Range and Charge Rate

[Nick W]

Having picked up my MG5 on Saturday, I am not getting the charge rate that I expected. I tried a rapid charge from a 50KW charger and was getting 35KW, and then tried a 175KW charger and the car still only drew 38KW. Both were with the state of charge comfortably below 80% throughout and were averages over a 30 minute charge. The ambient temperature was around zero; can anyone with more experience of the car say if the low charge rate is temperature related?

I am also struggling to better 3 miles per KWh, which is not consistent with a 214 mile range! Most of my driving so far has been on motorways and A roads and in cold conditions - are you finding the same and does economy improve when it is warmer?

Many thanks

 

[Mark Holmes]

Having picked up my MG5 on Saturday, I am not getting the charge rate that I expected. I tried a rapid charge from a 50KW charger and was getting 35KW, and then tried a 175KW charger and the car still only drew 38KW. Both were with the state of charge comfortably below 80% throughout and were averages over a 30 minute charge. The ambient temperature was around zero; can anyone with more experience of the car say if the low charge rate is temperature related?

I am also struggling to better 3 miles per KWh, which is not consistent with a 214 mile range! Most of my driving so far has been on motorways and A roads and in cold conditions - are you finding the same and does economy improve when it is warmer?

Many thanks

This is just a very short reply’s, but to get those maximum charge rates you need to be low on power, much less that 80% perhaps nearer 10-15% and the battery and outside temperature will also make a difference, same as it has an impact on range. It’s the same with all EV’s.

 

[Cocijo]

At motorway speeds (70mph) in winter with heating on etc 3mpk is not unusual. EV’s hate high speed driving. When the weather is warmer these figures can improve but you’ll never get great range at high speeds I’m afraid. The heating alone can take away 0.5mpk in cold weather.

 

[Kithmo]

214 mile range is the stuff of dreams. The battery performs best when it's warmed up, so short journeys of less than 8-10 miles, cold weather, high speed and harsh acceleration will all eat into the overall range. If you're doing any or all of the above then your range could be as low as 120 miles (or less). If you have the faulty BMS then even less.

 

[Ranger]

214 mile range is the stuff of dreams. The battery performs best when it's warmed up, so short journeys of less than 8-10 miles, cold weather, high speed and harsh acceleration will all eat into the overall range. If you're doing any or all of the above then your range could be as low as 120 miles (or less). If you have the faulty BMS then even less.

This is my daily commute to a T.

 

[jonathanhoey]

I don't think bad BMS is a thing on the MG5, but otherwise yes. I've been seeing around 3 miles/kWh out of mine as well.

I've read that the efficiency gets better on longer runs - presumably as the HV battery heats up to its preferred temperature. It's certainly got active battery cooling but I don't think it has active heating.

 

[Valiant5]

214 mile range is the stuff of dreams. The battery performs best when it's warmed up, so short journeys of less than 8-10 miles, cold weather, high speed and harsh acceleration will all eat into the overall range. If you're doing any or all of the above then your range could be as low as 120 miles (or less). If you have the faulty BMS then even less.

I'm sure 214 miles is achievable, but it depends on several factors, including outside temperature, wind direction, whether the road is soaking wet or dry, speed and driving style. A heavy foot and constant braking and accelerating, rather than reading the road ahead and maintaining a more constant speed, will also have a negative impact.

As already mentioned, higher speeds significantly reduce range, so driving at the motorway limit of 70, or in excess, it's unlikely 200 is achievable. Drop down to 60/65 and in milder weather it should be possible.

On Easter Sunday we made a 73-mile round trip to see family in Stockport. It was a hilly route across the Peak District, the temperature probably averaged about 6 degrees and we had a couple of notches of the heater on. Overall the 5 used 33 per cent of the battery, so multiply 73 by three and it's 219 miles. I was driving at normal speeds, sticking to the speed limit of 50 most of the way.

So it looks like I'm in Dreamland!

 

[Kithmo]

214 mile range is the stuff of dreams. The battery performs best when it's warmed up, so short journeys of less than 8-10 miles, cold weather, high speed and harsh acceleration will all eat into the overall range. If you're doing any or all of the above then your range could be as low as 120 miles (or less). If you have the faulty BMS then even less.

Sorry I forgot I was in the MG5 forum, I had my ZS head on. 214 miles is easily do-able in the 5.

 

[Petriix]

The simple truth is that driving at 70mph uses around 30% more energy than driving at 50mph and a combination of cold air being more dense and cold batteries being less efficient makes driving at 0 degrees around 25% less efficient than driving at 23 degrees.

All that conspires to make the winter motorway range as low as 130 miles in the worst conditions whereas 230 miles would be perfectly possible if you keep below 50mph on a summer's day.

If you need to eek out your range then you can drive a bit slower, keep the cabin heating a bit lower, inflate the tyres a bit higher and try to get some heat into the battery by charging right before you set off.

You'll find that some rapid chargers never get above 40kW. It just seems to be a quirk of CCS charging with certain manufacturers and certain charging networks (Geniepoint seem particularly bad). Cold batteries cannot charge as fast as warmer batteries and the charging rate will drop significantly above 60% state of charge and fall off a cliff above 80%.

 

[Stuwit46]

I did my regular 170 mile round trip for work today. Got there on 50% used from a cold start @100%. I used the air con, heated rear window, heated seats, Apple car play, The starting outside temp was 0°c and warmed up to 3°c. I had a quick 10 Min CCS before starting work return journey was around 6-8°c Got home with 9%. Both journeys average speed around 55mph A-roads, d/carriageways and m’ways. I’m happy with that...