MFG chargers - HV battery shut off/bricking

[MWS]

Dear All,

MFG chargers - HV battery shut off/bricking

Yesterday I tried to charge at the mfg chargers located at Redbridge postcode IG4 5AQ. Charging my 2022 ZSEV Trophy Long Range.

Initially the chargers wouldn't properly 'handshake' with the car - I got a 'connecting' screen for a long time, then a 'charging failed' screen. This happened on 4 of the units. After the last attempt I tried to move off and the car had disconnected the HV battery effectively bricking it. To fix this I needed to disconnect the 12 volt battery to reset the system.

After one more attempt the chargers finally worked - coincidentally I wiggled the ccs plug in the car socket then finally it started working. I regularly have used many other brands of rapid chargers without similar issues.

Has anyone else experienced this issue with MFG/other chargers? Tried to search the forum before posting - apologies if this has already been covered to death.

 

[jusher]

I had recently seen a video discussing charging issues, - 3 minutes 10 seconds, and what it alluded to is when multiple attempts are made to charge and each fail, the car thinks it has the issue and generates an error. This is usually the chargers at fault and not the car.

 

[MWS]

This is really helpful thanks!! Most of those MFG chargers must have been faulty in which case. Top tip! At least I don’t have to worry about my car too much! M

 

[hmadsen]

When faultfinding you usually try to find the common denominator.

If the car failed at numerous chargers, the only thing common for all failures is the car. (And the software that runs these chargers, but in the end you got it working, so the charger can communicate with the car)

As MG has previously had problems with chargers bricking ZS EV's and MG releasing a software update (Effectively accepting the "blame" for the fault) i would start off "blaming" the car.

Do you know for a fact that the firmware update that supposedly mitigated these problems, have been applied to your car. To be honest, when my car was at the certified MG show, i got the distinct feeling that they were not all that happy about doing updates, maybe because of the time needed, maybe they do not get paid very much for the procedure, or maybe they have had problems applying them or more serious, maybe they have experienced cars that were bricked because of failed software updates.

 

[MWS]

Thanks, I have had the update to the software as applied by my dealer - Chorley - who are very good. I also would be inclined to blame the car - although rapid charging on multiple occasions at gridserve, instavolt etc had been fine. I was wondering if it was a specific thing to do with MFG chargers. I only just got the charger working at the 5th or sixth attempt after a long handshake…

 

[Lovemyev]

To be honest, when my car was at the certified MG show, i got the distinct feeling that they were not all that happy about doing updates, maybe because of the time needed, maybe they do not get paid very much for the procedure, or maybe they have had problems applying them or more serious, maybe they have experienced cars that were bricked because of failed software updates

I have found the very same thing @hmadsen.
I had a “off the record / on the car park” conversation with a workshop manger who was very open and honest about carrying out software updates on customers EV’s.
Not wanting to go into too much detail of the conversation, but it was a given that software updates where only carried out ( with the help from MG Tech ) if the customers car had reported a major problem / been recovered or if the customer had directly requested for all software updates to be checked and then applied at the time of the annual service intervals.
“When things go according to plan it’s great, but when they don’t, it can be a huge headache, it causes absolute bedlam to workshop loading times”.
I then asked him was it fair to say that SOME main MG dealers had never even seen an electric car, let alone worked on one until the ZS EV arrived ?.
“Some of the tech’s have received EV training but that is it, we are learning as we go along, and very reliant on the back up of MG Tech”.
So, this explains why some dealers are not willing to invite trouble if they don’t need to.
In fairness, dealers have now seen two versions of the ZS EV and the MG5 plus the recent MG4 over the last three years, so you would have expected confidence in updating these cars to have improved by now.
Personally I feel that when choosing a dealer to apply vital updates, I will choose a dealer who has EV Master Tech’s that have gained EV experience, before working on the MG EV range if I can.
Some dealers who have multi franchises and have gained their EV experience when working on cars like the Nissan Leaf for example, which has been around a lot longer than the MG EV models.
These dealers can have a ten year EV knowledge start on some of the single franchise dealers.
On Tuesday I will be submitting our ZS EV LR for its first service and checking for at least one software update I know it has not received.
We will be making a round trip of almost 200 miles to have this work done correctly I hope, by the guys at Chorley / Burnley.
I have three MG dealers all within a 20 mile radius of our home address and will probably pass another 5 dealers on route to Chorley.
The reasons I gave above is the reason why I am prepared to travel this distance to have the work done.
My only concern is if the link the the MG server is down, making updates unavailable then we will have travelled almost 200 miles for a 30 minute first service !.
Keep your fingers firmly crossed for Tuesday for me folks !.

