Portable charger included with Australian MG4

[slith]

So, I just finished a 220 km trip in my new MG4 Long Range. I still have enough charge to get home, but decided to trickle charge it back to full over the next day. The car came with an MG branded portable charger that plugs into a standard GPO. When I connected it, to my surprise it charges at only 1.2 kW (according to the MG4 screen) when I was expecting closer to 2.4 kW (10A max at 240V). The portable charger that came with my wife's CX-60 PHEV does 2.4 kW so I just assumed this would be the same. Is the portable charger included with Australian MG4 really only capable of 1.2 kW (5A) maximum charge rate? That's pretty lousy.

 

[siteguru]

I think in Aus the "granny" chargers are limited to 8A? 8A x 230V = 1840W = 1.84kW, less charging losses may give only 1.4-1.5kW into the battery ... even lower if you're in the car and HVAC etc. are running.

 

[dsimpkins]

If battery heating is turned on, then that will reduce amount going into battery as well.

 

[siteguru]

I don't think much of that is needed in Aus at this time of year.

 

[dsimpkins]

I don't think much of that is needed in Aus at this time of year.

Good point, but might be turned on by default/accidently.

 

[wattmatters]

When I connected it, to my surprise it charges at only 1.2 kW (according to the MG4 screen) when I was expecting closer to 2.4 kW (10A max at 240V).

1.6 kW into the drive battery is about the max you will see when using the Australian MG supplied charge brick.

The max current draw for the MG supplied charge brick is 8 A, which at 230 V is 1.84 kW, however there are losses along the way to getting power into the drive battery.

Firstly is the general losses in converting the AC supply to higher voltage DC. That will be circa 10%. So now we are now down to ~ 1.66 kW.

Added to these conversion losses is the car itself consumes power while it is being charged. There are electronics and communications, battery management, sometimes battery thermal management, and also a key one is the auxiliary 12 V battery is also being charged.

The combination of all of the above can see the initial charge rate into the drive battery be as low as 1.2 kW. As the auxiliary 12 V battery charges up its power draw gradually reduces, eventually reaching float charge levels where its power draw is very low. So over time more power is made available for charging the drive battery and after a number of hours you may notice the charge rate increase up to 1.6 kW.

 

[T1 Terry]

Where do I get one of the 2.4kW wall chargers to suit the MG4? The one from my first salvage MG4 was missing, so I need to get one anyway .......

T1 Terry

 

[Coulomb]

Where do I get one of the 2.4kW wall chargers to suit the MG4?

Do you mean the 8A granny "charger" , or the 7kW or 11kW wall "charger"? Only the granny comes with as standard.

In either case, I assume you could get them from an MG dealer or service/parts centre.

 

[T1 Terry]

Found this one Portable EV Charger 15A & 10A - EV Car Charger Australia on the MG4 Aust thread from a You Tube video by a member here, Neerav
Looks like a better alternative than the MG granny charger

T1 Terry

 

[slith]

Thanks for the responses. I did not have intelligent battery heating turned on.

The charger doesn't give any information about the AC voltage or current draw since it just has 3 LEDs on it to indicate, power, charging and fault. I checked it 5 times over a 24 hour charge period, sometimes very late at night. It always said 1.2 kW in the car. I get that the actual AC voltage may have been at the low end of the acceptable range at say 220V. At 8 A, that is 1.76 kW. If you take into account the 90% efficiency then that would come down to 1.58 kW. There is no way the 12 V battery could have been drawing around 400 W that entire time. In fact, it should have been fully charged after a 200 km drive and at best would only need a trickle charge to keep it topped up. Nor do I think the electronics and communications would have been consuming about 400W every time I checked either.

In any case, I purchased a dépow portable Charger from Amazon that allows you to select the max charging current (6A, 8A, 10A, 13A, and 15A, through a 15A socket for 13 or 15A charging) and a nice display to show you what the car is drawing and what the input voltage is. I'll see how this goes when next I need to charge the car. I bought this before I saw the YouTube video posted above. It is the same brand and same seller based on the link in the description, but a slightly newer, smaller model than the one shown in the video. If you are interested, this is the link on Amazon. It was $200 for the 6 metre cable version which was quite a bit cheaper than the $267 from the depow website linked to in the description.

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0DBZ1QD1R?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

 

[Coulomb]

Is the portable charger included with Australian MG4 really only capable of 1.2 kW (5A) maximum charge rate?

It's set at 8A in Australia, being 80% of the 10A that our normal outlets are rated at. The 1.2kW shown on the MG4 charging screen is net into the HV battery, after losses and other loads (Air Conditioning, and 12V loads like computers, lights, and pumps). It's confusing; MG should also show an estimate of the power at the AC input.

Some cars (e.g. my 2012 Nissan Leaf) come with a "charger" set at 10A, but come with a 15A plug. This is enough of a nuisance that MG Australia decided that since it's mainly for emergency use anyway, it's better to set it at 8A.

Arguably, with the size of EV main batteries growing all the time, one with a 15A plug and set to 12A would be more useful these days.

 

[Spaceship]

In any case, I purchased a dépow portable Charger from Amazon that allows you to select the max charging current (6A, 8A, 10A, 13A, and 15A, through a 15A socket for 13 or 15A charging) and a nice display to show you what the car is drawing and what the input voltage is. I'll see how this goes when next I need to charge the car. I bought this before I saw the YouTube video posted above. It is the same brand and same seller based on the link in the description, but a slightly newer, smaller model than the one shown in the video. If you are interested, this is the link on Amazon. It was $200 for the 6 metre cable version which was quite a bit cheaper than the $267 from the depow website linked to in the description.

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0DBZ1QD1R?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

How did this charger work out for you? I am getting 1.4 kW from my charger and the charger that came with my friend's PHEV gives me 1.9. I was looking at the dépow as an option. I would be happy even getting 1.9 as that's quite a few hours quicker.