Open Tesla Supercharge Issues

[DB Go Rex]

I needed to charge away from home today so I called by Tesla at the Trafford Centre again.
My "usual" charger was in use so I had to use one further up the rank.
The 1st attempt to charge failed, it appears that the car had difficulty in locking the charger plug in place.
I simply held the connector in while starting the charge again, this time it worked, the lock engaged and the charge started.
I've had this issue elsewhere, it's rare but if you listen you can hear the locking pin fail to engage and that always results in a failed charge.
Unsure how to fix this but will start by squirting some lithium grease around the locking pin area.

Yeah no problems at Trafford for me.

My standard procedure is to hold the connector for a while anyways (TeslaBjorn's taught us well ?)

 

[andymgzs]

The AA say this is a common fault on MG. They had the front on my MG apart.

My advice - get it fixed by MG because you will be buggered if it fails locked.

Also find out where the manual release is.

 

[scoobeesnac]

Tried Cardiff & Newport - no luck .

 

[danj]

The AA say this is a common fault on MG. They had the front on my MG apart.

My advice - get it fixed by MG because you will be buggered if it fails locked.

Also find out where the manual release is.

A knackered Pod Point rapid locked its cable in my car, I'm now well versed in where the (flimsy!) emergency release pull is!

 

[DB Go Rex]

"Charging Cease" MG's beautiful English localisation strikes again

 

[danj]

"Charging Cease" MG's beautiful English localisation strikes again

"Unplugged in" and the upside down 8s are my favourites.

 

[Lovemyev]

"Unplugged in" and the upside down 8s are my favourites.

VW have a strange term for when the charge flap is left open on the Golf ?.
It’s something like “Tailgate Left Open”.
Well at least it has a warning light ?.

 

[JCFlippen]

In terms of getting this agreed with MG service - I assume that is covered by warranty and claimable by the dealerships?

I think Miles said that updates are free at time of yearly service but chargeable otherwise.

 

[scoobeesnac]

I think Miles said that updates are free at time of yearly service but chargeable otherwise.

I guess it depends if the car should be working with all types of charger and is classified as a warranty issue or not. :-/

 

[Lovemyev]

I guess it depends if the car should be working with all types of charger and is classified as a warranty issue or not. :-/

Very likely, that when the software was written for the early batch of the facelift ZS the protocol for the 15 non Tesla units were not included on some cars !.
Some ZS EV owners have no problem getting the non Tesla units to work, while others it’s a problem !.
The word is that Tesla have said it’s a problem with certain models and not their chargers.
I guess the idea ? is to update each car at the time of service, otherwise every time an update is released, owners would be demanding workshop time from the dealers.
Miles has explained that going into each individual module one by one and then updating correctly can be a very time consuming job.
MG will be unlikely to support an individual claim of workshop time on a warranty claim.
Unless it was really detrimental to the running / safety of the car.
If the workshop is largely full of cars that just requires software updates and are time consuming, the dealer is likely footing the bill.
Miles explains this better in the pod cast held on Monday night.

 

[scoobeesnac]

MG will be unlikely to support an individual claim of workshop time on a warranty claim.

Humm - I appreciate as Miles mentioned that the MG Service software maybe poor and it may take time to wait and click the next update - it's certainly something they need to resolve to modernise. If it was for a generic maps/infotainment update it's probably not justified.

As a customer spending 35k and having to wait up to 12months to get an update to fix access to arguably the most reliable/cheapest charging network - it's a pretty sad state of affairs. Imagine buying a BMW and they said "sorry, you cannot use Tesco petrol pumps for a year".

Anyway - I need to figure out how to get my other warranty issues resolved so maybe they can do these updates at the same time. I'm not sure I want the car in the dealers for such a long period with a service as well as the issues, although the 3 hr roundtrips and day(s) lost for me will be more impactful.

Maybe Elon is onto something

 

[andymgzs]

Humm - I appreciate as Miles mentioned that the MG Service software maybe poor and it may take time to wait and click the next update - it's certainly something they need to resolve to modernise. If it was for a generic maps/infotainment update it's probably not justified.

As a customer spending 35k and having to wait up to 12months to get an update to fix access to arguably the most reliable/cheapest charging network - it's a pretty sad state of affairs. Imagine buying a BMW and they said "sorry, you cannot use Tesco petrol pumps for a year".

Anyway - I need to figure out how to get my other warranty issues resolved so maybe they can do these updates at the same time. I'm not sure I want the car in the dealers for such a long period with a service as well as the issues, although the 3 hr roundtrips and day(s) lost for me will be more impactful.

Maybe Elon is onto something

MG (and others) need to understand that software is part of the Bill of Material and it can have a defect just like any other physical part.

Proving it when the service centres don’t understand or accept this point is the challenge.

The charging issue is different - forward compatibility is not assured. You need to prove that MG has not implemented the charging standard correctly.