 

[MWS]

Thanks @Lovemyev - this is my understanding also, was wondering if I was mad to consider driving up to Chorley for the first service and updates, but now I know I’m not alone I’ll definitely consider it seriously! Interesting if others have had an issue with the MFG network - definitely won’t rely on them in future if so. It’s a shame though as they put in several chargers in one go, not just one or two. Will let you know if I hear back from them.

 

[Lovemyev]

Thanks, I have had the update to the software as applied by my dealer - Chorley - who are very good. I also would be inclined to blame the car - although rapid charging on multiple occasions at gridserve, instavolt etc had been fine. I was wondering if it was a specific thing to do with MFG chargers. I only just got the charger working at the 5th or sixth attempt after a long handshake…

Can I ask you when you collected your car please ?.
We collected our ZS EV LR on the 18th March 2022 and the software update to help avoid bricking the car when using a D/C Rapid, was only released about 2 - 3 weeks after this date, so very late March but more likely to be April time.
Miles announced its available on one of the pod casts if my memory serves me correctly.
Therefore there is no way our car could have been updated prior to collection date.
Our car is always charged at home from our wall box and has never been close to a Rapid charger in almost 12 months and covering 9,000 miles.
But on Friday we decided to make a last minute unplanned trip.
We had about 130 miles of range, but a bit more of a safety cushion would have been nice.
So, while we were making preparations to go, I put the car on charge.
I never use the charger in the day light hours because of the cost, but needs must on this occasion.
Therefore I am never around to see when the charge starts, and completed in the middle of the night, as it always set to schedule charge.
As we approached the car, I put down my bag and headed straight for the charge port.
Usual format on the original ZS EV was to unlock the car with the fob and this would stop the charge briefly and release the lock on the type 2 charging cable allowing removal of said cable.
Not in this case !.
I blipped the unlock on the fob and the car unlocked, but not the cable.
The car just carried on charging.
I had to use the App to stop the charge first, only then it would allow me to remove the cable.
As your car has received the update, I guess you now have the facility to unlock the car and withdrawn the type 2 cable ( quickly before it relocks ) on your car now then ?.
Can you confirm please.
@N2STY has kindly said that this is a quick and easy way for the customer to tell if your car has or has not, received the update.
This is the first time I have ever witnessed this phenomenon.
I guess when the update is applied, it will still allow A/C charging with the doors locked or unlocked regardless ?.
Thanks .

 

[hmadsen]

I have found the very same thing @hmadsen.
I had a “off the record / on the car park” conversation with a workshop manger who was very open and honest about carrying out software updates on customers EV’s.
Not wanting to go into too much detail of the conversation, but it was a given that software updates where only carried out ( with the help from MG Tech ) if the customers car had reported a major problem / been recovered or if the customer had directly requested for all software updates to be checked and then applied at the time of the annual service intervals.
“When things go according to plan it’s great, but when they don’t, it can be a huge headache, it causes absolute bedlam to workshop loading times”.
I then asked him was it fair to say that SOME main MG dealers had never even seen an electric car, let alone worked on one until the ZS EV arrived ?.
“Some of the tech’s have received EV training but that is it, we are learning as we go along, and very reliant on the back up of MG Tech”.
So, this explains why some dealers are not willing to invite trouble if they don’t need to.
In fairness, dealers have now seen two versions of the ZS EV and the MG5 plus the recent MG4 over the last three years, so you would have expected confidence in updating these cars to have improved by now.
Personally I feel that when choosing a dealer to apply vital updates, I will choose a dealer who has EV Master Tech’s that have gained EV experience, before working on the MG EV range if I can.
Some dealers who have multi franchises and have gained their EV experience when working on cars like the Nissan Leaf for example, which has been around a lot longer than the MG EV models.
These dealers can have a ten year EV knowledge start on some of the single franchise dealers.
On Tuesday I will be submitting our ZS EV LR for its first service and checking for at least one software update I know it has not received.
We will be making a round trip of almost 200 miles to have this work done correctly I hope, by the guys at Chorley / Barnsley.
I have three MG dealers all within a 20 mile radius of our home address and will probably pass another 5 dealers on route to Chorley.
The reasons I gave above is the reason why I am prepared to travel this distance to have the work done.
My only concern is if the link the the MG server is down, making updates unavailable then we will have travelled almost 200 miles for a 30 minute first service !.
Keep your fingers firmly crossed for Tuesday for me folks !.

