So, picked up the car but...

[MrG]

Well, yesterday, I picked up the new car - 7 miles on the clock, 2021 registered. A very mixed bag of feelings!

Positives:
Love the car itself! So enjoyable to drive, smooth ride and the tech is great. Driving down the 330 miles from Newcastle to London, I played with the lane departure system, MG Pilot (very cool!) and the cruise control, which worked well. All in all, it's a real step-up for us and taking my wife and girls out today, they were full of praise, as was I.

Negatives:
I ran out of battery and had to be towed part of the way.

Herein lies the problem. So, I took the following photo before I started driving:

The updates had been done (no bongs, temperature on display etc) but the voltage was 440v. Now, I'm not going to pretend, I don't actually have a clue about what the voltage means or why it needs to be close to the magic figure of 455v. I've read so much from all of you (still don't get it - why lie?), but this figure now seems to be mythical? I did ask the dealer about this and they said that no battery will now go up to that figure but I'm still none the wiser. Why is 455v so important?

As you can see, this is with three quarter-ish still in the battery, with range at 119 miles.

So, I started my drive home, having planned the recharge based on the 119 miles, and 20% being left when I got to the charging station. Driving in Normal, with KERS3. As I got closer and closer, I realised that the range was not reflected in the actual mileage I was doing. However, I made it to the charging station and filled up to 80%. Strangely, the BP Pulse point cut off at 27 minutes, meaning I had to continue the charge by paying the standing charge again. Happened at two stations. Minor annoyance - any suggestions?

I had approximately 105 miles of range stated on the system. Switched to Eco mode. At this point, I started to play with the toys. Used cruise control, MG Pilot and heated seats. I set cruise control at between 70/75 mph. I have no idea how much extra that was taking from the battery (didn't think it would be a huge amount) but soon realised I was in trouble and did not have a charging station anywhere nearby. Again, I had planned for the stop with 20% remaining. With two miles to the next available station, I ran out of power on the side of the A1. Terrifying with huge lorries screaming by within millimetres of the car. What went wrong??

I rang my recovery company (Autoaid) who were great and managed to get a truck out to me after an hour, which is what I expected. They took me to the charging station and, with my tail between my legs, started charging again. I took it to 85% as it really slowed down charging by this point. I now had MAJOR range anxiety and was clueless as to how best to get home. So, I went totally against what I was doing before and turned EVERYTHING off - cruise control, MG Pilot, infotainment system, heating, EVERYTHING. Stayed with Eco mode. Froze my backside off and just drove. I cut my speed to about 50/55mph, hoping this would increase the range. I got to 40% battery left with 60 miles of range remaining (knowing that the '60 miles' actually meant much, much less) and stopped to charge again. Didn't want car dying on me again. Does this battery and range remaining ring true with your experiences?

This time, charged to 75% (roughly 105 miles of range) and got back on the road, again with nothing being used. On this leg, I found that the 50 mile journey had actually knocked 75 miles off the range. Why?? Scared, I pulled over again and charged one last time. I took these photos at that point:

For that leg:

Total up to that point:

Voltage at this point had dropped to 420V. The 2.7 miles/kwh - does that seem low?


I then charged to 65%, and drove the 30 miles remaining. Got back with 50 miles left. Totally frozen. Took these photos:

As you can see, voltage dropped to 394v.

I left Newcastle at 1pm and got into London at 11.20pm.

Today, I started a granny charge with a voltage of 403v.

At the moment, I am just thankful that it was only me in the car having to experience that horrendous journey. I am very worried about taking my family in for long journeys if this is what to be expected. Why does the predicted range differ so wildly from the actual mileage? I know you have said that temperature can have an effect, and yesterday I was driving with the highest outside temperature at 0 degrees.

However, I read that many of you seem to get many more miles than I was achieving. Have I done something wrong with how I set the car up, or drove? Or is there an issue with the car?

I love the car, but don't understand why it went so horribly wrong yesterday.

Thank you, in advance.

 

[Cocijo]

I’m sorry that you’ve had such a bad experience with your new car. Where to start....
The first thing to say with using an EV for trips is that planning is really important. When you’re new to EV’s this can be difficult unless you know what to expect.
The key is how many miles/kwhr you can and do achieve. Think about this as miles per gallon in an ICE car. With your ZS if you use 40kw/hr as the usable battery size (think of this as the size of your fuel tank) when fully charged then multiply this by your miles/kwhr you’ll get a reasonable range prediction.
EV’s range reduces considerably at motorway speeds and in cold weather as you found out through your experiences. You achieved around 2.7m/kwhr which gives you a range of about 108miles based on your journey. In summer and with slower speeds this can increase significantly.
What sort of distance family trips are you planning? If they are very long journeys an EV like the MG might not be ideal I’m afraid.

