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One week to go...

AdeB

Established Member
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Sep 5, 2020
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Location
Marlborough
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Not an MG
Having been galvanised by the evident enthusiasm of the MGEV community and everyone's satisfaction with the model, I'm looking forward to taking delivery of my new ZS EV Exclusive a week today :)

It will be my first car in four years. I ditched my last ICE while living in London (no need for a car, too expensive to insure and park) and at the time I promised myself the next car would be electric. When we moved out of London two years ago (with a six-month old), no-one believed we'd manage using public transport alone. But manage we did and I'm pleased to have dramatically reduced my carbon footprint over the last two years by sticking to public transport. But the arrival of the fourth member of the family has made public transport (and the carting about of car seats, etc, for use in taxis and relatives' cars) much less attractive...time for that electric car!

So I was pretty excited when I first read about the MG ZS EV a month ago. Largely good reviews and the SUV space that's far more conducive to two kids and all their clobber - and the price. Astonishingly good value.

A few teething problems with being able to access a car to test drive; everyone assumes, when booking a test drive, that you've a car to reach the dealership in the first place :LOL:. But when arranged (they brought the car to me), absolutely no problems. Really impressed with the drive (I've only previously driven a Golf GTE as an electric 'taster') and the interior space (I'm 6' 5").

I've arranged a business lease through Octopus EV (so will benefit from their offer of 8,000 miles of electric credit when I switch to Octopus Go) and having searched high and low, I've got them to offer me the most competitive out there. Interestingly, now that the paperwork's come through, the lease has been arranged through MG themselves, but at a price that MG themselves couldn't match! Octopus too has been good; I signed the initial order only a week ago, on the basis that they said they could arrange finance checks and deliver the car by 21 Sep.

Now for some questions that I've been waiting to ask, but didn't want to ask until everything was confirmed...

1) Home charger: I'd like a tethered unit and I'd really like one that uses a SIM card to communicate, rather than wifi. External wifi is not reliable enough, in my experience. So SIM-based options seem to be between Rolec and Ohme - does anyone know of any others? Or, as a fallback, which home chargers can be directly connected with an ethernet cable? I have off-street parking and so should qualify for EVHS. I know I won't be able to get it installed by next Monday, but there's two rapid chargers within walking distance of home (one at the local Tesco) so I'm not too worried about timing, would rather make the right choice.

2) Charging cable: Despite my vehicle coming direct from the dealer (Barnes, Maidstone), I won't benefit from the Peace of Mind package as it's not a retail sale. So I'll need a stowable cable for the car. What do users recommend for price/quality?

Anything else I need to know? It's a 70 plate so should come with all updates already installed...one hopes!

Looking forward to getting stuck into MG EV enjoyment!
 
Hi @AdeB and welcome. :)

1) I know there are some home charging points that do not use WiFi. I think ‘bp charge masters’ for example use a sim.

2) I’m in the same boat as you and didn’t get a type 2 charging cable. I don’t think I will buy one. You can get a tethered home charge unit and all rapid chargers have a tethered double plug. I don’t see point of charging at 7kw away from home. I’m sure other members can suggest some good cables.

I’m a family man with twins, the eZS appealed to me because it’s electric, cheap and big. I have literally saved £100 in fuel over the last 10 days. I took kids to seaside for free yesterday. Its so quiet and easy to drive.

If you have any questions feel free to ask, we’re always happy to chat about anything eZS related.
 
I'm using easee home, should be awailible in the UK too.
It's not teddered, but a cable cam be permanently locked in place.
The advantage of that is if you get visitors that use a type one charging cable, they can still get at charge at your place if necessary, and they have brought their own cable.

It is a small unit, capable of delivering up to 22kw, depending on what you feed it with.
For 22kw you need 32 amp, and be connected to a TN supply. (400 volt, 3 phase and neutral)
I have mine set up with a 32 amp 3 phase for 13ish kw, I'm connected to an IT supply.

As for cable, any 32 amp, one phase should do, as the car don't use more I belive. Atleast the car takes 7ish kw charge.
 
Welcome ade✋

The count down will soon be over! It’s defiantly worth the wait
To your questions
1. When we purchased our ZS Ev there was only one company guaranteeing that their smart wall box would work with the mg, so we went with the Ohme smart box and tethered cable.
It uses a SIM card so no WiFi problems
It’s also runs with octopus Agile tariff, so when we plug in, we set the max price per kWh then will only take charge when below that price
To give an example on Saturday overnight we set the max to 4p/kWh, we ended up with a bill of 48p for 14.3kwh.
We are very happy with our choice.
2. We purchased a 5m type 2 cable from Evonestop.co.uk, sorry can’t remember how much we paid, but typically they are over £90.
You need one, just in Case!
Typically supermarkets have the bollards but no cable, so you’ve got to have a type 2 cable to connect for the free leccy!
Have fun
 
Welcome and congratulations.

It may be worth a quick call to the dealers to confirm that all the updates and ‘comfort 2’ Are installed. It’ll save a trip back later and a lot of hassle. Leasing can make sorting things out later more involved.
 
