Sleeping in MG4 [merged thread]

[DixieTGS]

We are entering the car via the back doors but I'm looking for a way to use the hatch.

If you want to use the hatch to exit the car too, it can be opened manually from the inside. See emergency tailgate opening in the manual.

Remove the small plastic panel on the inside of the car behind the latch to reveal a slot. Insert a suitably sized flat blade screwdriver and turn. It looks like the metal key inside the fob may also fit, but you don't really want the possibility of that getting separated from the fob so something else is best.

A piece of hard plastic could perhaps be cut to fit snuggly such that it could act as a handle and stay there for the duration of the trip maybe.

 

[Ramontiker]

Earlier in the thread someone with a Trophy warned to be very careful if you entered via the hatch because putting weight on the false floor can break it. (I think he had actually done that.)

Can I ask what it is you are using to cover the lights?

Covers are made out of thin fabric armed PVC foil which I reused from an old caravan tent. Velcro patches hold them in shape and magnets together with the bonnet hold them in place. If the bonnet closes exactly over the drawing on the covers they are in the correct place.

 

[Rolfe]

Neat! How well do they stay in place if it's windy?

 

[Ramontiker]

Windy will be not a problem. If stormy I would ad a little bit of adhesive tape. That would not affect the paint if not left in direct sun.

 

[Rolfe]

I had trouble with my system one rather breezy night when the curtains kept lifting. Sometimes they'd flop down again but sometimes they'd lie on the bonnet for a bit. To anyone looking it must have looked like an unintelligible semaphore message. I thought some tape might help. Another member using the same method, who camped in the Highlands last February, said his curtains blew right off in a strong wind.

 

[Archev]

I had trouble with my system one rather breezy night when the curtains kept lifting. Sometimes they'd flop down again but sometimes they'd lie on the bonnet for a bit. To anyone looking it must have looked like an unintelligible semaphore message. I thought some tape might help. Another member using the same method, who camped in the Highlands last February, said his curtains blew right off in a strong wind.

String and rocks is the answer string and rocks

 

[T1 Terry]

And a Happy Birthday to you from Margaret and myself. Over here, it's either keeping the heat out, or keeping the heat in, so we made up reflective insulation blankets with bubble wrap between the two halves to go over the windows, front and back of each motorhome, still have to make a set up for the latest one, the last two went up in smoke with the motorhome
Summer, the reflective blankets go outside and trapped by the windows or doors by adding enough gaffa tape strips to position them, then close the window or door to trap the tape tabs .... winter they go inside to trap the heat in and away from the glass.

Maybe adding long tape tabs to the headlight shades would keep them in place no matter what the weather was ....... I reckon I'd be tracing which wires powered the day time running lights and adding a small relay to turn them off from inside the car ......

T1 Terry

 

[Rolfe]

Hey, another four weeks or so till the birthday!

 

[Rolfe]

I reckon I'd be tracing which wires powered the day time running lights and adding a small relay to turn them off from inside the car ......

T1 Terry

That has been discussed earlier in the thread. I don't know if anyone has actually done it.

 

[T1 Terry]

Hey, another four weeks or so till the birthday!

Your avatar photo makes you look so young, another 4 weeks won't affect that profile one bit

T1 Terry

 

[Ramontiker]

And a Happy Birthday to you from Margaret and myself. Over here, it's either keeping the heat out, or keeping the heat in, so we made up reflective insulation blankets with bubble wrap between the two halves to go over the windows, front and back of each motorhome, still have to make a set up for the latest one, the last two went up in smoke with the motorhome
Summer, the reflective blankets go outside and trapped by the windows or doors by adding enough gaffa tape strips to position them, then close the window or door to trap the tape tabs .... winter they go inside to trap the heat in and away from the glass.

Maybe adding long tape tabs to the headlight shades would keep them in place no matter what the weather was ....... I reckon I'd be tracing which wires powered the day time running lights and adding a small relay to turn them off from inside the car ......

T1 Terry

Cutting the DRLs from the mains with a radio remote relay was my first idea as well. I'm skilled in electronics and that would be a no brainer but I've got a leasing car and I'm not sure if I should affect the wiring that far. May be it will result in a failure record in the ecu and lead to questions concerning the warranty of the car. May be I'm too anxious about that but I prefer the covers as a non traceable way.