Frankly - I have given up with MG because like you a day wasted is not top of my priority. My lease will expire in 17 months then I’m done.

 

[MWS]

Do you catch the pod cast last night ?.
The issue of not being able to charge the ZS EV Trophy ? on the non - Tesla superchargers was brought up.
A member of the forum had made a very long trip from his home address to the Chorley lads, in order to have car updated.
Miles was in attendance for this appointment and they updated a series of modules on his car.
On the return trip home, the owner successfully collected a charge from the Braintree hub ( I think it was ) where it had failed on every previous attempt to do so.
It involved updating a number of modules in a very planed sequence.
Worth a view if you missed it last night ?.
Apparently MG have now drastically reduced the wait time on ZS EV ( Gen 2 ) facelift models also and cars are available.
Wait times of about 6 - 8 weeks were spoken about.
A little better than the original 18 wait quoted earlier this year.
Also the incentive / discount / finance deals are open again for anybody who qualifies for them ( Blue Light etc etc ).
This applies to ZS EV & MG5 models I believe.
EV sales have stalled over the last few months and trade in values have reduced dramatically.
Dealers sitting on second hand models that have been bought in at top money, are not shifting.
This may be one of the reason why MG have brought back the incentives to help lower the screen price of certain models ?.
Are the sudden availability of ZS EV models as a result of cancelled orders, maybe some.
But a lot of the top spec ZS EV’s arriving now do NOT have the sun roof fitted, so these are fairly recently built cars.
It’s pot luck now if you get one with a sun roof apparently.

The forum member was me!!!

The forum member was me!!!

Can’t speak highly enough of Miles and his crew, really nice to have reliable supercharger access. I had one of the very first ZSEV's in the country - before Tesla got going on opening the network. Cars sold subsequently (like the ZS SR) have likely all had the relevant updates. M

 

[Lovemyev]

The forum member was me!!!

Hi - Glad you had your car updated successfully !.
I am in a fairly similar situation as yourself, we have three MG dealers ALL within a twenty mile radius of are home address in North Wales.
The trip up to the Chorley lads in Burley is round trip of over 200 miles.
We must pass at least 5 - 6 MG dealers on route.
Our Battersea blue Trophy LR was supplied by the team at Burley in mid March of 2022 and it received it's first service and software updates in March this year.
Miles was involved in the sale and it's after care.
The car is about 15 months old now and has covered 12,000 miles.
I know your car had extensive updates done and I am glad it was in safe hands.
I have never tried charging my car from one of the 15 non Tesla super chargers.
Maybe because I have one only a short distance from home ?.
99% of of charging needs are made from home, it has only charged twice from a rapid and that was conducted at the Burley site .
After owning the Gen 1 ZS EV for two years and 20,000 miles, I find the longer range battery in the Gen 2 LR model, helps us avoid the use of rapid units.

 

[MWS]

Hi - Glad you had your car updated successfully !.
I am in a fairly similar situation as yourself, we have three MG dealers ALL within a twenty mile radius of are home address in North Wales.
The trip up to the Chorley lads in Burley is round trip of over 200 miles.
We must pass at least 5 - 6 MG dealers on route.
Our Battersea blue Trophy LR was supplied by the team at Burley in mid March of 2022 and it received it's first service and software updates in March this year.
Miles was involved in the sale and it's after care.
The car is about 15 months old now and has covered 12,000 miles.
I know your car had extensive updates done and I am glad it was in safe hands.
I have never tried charging my car from one of the 15 non Tesla super chargers.
Maybe because I have one only a short distance from home ?.
99% of of charging needs are made from home, it has only charged twice from a rapid and that was conducted at the Burley site .
After owning the Gen 1 ZS EV for two years and 20,000 miles, I find the longer range battery in the Gen 2 LR model, helps us avoid the use of rapid units.

The number of open chargers at Tesla in the UK are quite low, but looking at Europe, they’re everywhere. For a reliable network with abundant charging stalls it’s much more feasible to travel if one has access. Newer models are less likely to have an issue-but it’s a huge advantage if mg become associated with high reliability at superchargers and rapid chargers more generally.

The number of open chargers at Tesla in the UK are quite low, but looking at Europe, they’re everywhere. For a reliable network with abundant charging stalls it’s much more feasible to travel if one has access. Newer models are less likely to have an issue-but it’s a huge advantage if mg become associated with high reliability at superchargers and rapid chargers more generally.

Incidentally I also had issues with the car not reliably recognising MFG chargers. Haven’t had the occasion to test this yet-but pretty sure that’s been improved also.

Following the update I definitely saw a charging speed bump which is nice. Was only at 23% but was charging at 85kW pretty much instantly. On the journey up with Osprey 350 kw chargers I got about 55kW from a similar state of charge. All in all good updates. Just a shame it’s such a faff for dealers to install. Thanks again to Miles and crew.

MFG?