 

[Jeps]

Sorry for your bad experience, especially when it is all new. But I think the word "new" is what is the problem here. To make such a long journey with any experience with the car, is maybe not the best things to do, especially not in winter time. I expect the range drop to be 25-30% in winter time, and you mention speeds at around 70-75mph. Then you really has been throwing you self in the deep end off the pool?. From now on don't think to much about rangeenxiety, but about to get to now how many things variate the range when you drive an electric car. Get comfortable little by little then you don't end up at the deep end of the pool again. Good luck with your car, and soon it will be spring and summer driving?

 

[MrG]

I’m sorry that you’ve had such a bad experience with your new car. Where to start....
The first thing to say with using an EV for trips is that planning is really important. When you’re new to EV’s this can be difficult unless you know what to expect.
The key is how many miles/kwhr you can and do achieve. Think about this as miles per gallon in an ICE car. With your ZS if you use 40kw/hr as the usable battery size (think of this as the size of your fuel tank) when fully charged then multiply this by your miles/kwhr you’ll get a reasonable range prediction.
EV’s range reduces considerably at motorway speeds and in cold weather as you found out through your experiences. You achieved around 2.7m/kwhr which gives you a range of about 108miles based on your journey. In summer and with slower speeds this can increase significantly.
What sort of distance family trips are you planning? If they are very long journeys an EV like the MG might not be ideal I’m afraid.

So, 108 miles for full charge sounds close to what I was getting yesterday. Do I have to worry about the 440v dropping to below 400? Why has that happened?

Our family trips certainly won't be as long as yesterday!! Generally around 50 miles or so from where we live, and back again.

 

[JodyS21]

I feel your pain.
I think you've hit exactly what my wife keeps going on at me about, it says it should do so many miles, we based our purchase on that minus say 25% leeway and it's getting no where near it.
I did not fully appreciate, despite reading lots and lots, the impact so many things have on the range. I never even dreamt that sometimes I wouldn't even safely get half the rated distance advertised.

 

[MrG]

Sorry for your bad experience, especially when it is all new. But I think the word "new" is what is the problem here. To make such a long journey with any experience with the car, is maybe not the best things to do, especially not in winter time. I expect the range drop to be 25-30% in winter time, and you mention speeds at around 70-75mph. Then you really has been throwing you self in the deep end off the pool?. From now on don't think to much about rangeenxiety, but about to get to now how many things variate the range when you drive an electric car. Get comfortable little by little then you don't end up at the deep end of the pool again. Good luck with your car, and soon it will be spring and summer driving?

Jeps, you have no idea how worried I was!! A complete baptism of fire. I knew I was pushing myself with the drive, being an absolute novice to this new world, but didn't realise it would be that bad-I woke up with the horrors of yesterday buzzing around my head!

I love the car and am fully prepared for learning-I am a teacher so patience and learning step by step is my day job! Do you think I have anything to worry about with the actual mechanics of the mileage or anything to do with the car itself? Do the numbers above sound 'normal' and I just need to learn to drive in a different way, compared to an ICE vehicle?

 

[JodyS21]

So, 108 miles for full charge sounds close to what I was getting yesterday. Do I have to worry about the 440v dropping to below 400? Why has that happened?

Our family trips certainly won't be as long as yesterday!! Generally around 50 miles or so from where we live, and back again.

In the current freezing conditions we're having, if you were to do a mainly motorway journey, unfortunately I do not think it is "safe" to do a trip of over 100 miles.

 

[MrG]

I feel your pain.
I think you've hit exactly what my wife keeps going on at me about, it says it should do so many miles, we based our purchase on that minus say 25% leeway and it's getting no where near it.
I did not fully appreciate, despite reading lots and lots, the impact so many things have on the range. I never even dreamt that sometimes I wouldn't even safely get half the rated distance advertised.

I don't think I factored in 25% leeway which is why it went so wrong. At worst, I thought maybe 10%. I read so many positive stories here about drivers being only a few miles off their range so I foolishly thought that would be the same for me.

 

[JodyS21]

Jeps, you have no idea how worried I was!! A complete baptism of fire. I knew I was pushing myself with the drive, being an absolute novice to this new world, but didn't realise it would be that bad-I woke up with the horrors of yesterday buzzing around my head!

I love the car and am fully prepared for learning-I am a teacher so patience and learning step by step is my day job! Do you think I have anything to worry about with the actual mechanics of the mileage or anything to do with the car itself? Do the numbers above sound 'normal' and I just need to learn to drive in a different way, compared to an ICE vehicle?

Your figures etc based on your described journey information match the mileage you are seeing I would say, nothing different with your car to others.

 

[MrG]

In the current freezing conditions we're having, if you were to do a mainly motorway journey, unfortunately I do not think it is "safe" to do a trip of over 100 miles.