Yeah, the technitians are still mostly greasy wrenchers, it must be a problem for the repair industry, in my experience a lot of those who choose to get a mechanics education is people with little to no expertise and knowledge about computers and so on.

We previously owned a Vauxhall Astra, 2016 and the radio has Android Auto, but the problem was, the first firmware for that radio had a bug, that meant that 9/10 times you would just get a black screen instead of AA.

I found out online that this was a known problem, so i took it to the vauxhall dealers own garage, you would imagine these people were the ones who would know most about Vauxhall's.

First obstacle was, no one there knew ANYTHING about this update, and had seemingly never been asked about this update before.

They quoted me the price based on how long Vauxhall stated that this update should take.

2 part update, first they updated the firmware, secondly they had to do variant coding.

I knew infinitely more about the firmware and updates that they did, so i decided to make a note that i put into the car, detailing what i expected.

I had "Firmware revision 1" and since that, there had been 4 other versions, 2, 3, 4, 5

I wrote them a note, stating that i wanted the latest available version off of the servers, the update called for them to check and if needed, download the latest, but i thought it would be better to just write "I want the latest firmware, i know that there is a version 5, so atleast version 5, but if there are newer, then give me that".

They quoted 1 hour to update, and i gave them the car a friday, 2½ hours before the shop closed.

Came back 2½ hours later, they had succesfully updated the radio to version 2, but had not done variant coding, so now the screen was upside down, and displayed a Chevrolet logo when starting the car.

They had it back the following monday, they used another 2 hours, where they had to download the latest firmware (Version 2 was one they found on a USB stick in a drawer) and do variant coding.

I paid for 1 hour, but in reality they took 4½ hours to update a damn radio...(Most of the time, the car was left unattended while it did the actual update, so not 4½ hours of labor)

Numerous failed attempts and variant coding failing a lot until they called their tech support.

I wonder why they were not happy about doing software updates

This will offcourse be better when all cars can be update OTA, but it seems this will take some time.

 

[Lovemyev]

Like in many cases, the people who design these things, never have to fix them when they go wrong !.
Tech’s who work in dealerships are not software expert’s unfortunately.
Most modern cars today are computers on wheels.
There is no secret in the fact that the majority of the motor manufacturers have tried to slow down the pace of EV adoption.
Only one reason for this, is that the after sales support services for EV’s are not up to speed at certain dealerships.
When we ordered our first ZS EV I asked the sales person if they had ANY trained EV Tech’s to handle the after sales tasks.
He said a couple of Tech’s had been chosen to attend a EV training course.
This was only two weeks before the sales team had been allowed to test drive the car !.

 

[hmadsen]

Like in many cases, the people who design these things, never have to fix them when they go wrong !.
Tech’s who work in dealerships are not software expert’s unfortunately.
Most modern cars today are computers on wheels.
There is no secret in the fact that the majority of the motor manufacturers have tried to slow down the pace of EV adoption.
Only one reason for this, is that the after sales support services for EV’s are not up to speed at certain dealerships.
When we ordered our first ZS EV I asked the sales person if they had ANY trained EV Tech’s to handle the after sales tasks.
He said a couple of Tech’s had been chosen to attend a EV training course.
This was only two weeks before the sales team had been allowed to test drive the car !.

Yeah, nowadays garages usually need atleast one "computer guy" and possibly more, if they are a larger garage.

Many moons ago i added some hardware to a car, that was not factory fitted on my car, but was a option that could be bought with the car (Bluetooth module), i had to go to Vauxhall to have the variant coding done, i had researched online and when the car went in, i asked the technitian if i could tag along with the car.

