Dropping out of EV mode

ivanlawton said:
Hi all. My first post. Had my PHEV for 4 months now and have had some problems with it, requiring 2 weeks back with the dealer. However, it still drops out of EV mode sometimes, even if battery is fully charged. I start each day with the same trip and 2.3 KM down the road it drops out. It refuses to enter EV mode until it has gone about 4.5 KM. Further starts later in the day seems to be OK. ie it stays in EV mode.
Anyone else with similar issues???
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Update following my email to MG Australia who did not reply to me, but forwarded my message to the dealer. Dealer investigation was completed 4th January 2022.
As expected the MG dealer in South Australia, Hamilton MG, gave my car a clean bill of health , unable to identify a problem. Said they'd try and replicate the issue the following day (5th Jan) with a demo model they still have and then get back to me. Today, eight days later (12th Jan) and I have not heard from them. My car is still dropping out of EV mode even though, according to the manual, it meets all requirements.
I bought a PHEV because most of my trips are short distance. I should not be using petrol at all. This car is not fit for purpose.
NOT GOOD ENOUGH MG.
DON'T RECOMMEND MG PHEV TO ANYONE. DON'T RECOMMEND HAMILTON MG.
 
You're entitled to your opinion, obviously, but without knowing how loaded the car is, what the ambient temperature is, how you have the HVAC set up, whether the de-mister fan and heated rear window is on and what level you've got the battery recharge level set at ... it's not easy to give advice.

Put simply, the more you load the 12v system the more likely the petrol engine is to kick in. Mine stays EV on short urban runs in a British summer, but uses more petrol on motorway runs or in Winter dependent on the elements I've listed.
 
Jabo had a webasto heater installed to help with this problem, be interesting to hear Jabo's findings after about a months use, think most of us suffer from this frustrating problem.
 
TWbm said:
You're entitled to your opinion, obviously, but without knowing how loaded the car is, what the ambient temperature is, how you have the HVAC set up, whether the de-mister fan and heated rear window is on and what level you've got the battery recharge level set at ... it's not easy to give advice.

Put simply, the more you load the 12v system the more likely the petrol engine is to kick in. Mine stays EV on short urban runs in a British summer, but uses more petrol on motorway runs or in Winter dependent on the elements I've liste
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Am I missing something here - or why would 'load on the 12V system' lead the ICE to start?
 
Pure guess work here.
If the 12v battery is only charged by the ICE and this is what powers most of the cars functions, Info, lights, starter motor, fuel pump, wipers and whatever else then it will run down fairly fast as nothing is charging it. Like a snapped fan belt leaves the alternator doing nothing.
I do not know what type of 12v it has or of what capacity, but in winter it has a heavier drain so needs to be charged more often?
Perhaps it might be worth attaching a battery meter/volt meter to see what the differences are at start and end of journey or maybe 5 to see a larger change. Or, perhaps charge the 12v on a regular basis to see if that helps?
I know with my present car the stop/start was very erratic and upgraded the battery, then no further problems.

What 12v type and capacity do these HS PHEV's have anyway?
 
TWbm said:
You're entitled to your opinion, obviously, but without knowing how loaded the car is, what the ambient temperature is, how you have the HVAC set up, whether the de-mister fan and heated rear window is on and what level you've got the battery recharge level set at ... it's not easy to give advice.

Put simply, the more you load the 12v system the more likely the petrol engine is to kick in. Mine stays EV on short urban runs in a British summer, but uses more petrol on motorway runs or in Winter dependent on the elements I've listed.
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This happens routinely when the battery is at 100%. Nothing is on, so car is not "loaded". And it's been happening well before our hot Australian summer kicked in.
 