I have the Rolec home charger, installed recently. I can confirm it uses a SIM and not ethernet, from the user's point of view this makes no difference as you can readily connect to it via the ev.energy app. You get 3 years free subscription to ev.energy with the Rolec, after that it's paid but I undertsand you can opt out and use the charger without the smart features (e.g. charging at set times). It works with Octopus Energy, although I'm not currently with them. This unit is tethered with a 5m cable, I'm upgrading mine to 10m to make it easier to use without having to shuffle vehicles around ;)

With regards to a portable cable, your dealer should be able to supply one in a nice MG bag if that's your thing, you can find alternatives online if you need one, but I'd buy from a reputable place not an ebay special that might melt when you use it :ROFLMAO: From the little I've seen expect to pay about £120-ish.

I've had my car for a little over a week and am still learning about it, but managed to brick my satnav already (see seperate thread). It definately has it's foibles, but as my first EV, I'm loving it so far.

Hope that helps and welcome.
 
Thanks, everyone, for your help so far.

@lee graham Good to know someone else is using it as a family car! Did you have any problems fitting/selecting child seats? Still going to get a 5m cable; don't want to be stuck somewhere, sometime, with a group of chargers (collective noun, anyone?) in front of me and no means of transferring said charge to a sad and depleted MG ZS...have bought one today from Cablacar

@Noraf142 The Easee charger seems quite dear! I don't have the luxury of a three-phase supply at home, so am limited to 7kw.

@Severnless On reading testimonials about the Ohme, there seem to be a few MG owners selecting it.

@Skippy Good idea!

@ARealHuman A Rolec is on my shortlist

In fact, I've spent the day whittling down my home charger shortlist: Ohme, Rolec and BP Chargemaster. All have SIM cards rather than wifi connection. Price-wise, there's little in it - my best quote on the Ohme is £598 (so far), £599 for Chargemaster. The Rolec website seems to suggest £515...but I'm waiting for the installer to contact me. I have a couple of quotes outstanding with two more Ohme installers.

All in all, I think I'm minded towards the Ohme: it's much less obtrusive than the Chargemaster (the unit's going to be mounted on the front wall of my house), the feedback from users seems excellent and the installer is available w/c 28 Sep.

I know there are some satisfied Rolec users but I also read of quite a few problems with the app not quite being 'there'.

Anyone else here from Wiltshire? Any installers to recommend?
 
Thanks, everyone, for your help so far.

@lee graham Good to know someone else is using it as a family car! Did you have any problems fitting/selecting child seats? Still going to get a 5m cable; don't want to be stuck somewhere, sometime, with a group of chargers (collective noun, anyone?) in front of me and no means of transferring said charge to a sad and depleted MG ZS...have bought one today from Cablacar

@Noraf142 The Easee charger seems quite dear! I don't have the luxury of a three-phase supply at home, so am limited to 7kw.

@Severnless On reading testimonials about the Ohme, there seem to be a few MG owners selecting it.

@Skippy Good idea!

@ARealHuman A Rolec is on my shortlist

In fact, I've spent the day whittling down my home charger shortlist: Ohme, Rolec and BP Chargemaster. All have SIM cards rather than wifi connection. Price-wise, there's little in it - my best quote on the Ohme is £598 (so far), £599 for Chargemaster. The Rolec website seems to suggest £515...but I'm waiting for the installer to contact me. I have a couple of quotes outstanding with two more Ohme installers.

All in all, I think I'm minded towards the Ohme: it's much less obtrusive than the Chargemaster (the unit's going to be mounted on the front wall of my house), the feedback from users seems excellent and the installer is available w/c 28 Sep.

I know there are some satisfied Rolec users but I also read of quite a few problems with the app not quite being 'there'.

Anyone else here from Wiltshire? Any installers to recommend?
Dear All,

For anyone out there who has access at their home address of a three phase supply (as I have ) and were thinking "oh good, I can fit a 22kwh charger", DO NOT as your MG AS EV can only take a maximum of 7 kwh when AC Charging.

So do not waste your money unless you have another EV Car that can make use of a 22 kwh charger.

It is ONLY when charging with CCS that the MG AS EV can take a high charge (up to 80 kwh, but mainly hovers around 45-50 kwh.
Regards

Regards

Frank
 
On the other hand, if it doesn't cost mutch more, you're set for future needs.
Being as I'm on an it supply, I can get 13ish kw maximum on a 3 phase 32 amp. (Charger I got can do 22kw if the supply had been up to it)
It didn't cost that mutch extra for the installation, and I am now prepared for the future, or visitors that needs a charge, and can accept more than the mg.

It's ofthen cheaper to get a good enough cable run, for a higher kw charging capacity than the mg takes, than having to replace it later on.
 
I would recommend upgrading to three phase like @Noraf142 says if you can afford it. More for future proofing than for the eZS. Saying that, I’m getting my supply upgraded and I chose single phase 80amp.

80kW peak for one long glorious second and then it’s all down hill from there lol. I’ve had over 250kWh of renewable electricity from rapid chargers recently, I’m really impressed how much range you gain from so little time.

@AdeB I’ve had over a week of school runs now and I can say I’m pleased we decided on eZS. There’s loads of space, no issues with car seats and the boot is huge. The only problem is the car is too quiet! You have to be prepared for pedestrians randomly walking into the road.
 
Just as a matter of interest what would you actually need to get a DC CCS charger installed ?
 
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