We sat in the car, and i basically told him what settings in what menu of his tool, that i wanted changed

He looked pretty relieved, and said that it was nice to have a costumer that could tell him exactly what they wanted, and what settings i needed, because he had no idea, what i wanted done, as the retrofit of the bluetooth module was not actually something that was supposed to be even possible.

The wiring harness in the car was different and missed the connector for the module, so i bought the connector with the module (Came out of a wrecked car).

He was pretty impressed that i had retrofitted it, and that i knew exactly what i wanted.

 

[MWS]

Can I ask you when you collected your car please ?.
We collected our ZS EV LR on the 18th March 2022 and the software update to help avoid bricking the car when using a D/C Rapid, was only released about 2 - 3 weeks after this date, so very late March but more likely to be April time.
Miles announced its available on one of the pod casts if my memory serves me correctly.
Therefore there is no way our car could have been updated prior to collection date.
Our car is always charged at home from our wall box and has never been close to a Rapid charger in almost 12 months and covering 9,000 miles.
But on Friday we decided to make a last minute unplanned trip.
We had about 130 miles of range, but a bit more of a safety cushion would have been nice.
So, while we were making preparations to go, I put the car on charge.
I never use the charger in the day light hours because of the cost, but needs must on this occasion.
Therefore I am never around to see when the charge starts, and completed in the middle of the night, as it always set to schedule charge.
As we approached the car, I put down my bag and headed straight for the charge port.
Usual format on the original ZS EV was to unlock the car with the fob and this would stop the charge briefly and release the lock on the type 2 charging cable allowing removal of said cable.
Not in this case !.
I blipped the unlock on the fob and the car unlocked, but not the cable.
The car just carried on charging.
I had to use the App to stop the charge first, only then it would allow me to remove the cable.
As your car has received the update, I guess you now have the facility to unlock the car and withdrawn the type 2 cable ( quickly before it relocks ) on your car now then ?.
Can you confirm please.
@N2STY has kindly said that this is a quick and easy way for the customer to tell if your car has or has not, received the update.
This is the first time I have ever witnessed this phenomenon.
I guess when the update is applied, it will still allow A/C charging with the doors locked or unlocked regardless ?.
Thanks .

Hi @Lovemyev - I picked up our car on the 9th July. At this point I had the update that was meant to address the rapid charging issues seen on the very first mark 2 MGZSEV in the country. This was installed by Chorley before I picked up the car so I definitely have it installed. I am able to lock/unlock the charging port from inside the car on the charge screen, and also disconnect the type 2 lead from the car whilst it is charging but just unlocked. I do think you won’t have any regular issues with most rapid charging once you have the update installed-I’ve used rapids quite regularly with zero issues. My MFG ‘debacle’ might have been the chargers, could have been my car, could have been me. Hard to be sure, but I did follow the instructions and the car was turned off - not locked though as family were in the car. Latterly I cancelled the timed charging but that made no difference. Does that his help at all? M

 

[Lovemyev]

Hi @Lovemyev - I picked up our car on the 9th July. At this point I had the update that was meant to address the rapid charging issues seen on the very first mark 2 MGZSEV in the country. This was installed by Chorley before I picked up the car so I definitely have it installed. I am able to lock/unlock the charging port from inside the car on the charge screen, and also disconnect the type 2 lead from the car whilst it is charging but just unlocked. I do think you won’t have any regular issues with most rapid charging once you have the update installed-I’ve used rapids quite regularly with zero issues. My MFG ‘debacle’ might have been the chargers, could have been my car, could have been me. Hard to be sure, but I did follow the instructions and the car was turned off - not locked though as family were in the car. Latterly I cancelled the timed charging but that made no difference. Does that his help at all? M

Thank you for your reply .
As your car was registered in July 22 and supplied by the lads a Chorley, I would have no concerns that it received the latest updates.
So just to confirm, you are now able to unlock the car with the FOB and it will pause the charge, to enable you to remove the type 2 cable from the charge port, without entering the car or using the App to stop the charging process M ?.
Thank you.

 

[MWS]

Thank you for your reply .
As your car was registered in July 22 and supplied by the lads a Chorley, I would have no concerns that it received the latest updates.
So just to confirm, you are now able to unlock the car with the FOB and it will pause the charge, to enable you to remove the type 2 cable from the charge port, without entering the car or using the App to stop the charging process M ?.
Thanks you.