Oh, don't I know it!! ?

We are so prepared to learn and just need to think about the best way to do this, without the worry of a "faulty car".

 

[MrG]

Your figures etc based on your described journey information match the mileage you are seeing I would say, nothing different with your car to others.

Well, that at least makes me feel a tiny bit better!

 

[Chrisb]

Your car will only show 450v when fully charged, it's drops as you drive the car until you charge it back up again, yours looks about right to me.

 

[Mark Holmes]

Well, yesterday, I picked up the new car - 7 miles on the clock, 2021 registered. A very mixed bag of feelings!

Positives:
Love the car itself! So enjoyable to drive, smooth ride and the tech is great. Driving down the 330 miles from Newcastle to London, I played with the lane departure system, MG Pilot (very cool!) and the cruise control, which worked well. All in all, it's a real step-up for us and taking my wife and girls out today, they were full of praise, as was I.

Negatives:
I ran out of battery and had to be towed part of the way.

Herein lies the problem. So, I took the following photo before I started driving:
View attachment 1486

The updates had been done (no bongs, temperature on display etc) but the voltage was 440v. Now, I'm not going to pretend, I don't actually have a clue about what the voltage means or why it needs to be close to the magic figure of 455v. I've read so much from all of you (still don't get it - why lie?), but this figure now seems to be mythical? I did ask the dealer about this and they said that no battery will now go up to that figure but I'm still none the wiser. Why is 455v so important?

As you can see, this is with three quarter-ish still in the battery, with range at 119 miles.

So, I started my drive home, having planned the recharge based on the 119 miles, and 20% being left when I got to the charging station. Driving in Normal, with KERS3. As I got closer and closer, I realised that the range was not reflected in the actual mileage I was doing. However, I made it to the charging station and filled up to 80%. Strangely, the BP Pulse point cut off at 27 minutes, meaning I had to continue the charge by paying the standing charge again. Happened at two stations. Minor annoyance - any suggestions?

I had approximately 105 miles of range stated on the system. Switched to Eco mode. At this point, I started to play with the toys. Used cruise control, MG Pilot and heated seats. I set cruise control at between 70/75 mph. I have no idea how much extra that was taking from the battery (didn't think it would be a huge amount) but soon realised I was in trouble and did not have a charging station anywhere nearby. Again, I had planned for the stop with 20% remaining. With two miles to the next available station, I ran out of power on the side of the A1. Terrifying with huge lorries screaming by within millimetres of the car. What went wrong??

I rang my recovery company (Autoaid) who were great and managed to get a truck out to me after an hour, which is what I expected. They took me to the charging station and, with my tail between my legs, started charging again. I took it to 85% as it really slowed down charging by this point. I now had MAJOR range anxiety and was clueless as to how best to get home. So, I went totally against what I was doing before and turned EVERYTHING off - cruise control, MG Pilot, infotainment system, heating, EVERYTHING. Stayed with Eco mode. Froze my backside off and just drove. I cut my speed to about 50/55mph, hoping this would increase the range. I got to 40% battery left with 60 miles of range remaining (knowing that the '60 miles' actually meant much, much less) and stopped to charge again. Didn't want car dying on me again. Does this battery and range remaining ring true with your experiences?

This time, charged to 75% (roughly 105 miles of range) and got back on the road, again with nothing being used. On this leg, I found that the 50 mile journey had actually knocked 75 miles off the range. Why?? Scared, I pulled over again and charged one last time. I took these photos at that point:

For that leg:
View attachment 1487
Total up to that point:
View attachment 1489
Voltage at this point had dropped to 420V. The 2.7 miles/kwh - does that seem low?


I then charged to 65%, and drove the 30 miles remaining. Got back with 50 miles left. Totally frozen. Took these photos:
View attachment 1490
View attachment 1491
View attachment 1492
As you can see, voltage dropped to 394v.

I left Newcastle at 1pm and got into London at 11.20pm.

Today, I started a granny charge with a voltage of 403v.

At the moment, I am just thankful that it was only me in the car having to experience that horrendous journey. I am very worried about taking my family in for long journeys if this is what to be expected. Why does the predicted range differ so wildly from the actual mileage? I know you have said that temperature can have an effect, and yesterday I was driving with the highest outside temperature at 0 degrees.

However, I read that many of you seem to get many more miles than I was achieving. Have I done something wrong with how I set the car up, or drove? Or is there an issue with the car?

I love the car, but don't understand why it went so horribly wrong yesterday.

Thank you, in advance.