From what I’ve been reading, MG EHS looks more like a regular hybrid that sometimes, when it’s in the mood, lets you drive in EV mode. But with the downsides that it’s more expensive and you have to charge it in order to get decent MPG. Am I far from it?
 
ajw1100 said:
Pure guess work here.
If the 12v battery is only charged by the ICE and this is what powers most of the cars functions, Info, lights, starter motor, fuel pump, wipers and whatever else then it will run down fairly fast as nothing is charging it. Like a snapped fan belt leaves the alternator doing nothing.
I do not know what type of 12v it has or of what capacity, but in winter it has a heavier drain so needs to be charged more often?
Perhaps it might be worth attaching a battery meter/volt meter to see what the differences are at start and end of journey or maybe 5 to see a larger change. Or, perhaps charge the 12v on a regular basis to see if that helps?
I know with my present car the stop/start was very erratic and upgraded the battery, then no further problems.

What 12v type and capacity do these HS PHEV's have anyway?
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There’s a 12volt battery info on the screen with tyre pressure etc.
on cold days I find that I need to run demister every 5 mins. Air in circulation at almost full speed pointing up (and down) doesn’t stop misting irrespective of a AC and cabin temperature.

It is annoying. I might raise an issue with Chorely MG tomorrow. This needs sorting out. EV mode is next to useless on cold days
 
I am in Adelaide too, and have no issues with dropping out of EV mode.

Mind you, I have to press the EV button first thing when I start up most days. It defaults to Auto otherwise.

The only time I have had issues is when I have heating on, when it wont allow me in to EV mode. Make sure your car power settings are set to auto so you dont prioritise high battery charge, and not high battery power settings.

I have my HVAC set to 21C on Auto setting.

You may also find that if you start to climb a steep hill that the Petrol engine kicks in to provide extra grunt to get up the hill.
 
sky0000547 said:
Isn’t it drawing air from outside is better than re-circulate?
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Yes fresh air is mostly better but you are constantly drawing cold air which means you’ll have to run the engine more often. Recirculating the air should use AC to dehumidify without dropping the as it temp
 
TWbm said:
As above, ICE needs to run when it's cold. I've set the heater to 18 degrees and run for about 2 miles non electric before switching - if the outside temperature is above about 6 degrees it's fine for the rest of my typical 8 mile run, if not it may switch back, but will then run as EV after another mile max.
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Here in Australia it's always above 6 degrees. No difference.
 
midician said:
I am in Adelaide too, and have no issues with dropping out of EV mode.

Mind you, I have to press the EV button first thing when I start up most days. It defaults to Auto otherwise.

The only time I have had issues is when I have heating on, when it wont allow me in to EV mode. Make sure your car power settings are set to auto so you dont prioritise high battery charge, and not high battery power settings.

I have my HVAC set to 21C on Auto setting.

You may also find that if you start to climb a steep hill that the Petrol engine kicks in to provide extra grunt to get up the hill.
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Glad to hear yours doesn't drop out like mine. The dealer has had it back twice and cannot identify the problem. I think they've given up as they haven't got back to me as they said they would after they attempted to duplicate the issue in a "demo" model they had.
Default startup is "Auto". If you want EV mode you have to put it into that mode.
I'm unhappy because I routinely drive short distances, so didn't expect to be using much petrol at all, but because it doesn't stay in EV mode until I've driven about 4-5 km I'm doing most of my driving using the ICE.
 
ivanlawton said:
Glad to hear yours doesn't drop out like mine. The dealer has had it back twice and cannot identify the problem. I think they've given up as they haven't got back to me as they said they would after they attempted to duplicate the issue in a "demo" model they had.
Default startup is "Auto". If you want EV mode you have to put it into that mode.
I'm unhappy because I routinely drive short distances, so didn't expect to be using much petrol at all, but because it doesn't stay in EV mode until I've driven about 4-5 km I'm doing most of my driving using the ICE.
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There was a period where the car would randomly star in Auto mode. It always does this when charged however mine would be sometimes within minutes. Not however we are in winter and cabin temperature forces it in Auto almost every single time. Can’t wait for temp to rise to double digits
 
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