Motor Fuel Group. They tend to put batches of 4-5 stalls around the country and are becoming more common.

I did try. Gave up MG would not connect to charger. Next guy plugged in worked fine.
MG very fickle with chargers.

Probably a wide variety of software updates make different vintages of MG variably reliable. Fixed with updates, but the trick is knowing which ones. See this months podcast for the list.

Will be heading to Banbury tomorrow. Due to a whole smorgasbord of electrical fritz have had both vehicle control unit and charge control unit replaced. Will be interesting to know if this makes any difference to open tesla supercharger access. Having a service at Chorley on Monday so if it doesn’t work on way up will attempt again on way back to see if any updates they install make a difference on the way back. Definitely needs raising with MG - tesla will be the standard in US. Given their cost of supercharger install advantage (like one fifth cheaper in US), maybe their chargers will be everywhere else and open sooner than we think. ?

success! Chorley Burnley really pulled out the stops for me. Got a variety of updates, and now my car will talk to tesla open super chargers. Also charges faster than before the updates. Please see the podcast this week for the list of updates needed from Miles. Needs to be done at time of service otherwise there is a fee. Can take 1-2 hours to get installed, fairly process heavy to install. Thanks everyone. Do let us know here if your updates work once you get them.

 

[Lovemyev]

The number of open chargers at Tesla in the UK are quite low, but looking at Europe, they’re everywhere. For a reliable network with abundant charging stalls it’s much more feasible to travel if one has access. Newer models are less likely to have an issue-but it’s a huge advantage if mg become associated with high reliability at superchargers and rapid chargers more generally.

The one big advantage that I can see with having the MG comparable with the non Tesla super chargers is fairly simple, they always work !.
Shame there is not more than 15 non Tesla units in the U.K. at the moment, although in another MG4 thread, somebody reports that this has now increased to 22 but I am unable to verify this.
Honestly, can not see ALL of these units ever being opened up for non Tesla drivers.
Tesla has made the pacifying gesture to satisfy pressure from the government press, by opening a small number of units.
I can’t really see this increasing in large numbers any time soon TBH.
The high volume of sales of Tesla’s are mainly sold, as a direct result of the exclusivity and reliability of there super charger units.
Turning up in your Tesla to find every stall taken by non Tesla models, is never going to go down well as an owner.
If and when the other rapid chargers EVER become easier and more reliable to use, maybe ? they will consider opening up more units as EV have more choice?.
However, feel we are a LONG way from seeing that day coming ?.

 

[DBedford]

Found 22 on the Tesla app, Ford are considering adopting Tesla standard plugs.

 

[MWS]

The one big advantage that I can see with having the MG comparable with the non Tesla super chargers is fairly simple, they always work !.
Shame there is not more than 15 non Tesla units in the U.K. at the moment, although in another MG4 thread, somebody reports that this has now increased to 22 but I am unable to verify this.
Honestly, can not see ALL of these units ever being opened up for non Tesla drivers.
Tesla has made the pacifying gesture to satisfy pressure from the government press, by opening a small number of units.
I can’t really see this increasing in large numbers any time soon TBH.
The high volume of sales of Tesla’s are mainly sold, as a direct result of the exclusivity and reliability of there super charger units.
Turning up in your Tesla to find every stall taken by non Tesla models, is never going to go down well as an owner.
If and when the other rapid chargers EVER become easier and more reliable to use, maybe ? they will consider opening up more units as EV have more choice?.
However, feel we are a LONG way from seeing that day coming ?.

Agreed on all these points. The thing that isn’t widely realised is how much cheaper it is for tesla to install their super chargers, so if demand increases they can put more in. They have vertical integration of all hardware, install units in a modular fashion (not individually) and have batteries to support areas with poor grid connection. In the US public bids made by Tesla for super chargers show their ability to install for about a fifth the cost of competitors like Electrify America. Tesla also gets government grants to expand its network once they open sites. Devil in detail here - suspect that our government didn’t specify how many sites needed to open to qualify for the grants. France/Europe clearly did! This last bit is purely speculation on my part.

 

[DB Go Rex]

Found 22 on the Tesla app, Ford are considering adopting Tesla standard plugs.

In Europe they won't.

CCS has won here.

 

[MWS]

In Europe they won't.

CCS has won here.

Useful summary of the details from Ricky Roy here…. CCS using type 1 not type 2 is significantly worse I think. Probable because home power in us runs on 110 volt not 240 volt - and in Europe three phase is common so type 2 is a good standard.

I'm traveling from the north of England to the Dordogne in August in my SR. Sucks to be me I guess?

Have a super time. Access to all of these? You’ll be fine.

Useful summary of the details from Ricky Roy here…

NACS is great - but it’s not built with bidirectionality options as far as I know. Tesla has no interest in v2H/V2G - as has powerwall energy wing of business. ccs might allow for this in near future - so not all bad, even if less sleek!