I think most have already answered your concerns, but I’ll chip in too and also feel sorry for you on your first experience....things will get better.
If you ever have issues at the charging stations call the customer support numbers detailed on the chargers as they are generally very good from my experience and will help you with whatever problems your having.
Using all your electrics is fine, but please note your heating draws from your HV battery, have the heating on but perhaps don’t have it turned fully up, the higher you go the more power it draws, I normally have mine on the 2nd or 3rd heating setting. Yes the cold is making a huge difference to all EV’s, but when we get over 5 degrees you’ll start to see this improve. That said the cold coupled with your speed will see a quicker drop than normal, reduced speed will increase range, you’ll gain this knowledge with experience, but you’ll still be pleased that EV’s are they way forwards in so many ways.
You haven’t done anything wrong it’s simply a learning experience, but as you say don’t run the car mile for mile, but with time you’ll be more at one with the car and understand what you can get it out of it.
That’s said family trips at 50 miles will never be an issue for you.
Good luck going forwards

 

[Deleted member 2439]

Very interesting & a case of “buyers initial remorse” methinks. I had similar feelings when I got mine on the 21st Dec. I think it was caused by the zero handover of the socially distanced delivery “here’s the keys mate, bye”. In my case it was all the safety features (Lane warning etc), bonging at me incessantly & I had to sit down & read the manual to get it all sorted.

 

[Jeps]

Jeps, you have no idea how worried I was!! A complete baptism of fire. I knew I was pushing myself with the drive, being an absolute novice to this new world, but didn't realise it would be that bad-I woke up with the horrors of yesterday buzzing around my head!

I love the car and am fully prepared for learning-I am a teacher so patience and learning step by step is my day job! Do you think I have anything to worry about with the actual mechanics of the mileage or anything to do with the car itself? Do the numbers above sound 'normal' and I just need to learn to drive in a different way, compared to an ICE vehicle?

Hi MrG. If you only knew my first experience with an electric car, then the 2 of us was having a laugh drinking a beer or so?.
My experience with an electric car was with a rented Nissan Evalia.it is now 6 or 7 years since, but I remember it as yesterday ?. The car was not fully charged, I took it on the motorway, when I reached back home with sweaty armpits, and thought I could charge the car at a nearby charging station, I found out that the rented car was not supplied with any kind of cable. It's a long story, but I am now on my second EV. And will never look back to get anything else. I just realized that it was not the car that was the problem that day. It was everything around it I had to figure out to make it work. I hope you will start to love it as much as me and my family do?

 

[AbuG]

In first pic, your car started with 75%-80% charge. So 440V is reasonable at that charge.

 

[Mark Holmes]

I don't think I factored in 25% leeway which is why it went so wrong. At worst, I thought maybe 10%. I read so many positive stories here about drivers being only a few miles off their range so I foolishly thought that would be the same for me.

You’ll see a big difference when the temperatures increase to a normal level and the miles per KWh will increase to, I’m getting about 2.8 - 2.9 miles per KWh at present where as in the summer I get about 4.0 to 4.2 miles per KWh and if I’m driving in London it’s been as high as 4.8 in the summer..you’ll see how things change with the weather. Just to add I drive on motorways at about 65 mph...anything over 70 will have significant impact on your power usage and the speed difference doesn’t make much time difference on your overall journey.

 

[jamesie]

Don't worry about voltage. The reason so much has been discussed about voltage recently is due to the BMS software bug(s) and the fix applied. Voltage has been used as the only benchmark value to give an indication as to whether a car is affected or not. It's a bit of a red herring for day to day range.

Range estimation is more important and the GOM is inaccurate at best, misleading at worst. Play it conservatively initially until you get used to the range you expect for the conditions (weather, road types, speed, need for HVAC etc). Charge more frequently than you think you need to. On your journey I would have been looking at approximately 70 miles between charges and planning accordingly. Spend some time getting familiar with an app like A Better Route Planner to plan your longer journeys.

It's a knock to your confidence with the car but don't give up.

 

[Fishettibean]

So the first photo - shows the battery wasn't 100% when they handed it over to you. Somewhere around 80%. That's 20miles gone stright away.
First blob is 25%, then each next one is about 10%ish.

Dont worry about voltage until its 100%. Check its 449v when its 100%, if so, enjoy driving the car and forget voltage. Its the "oil dip stick" of EV driving.

But 330mile journey on first drive, that impressive.

 

[JodyS21]

Oh, don't I know it!! ?

We are so prepared to learn and just need to think about the best way to do this, without the worry of a "faulty car".

My wife's round trip work journey is 104miles, after using it on Wednesday, she refused to take the car on Friday & used my petrol guzzler instead.
She's going to use it tomorrow and see how it goes, if it only just makes it, we're going to have to return the car.

Realistically, although you can be careful with the heater, you need to be comfortable (she freezed her ar*e off like you did when using it on Weds). I can't give you a %, but driving at 65 on motorway vs 75 would definitely make a difference. The worse type of trip you could do is a 100% high speed motorway journey.