set a price cap? Once you have a price cap set, it should try to charge only within the cheapest rate hours you have set and start within your price cap.
I try to keep the car charged to 80%, I come home with around 45-55% and my scheduled routine is to charge 25% every night which is covered by my 2am to 5am cheapest EV rate, sometimes i add around 30-35% which goes outside of the cheapest rates.
My electricity tariff has several rates - day, peak, night, EV. The night and EV rates being the cheapest.
I find the app works best with my price cap set to the night rate and it's smart enough to know to use the cheapest EV rate if it can add all the percentage I need.
Max charge will ignore price caps but you need to make sure you set your power level.
The app will warn you if the percentage you request cannot be achieved within your price cap.

 

[Rom]

 

[Rom]

View attachment 34778View attachment 34779View attachment 34780

This is mine running at the moment, I set it to add 45% so I start tomorrow with 100%.
My cheap rate is from 7pm to 2am and my cheapest is 2am to 5am.
The Ohme is going to put 15% in from 7pm to 2am on the night rate and the remainder from 2-5am at the cheapest EV rate.

 

[SBJames]

I've an ohme. There's no API for MG so chargers can't access your battery level.
You need to choose how much you want it to add yourself.
Have you set a price cap? Once you have a price cap set, it should try to charge only within the cheapest rate hours you have set and start within your price cap.
I try to keep the car charged to 80%, I come home with around 45-55% and my scheduled routine is to charge 25% every night which is covered by my 2am to 5am cheapest EV rate, sometimes i add around 30-35% which goes outside of the cheapest rates.
My electricity tariff has several rates - day, peak, night, EV. The night and EV rates being the cheapest.
I find the app works best with my price cap set to the night rate and it's smart enough to know to use the cheapest EV rate if it can add all the percentage I need.
Max charge will ignore price caps but you need to make sure you set your power level.
The app will warn you if the percentage you request cannot be achieved within your price cap.

Thanks for all the info. So if I set the car at 80% cap, I presume nothing else will override that (unless in change it in the app)? ie if I set it too much on the Ohme?

I don’t have the ability to set a price cap (I presume because of the link between Ohme and Intelligent Octopus Go):

 

[Rom]

Thanks for all the info. So if I set the car at 80% cap, I presume nothing else will override that (unless in change it in the app)? ie if I set it too much on the Ohme?

I don’t have the ability to set a price cap (I presume because of the link between Ohme and Intelligent Octopus Go):

If you set up a tariff you'll be able to set a price cap. Mine was difficult because my tariff wasn't listed but ohme might have yours.
In the OHME app go to Settings, My tariff and set it up from there. This is what mine looks like, but I had to put all these times in manually.
You might not have to if your tariff is listed.
Either way, the app works better if you set some rates up.

 

[Rom]

Thanks for all the info. So if I set the car at 80% cap, I presume nothing else will override that (unless in change it in the app)? ie if I set it too much on the Ohme?

As for percent cap you set that in the car or mg ismart app. But I'm not too sure if it gets overridden.
It should work out you have it set to Health Mode it should stop charging at 80%.
If you set the it to long range mode you can max charge to 100%.
Either way, it shouldn't matter if you choose too much percent, if you had 60% remaining and you tell the ohme to charge 50%, it'll just stop when it reaches 100%

 

[SBJames]

Yes, they have my tariff (it’s a bit selling point over here - Octopus and Ohme). So the pricing is right.

The awkward bit, and why I reckon it is limited for limiting the pricing is the intelligent bit of the tariff… they can offer you cheaper rates at other times if there’s surplus energy on the grid.

I’m probably overthinking. @aardvark5 will no doubt tell me to just plug it in and stop interfering with it

 

[Aupa]

I'm 67 and this MG4 is easily the best car we've ever owned, all the others since 1975 have been ICE.
We're not vegans or into save the planet, I haven't got a manbag or a manbun or wear ladies undies
I had a great pension come my way and being a tech geek decided to go EV.
We had a few main non negotiable things we wanted :
The seats had to be high so my wife can get in and out easily
360 degree cameras
Enough boot space with the seats down to get all my band gear in
Heated seats

We are over the moon with it but be careful of one major scary thing - Lane Keeping Assist - it's a bummer and we always turn it off when we get in.
We also drive in ECO Mode all the time, it's still a boy racer car in that mode.

If you go back in this thread you will see I've linked to a You Tube channel run by a bloke called Jerry Pan, they are worth watching.

Get the new software update, LKA is now much better.