 

[Rolfe]

I was thinking, if some enterprising manufacturer connected to AliExpress were to market something like your home-made solution, it might sell quite well. It's not just camping, it's aurora-watching and drive-in cinemas and even just sitting in the car with the heating on waiting for someone. Compulsory light pollution needs a fix.

 

[Ramontiker]

I was thinking, if some enterprising manufacturer connected to AliExpress were to market something like your home-made solution, it might sell quite well. It's not just camping, it's aurora-watching and drive-in cinemas and even just sitting in the car with the heating on waiting for someone. Compulsory light pollution needs a fix.

That's exactly my thinking. Our son owns a Tesla Model 3 and there is no such thing as DRLs always on. Even more the car has a very neat camping mode. At the moment we regret the ownership due to Elon Musk's behaviour. Our third car is a Fiat 500e and this car is far worse than the MG4 when it comes to light pollution. The Headlights including Tail lights stay on if the car is powered on and there is no way to switch them off.

 

[Rolfe]

That is really interesting. I knew about the Tesla camp mode, but there has been some debate in another thread about whether the DRLs staying on is a bug, or whether this is something all EVs do unless there is an actual camp mode.

I'm of the view that it's a bug, because when you toggle the lights off all the lights on the controls go out, as if it's meant as a "make this car dark" command. There's no rational reason to leave the DRLs on - there's a perfectly good park mode, separate to that, which leaves both the DRLs and the tail lights on. However, it may be a "characteristic" of EVs as a class, and if the Fiat is worse that could support that point of view. (Or perhaps the Fiat only has a park mode and no off mode?)

There is a related wrinkle, which I think is a safety issue. It's possible, indeed too easy, to toggle the "lights off" switch by accident while driving, while trying to operate the full/dipped beam manually. I've done it myself two or three times, and it's frightening. It appears that the entire car has gone dark, because although the DRLs are still on, this isn't something the driver can really see.

One might argue that having the DRLs stay on is a safety feature in case this happens, but this is not a sensible position. While an oncoming driver might still see the car, the driver of the MG4 can't see a damn thing. In addition, the tail lights go off, so a car coming up behind has no warning of anything.

My view is that it should not be possible to operate this toggle switch while the car is moving, and that allowing this possibility is a serious safety failing. And, of course, that when the car is stationary and the switch is toggled, ALL the lights should go out. I'm going to write to MG about this, and I think the more people who do that the better.

 

[Archev]

I keep seeing them, possibly because I'm now primed to recognise what they are. One parked in the centre of the village the other day.

You're making me jealous. I wonder how much energy the MG4 would take from the battery in the current night-time temperatures?

I’m still jealous of that VtL capability. So I’m still eyeing up a Citroen e Berlingo Multispace as a possible replacement for Magnette. Googled to see if it had Vto Load and got the answer that it has tons of room to carry loads .
I was at an Arnold Clarke Stirling yesterday and they can get the car I’d like and offered £11000+ as a trade in but still can’t give an answer about VtL.
Magnette and Snail and I might just venture forth soon - possibly Banchory but watching the weather forecasts.

 

[siteguru]

According to EV Database that vehicle is no longer available. If there is a new version available, the old one didn't have V2L. (See section Bidirectional Charging (V2X / BPT))

Citroen E-Berlingo Multispace

All details and specs of the Citroen E-Berlingo Multispace (2017-2020). Compare price, lease, real-world range and consumption of every electric vehicle.

ev-database.org

 

[Archev]

According to EV Database that vehicle is no longer available. If there is a new version available, the old one didn't have V2L. (See section Bidirectional Charging (V2X / BPT))

Citroen E-Berlingo Multispace

All details and specs of the Citroen E-Berlingo Multispace (2017-2020). Compare price, lease, real-world range and consumption of every electric vehicle.

ev-database.org

Aye that seems to be the old model. The newer one is quoted at about 212 mile range.

 

[Rolfe]

VtL is handy, but it's not the be-all and end-all. That range does seem rather short.

 

[siteguru]

For a vehicle the size of a small Transit van (or maybe a larger VW Caddy) with a 52kWh battery it's not so bad.

 

[Rolfe]

Yes, I guess I'd probably be looking for a larger battery in a vehicle like that though.