That’s right - I’ve just tried this and that’s exactly what happened! Hope this is good news for you. M

 

[Lovemyev]

That’s right - I’ve just tried this and that’s exactly what happened! Hope this is good news for you. M

Thank you for that M.
So, it is clear that your car has received the software update ( as we thought given its delivery date was in July ) and our car missed it being mid March 2022 !.

 

[MWS]

Thank you for that M.
So, it is clear that your car has received the software update ( as we thought given its delivery date was in July ) and our car missed it being mid March 2022 !.

Thanks - hope you get yours sorted soon too. Incidentally I pass an MFG charger on the way to Chorley MG. Might do a before and after on my way to/from to see if any intervening updates change the end user experience of using their chargers…

 

[Lambo51]

I picked up my LR ZS ev from Chorley in mid March 2022 and have used mfg several times with no issues

 

[Lovemyev]

I picked up my LR ZS ev from Chorley in mid March 2022 and have used mfg several times with no issues

We picked up our ZS EV LR from the lads at Chorley - Burnley mid March 2022 as well !.
About two weeks after we collected it, owners started reporting issues when trying to use D/C rapid chargers, causing multiple fails to commence the charge, then throwing up a HV warning and preventing the car to either charge or move on !.
Some cars even "bricked" and required the services of the A.A. to hitch a ride to the nearest dealership.
About 2 - 3 weeks after this kicked off, Miles revealed that MG had released a new software update to help over come this issue.
Given our collection was before this date, I was pretty sure that our car had not received said update.
Only today strangely enough, it has been back to Burnley lads ( almost a 200 mile round trip ) for it's first service and checks done for any outstanding updates.
It was relived later, that it had received two updates.
One to update the BCM ( Body Control module ) but this may of included a few tick box exercises in that module and secondly, one update for the info / head unit.
It has now received ALL available present updates for our car.

 

[Striker]

We picked up our ZS EV LR from the lads at Chorley - Burnley mid March 2022 as well !.
About two weeks after we collected it, owners started reporting issues when trying to use D/C rapid chargers, causing multiple fails to commence the charge, then throwing up a HV warning and preventing the car to either charge or move on !.
Some cars even "bricked" and required the services of the A.A. to hitch a ride to the nearest dealership.
About 2 - 3 weeks after this kicked off, Miles revealed that MG had released a new software update to help over come this issue.
Given our collection was before this date, I was pretty sure that our car had not received said update.
Only today strangely enough, it has been back to Burnley lads ( almost a 200 mile round trip ) for it's first service and checks done for any outstanding updates.
It was relived later, that it had received two updates.
One to update the BCM ( Body Control module ) but this may of included a few tick box exercises in that module and secondly, one update for the info / head unit.
It has now received ALL available present updates for our car.

That's good to hear, can you now stop AC charging by unlocking the car?

 

[Lovemyev]

That's good to hear, can you now stop AC charging by unlocking the car?

It was a LONG day yesterday.
We were out of bed before 6.00am and we did not arrive home until 5.30pm I think it was.
When the work was complete, the master tech has put the car in charge outside of the workshop.
It was hooked up to one of the two rapid charger they have onsite at Burley.
Well, I thought if is was going to lock up, it could not be in a better place I guess !.
It did look strange having that huge CCS cable sticking out of the charge port I have to admit !.
I had checked the remaining range on phone and we had plenty to get us home.
That is one of the advantages of having the LR model.
That is only the second time in nearly twelve months, that my car has seen a rapid charger.
Both times at Burnley strangely enough.
We arrived home with plenty of charge and another busy family day catching up with tasks we missed yesterday.
Therefore sorry, I have not had chance yet to try it out !.
My car charges almost exclusively on our home wall box on a delayed off peak tariff.
As a result of the update, it changed the delayed timer settings I had set.
I need to get this sorted ASAP because currently it is defaulted to commence charging at 10.00pm in the evening.
No No No …….. Good job I spotted it this morning, because that is still on the expensive day rate at 39p / Kw the Off Peak is 4.5p / KWh - OMG .
I will test it ASAP and promise to let you know if the update was successful.
I sincerely hope so, as that is a long trip to make from Wales.