 

[Rom]

Yes, they have my tariff (it’s a bit selling point over here - Octopus and Ohme). So the pricing is right.

The awkward bit, and why I reckon it is limited for limiting the pricing is the intelligent bit of the tariff… they can offer you cheaper rates at other times if there’s surplus energy on the grid.

I’m probably overthinking. @aardvark5 will no doubt tell me to just plug it in and stop interfering with it

Yes, they have my tariff (it’s a bit selling point over here - Octopus and Ohme). So the pricing is right.

The awkward bit, and why I reckon it is limited for limiting the pricing is the intelligent bit of the tariff… they can offer you cheaper rates at other times if there’s surplus energy on the grid.

I’m probably overthinking. @aardvark5 will no doubt tell me to just plug it in and stop interfering with it

View attachment 34787

I don't think the app is smart enough to know when rates drop during the day.
You should also contact OHME support, they spent a month monitoring my charging for me and helping me tweak my tariff and price cap to achieve my charging preferences.
If you haven't done it yet, set up routines based on your preferred charging schedule.
Below is what my routines look like. If I do nothing, every time I plug in my car it will automatically add 25% mostly on my cheap EV tariff.
I can override that on the main page and just up my percentage to whatever I want like, I showed previously, and the app is smart enough to put the bulk of my charging on the cheap rate.

If I was you, once I have my tariff and routines set up, I would set the price cap at the high rate, have maybe 25% as my daily target, and if I need a bit more, manually add a few percent on the charging page when I plug in. The app should know to keep the bulk on your EV rate.

 

[aardvark5]

I’m probably overthinking. @aardvark5 will no doubt tell me to just plug it in and stop interfering with it

100%, well that's how my iGo and Zappi work,. I never touch anything and my Zappi is covered over because I don't need to look at it.

Thursday evening the wife worked out how much we are now saving on our electric and petrol bill a month by also using the domestic appliances at 7p/Kw times on the schedule.

We do around 400 miles a month and in the ICE car we spent around £50.
We spent an average of £120 a month on electricity with our old provider.
So in total around £170 for both electric and petrol.

The 400 miles in the EV costs around £8 and using appliances at low rates now means our electric bill is now £90.
That means a saving of £80 a month now we don't buy petrol.

 

[GaryMG4]

100%, well that's how my iGo and Zappi work,. I never touch anything and my Zappi is covered over because I don't need to look at it.

Thursday evening the wife worked out how much we are now saving on our electric and petrol bill a month by also using the domestic appliances at 7p/Kw times on the schedule.

We do around 400 miles a month and in the ICE car we spent around £50.
We spent an average of £120 a month on electricity with our old provider.
So in total around £170 for both electric and petrol.

The 400 miles in the EV costs around £8 and using appliances at low rates now means our electric bill is now £90.
That means a saving of £80 a month now we don't buy petrol.

Do you ever do a 10-100% balance charge using IGo smart charge?

 

[aardvark5]

Do you ever do a 10-100% balance charge using IGo smart charge?

No
Should I?

 

[GaryMG4]

No
Should I?

I think it is recommended in the manual to 'reset' the BMS a couple of times a year for our NMC battery.

 

[aardvark5]

I think it is recommended in the manual to 'reset' the BMS a couple of times a year for our NMC battery.

I'll look that up
Thanks

 

[SBJames]

I’m charging right now… 11:35am on a Saturday.

It says it is smart charging, and this is what the octopus app it saying. But am I really only being charged at 7p/kWh??

I struggle to believe there’s surplus energy in the grid at the moment… but it says it is smart charging….

There’s no actual way for me to check is there??

 

[aardvark5]

I’m charging right now… 11:35am on a Saturday.

It says it is smart charging, and this is what the octopus app it saying. But am I really only being charged at 7p/kWh??

I struggle to believe there’s surplus energy in the grid at the moment… but it says it is smart charging….

There’s no actual way for me to check is there??

I've never had that long on the schedule before but you're in a different area.
I'd take it that it is 7p/Kw.

 

[SBJames]

I've never had that long on the schedule before but you're in a different area.
I'd take it that it is 7p/Kw.

Just feels unreal to me. But I suppose so!

I need to get a new meter from Octopus which I think shows live.

I suppose it helps that I just set it to 100% without the Ohme charger knowing what the SoC of the car is… but as long as it says “smart charging” I should be clear.

Oh well, one load of washing put on too!

 

[pjmmk]

That means a saving of £80 a month now we don't buy petrol.

And no smelly hands after handling the pump. Petrol or diesel on your skin can't be good...