Worrying drop of battery and range below 25%

[unbornidentity]

we manly do short local trips, and recharge on peak solar, looking at BU-808.
I think we'll be better off staying between 65% and 75%.
But that must increase the number of cycles, so is it an advantage?

Apparently that’s the sweet spot but probably not practical for most people. If you have the SE it will likely cause problems with the battery % indicator if you don’t go to 100% once a week or so.

I can charge for free at work so have come up with a compromise that works well for me. I charge to 80% on Sunday night at home for my weekly commute, then charge to 100% at work for the weekend.

 

[Rolfe]

we manly do short local trips, and recharge on peak solar, looking at BU-808.
I think we'll be better off staying between 65% and 75%.
But that must increase the number of cycles, so is it an advantage?

It's not a problem, because the literature is talking about full cycles. Part cycles only count as part cycles. However, bear in mind that the SR likes to go to 100% and balance, recommended once a week. Also try to do your long charge every six months, to avoid experiencing what the OP experienced.

 

[pjmmk]

we manly do short local trips, and recharge on peak solar, looking at BU-808.
I think we'll be better off staying between 65% and 75%.
But that must increase the number of cycles, so is it an advantage?

A battery cycle is generally considered to be a full discharge/recharge so, unless I've misunderstood it, you could discharge and recharge ten times the way you're doing it to reach one cycle. How that actually works out in practice I'm not really sure.

 

[Rolfe]

That's certainly what the experts tell us.

 

[decrep]

It's not a problem, because the literature is talking about full cycles. Part cycles only count as part cycles. However, bear in mind that the SR likes to go to 100% and balance, recommended once a week. Also try to do your long charge every six months, to avoid experiencing what the OP experienced.

Thanks Rolfe,
How do you tell if it's balancing, mine just indicates charging it has stopped at 100%?

 

[siteguru]

You can tell balancing is happening because the car will still be charging but the charge rate will be very low ... in the app it might just show 0.0kW, or slightly above zero if your app has more decimal places for charge rate. (e.g. 0.02 to 0.08kW)

 

[Rolfe]

What @siteguru said. Look at the app, and don't disturb the car until it says "not charging" and both finishing time and charging power are showing -- (or something like that).

You know, someone needs to take a couple of screenshots, one showing the car balancing, and one showing when it's completely done, so we can show people.

 

[Martinonline]

Perhaps @decrep, you should read the thread 'MG4 balancing/equalisation charge' which covers the subject.

 

[decrep]

My trouble is here, that I've had no success registering the app. It doesn't accept the code sent over the phone. I've asked MG for help, but that's a waiting game now.

 

[Rolfe]

I believe that there's something on the infotainment screen about balancing, but I've never looked.

Alternatively, the SR usually takes about 35 minutes to balance, though maybe longer if it hasn't been balanced for a while. If you check (however you can) when the car is supposed to be done charging, and leave it another hour, that will almost certainly cover it.

 

[Martinonline]

@decrep, the info screen will display a battery balancing mesage - I think there are variations from the images I've seen. But, on a granny charger (don't know about other chargers) the green port lights will continue to flash whilst balancing and go out when finished. My Trophy's info screen when balancing:

 

[decrep]

Bit of a worry, MG Australia IT dept, got back to me today, and deny all knowledge of any app.
I found the MG aus website, the chat line there directed me to the local dealer, !hr away, They said, too complicated over the phone come in, we'll see what we can do.

@decrep, the info screen will display a battery balancing mesage - I think there are variations from the images I've seen. But, on a granny charger (don't know about other chargers) the green port lights will continue to flash whilst balancing and go out when finished. My Trophy's info screen when balancing:

View attachment 27001

I haven't seen that screen on the 4, the screen goes out when it's charging. But I'll stay in the car and see what happens.

 

[jammamon]

Since I don't have a home charger for now, there is no way I'll be bothered to do any of this every week. Much rather use it between 20-90% as I've done so far with no issues.

 

[tsedge]

Bit of a worry, MG Australia IT dept, got back to me today, and deny all knowledge of any app.
I found the MG aus website, the chat line there directed me to the local dealer, !hr away, They said, too complicated over the phone come in, we'll see what we can do.

In the UK, my dealer said that the problem is that the dealers have no access to the app. They don't drive MG EVs and the technicians have never seen the app, so they are limited to diagnosing on the car itself.

 

[decrep]

In the UK, my dealer said that the problem is that the dealers have no access to the app. They don't drive MG EVs and the technicians have never seen the app, so they are limited to diagnosing on the car itself.

Well at least the guy that sold us the car, was driving an MG electric, and new what he was talking about, but he's now on annual leave, may have to wait until he returns.

 

[Rolfe]

I had my test drive in the boss's Tango Trophy.

 

[decrep]

Bit of a worry, MG Australia IT dept, got back to me today, and deny all knowledge of any app.
I found the MG aus website, the chat line there directed me to the local dealer, !hr away, They said, too complicated over the phone come in, we'll see what we can do.


I haven't seen that screen on the 4, the screen goes out when it's charging. But I'll stay in the car and see what happens.

Just had a try. no luck, won't let me charge while in the car, can't lock it as charger door is open. From the outside the infotainment screen is black

 

[Martinonline]

I'm confused as to your charging regime. You should be able to lock the car with the charge door open because you must be allowed to leave the car charging whilst taking a driving break. Likewise you should be able to charge whilst in the car - the info battery screen has a start/stop charging button.

Finally, without an app how do you know the car is at 100%? And, given that you can, when it first reaches 100% do the port charging lights continue to flash?

 

[fnegroni]

You can also set the door handle button to open the drivers door only and that’s how you can check the state of charge on the drivers display and sit back in the car

 

[decrep]

I'm confused as to your charging regime. You should be able to lock the car with the charge door open because you must be allowed to leave the car charging whilst taking a driving break. Likewise you should be able to charge whilst in the car - the info battery screen has a start/stop charging button.

Finally, without an app how do you know the car is at 100%? And, given that you can, when it first reaches 100% do the port charging lights continue to flash?

Seems mine is a lot different to yours. The display in front of the steering column gives state of charge, if you hit the lock button while it's charging. If I'm outside the car it locks no problems, but won't lock if I'm inside the car and the charger door is open.I haven't taken notice of the port charging lights once charge, but I think they are solid, not flashing.