100% charging reduced mileage

[PhilT]

I have charged my MG 4 short range to 100%. For the last week or two, I have charged to 100%, but the mileage showing is greatly reduced to approximately 160 miles. Is this a winter thing or do I need the battery checked?

 

[Martinonline]

There a number of factors controlling the estimated range - cold weather reduces range, your driving style, your regen setting, the balance status. My Trophy shows a range drop from 260 odd to around 240 but I have not balanced at 100% recently and have not had a long trip. I would not worry.

Edit: use of the heater reduces range too.

 

[gazza487]

I have charged my MG 4 short range to 100%. For the last week or two, I have charged to 100%, but the mileage showing is greatly reduced to approximately 160 miles. Is this a winter thing or do I need the battery checked?

Winter thing. Your historic useage has probably been heavier. If you thrash the car, use AC etc in the summer the same will happen.

I’ve found my liking of the heater has biggest effect but weirdly a rainy day also reduces range (assume tyres are experiencing more resistance moving water). My commute used to use 7% charge each way easily 10% now.

 

[JonEV]

My SR has done the same.
I put this down to a combination of the cold affecting the batteries, the increased use of demisters and heaters, and the fact I've been driving a little less economically.
All normal stuff and I wouldn't worry unless in goes off a cliff (metaphorically).

 

[Rolfe]

Mine is the same. I just charged to 100% and the app is showing 169 miles after an 80 mile trip yesterday at about 5°C with the heating on, some of it pretty fast. I'm never getting over 3 miles/kWh this weather, usually a fair bit less. A couple of weeks ago when it was very cold and I'd been driving on the motorway I saw just 150 miles range at 100% charge. It went up to 186 miles after a rather more sober outing on a warmer day.

Don't worry about it, it's normal for winter and it will go back up again in warmer weather. Bear in mind that MG estimates only 135 miles for the SR at low temperatures, driving at motorway speeds with the heating on.

If you think the lower range is going to cause a problem getting home, identity a possible extra charge opportunity just in case. I have my eye on the destination chargers in the car park where I leave the car in Glasgow, but I doubt if I'll actually need them. I also know where there are a couple of 50 kW rapid chargers on my way home. Five or ten minutes on one of these is preferable to not making it. But if it does look dodgy the destination charger is the sensible move, just plug in while I'm parked.

Bear in mind the SR likes to be taken to 100% and balance. There's never a reason to stop a charge on an AC charger unless time is the issue.

 

[siteguru]

My average consumption (per my spreadsheet) over the past (almost) 12 months is 3.01 miles/kWh, based on kWh stored in the car. (Average charge efficiency is 88.9%, so consumption based on actual charge is 2.67 miles/kWh).

Yes - winter weather, in fact any cold, wet weather, impacts consumption. If you normally get (on the GoM) 180 miles in summer, expect probably 150 miles at best in deepest, darkest winter.

 

[NewMG4me]

Reset the overall mileage screen, it will go back up.

 

[siteguru]

... but it'll just be a placebo effect; it won't actually give you more range.

 

[Kithmo]

It is a Winter thing.
I'm only getting about 140 miles range in the real world with my Trophy (LR), the GOM says 240.
If your GOM says 160 I'd bet yo won't get much more than 110 real miles.

 

[Rolfe]

Reset the overall mileage screen, it will go back up.

Which will make bugger-all difference to the actual miles he'll get from the charge. Not only is that fooling yourself, it's a recipe for running out of charge if you actually believe you've increased the miles the car will run on that charge.

The car is trying to do its best for you, to warn you about the real mileage you can expect based on the conditions that pertained last time it was driven. Telling it to forget all about that and go back to factory settings assuming summer weather and moderate speeds is nuts.

 

[JuziWomble]

It is a Winter thing.
I'm only getting about 140 miles range in the real world with my Trophy (LR), the GOM says 240.
If your GOM says 160 I'd bet yo won't get much more than 110 real miles.

Interesting - I would have said 220 from our LR Trophys before this morning (when Mine was showing 270miles with the heating on) ... Having 'reset it deliberately' to 'See' what would occur... & it was as I expected ...

Mine this morning lost 50 miles range in an 8 mile stretch - it was 0c & I was at 70 with the heating (AC) / Seats / Lights / Cruise / So Yeah basically EVERYthing turned on ... and yeah it was at 2.8Kw (& I was in Eco) ...

Will see what I return home with after the drive back home - its a 56 mile combined commute... BUT I never get home above 200 (Even in Summer) - & I Should - The Lack of a Heat Pump has a real impact ... The Older leaf 40 (With Heat Pump) faired better in Winter than the MG does.. BUT I could not rapid charge the Leaf as effectively as I can with the MG - So you win in one hand but the leaf lost out big time in Other Key areas - The Mg4 has a larger range - So I dont mind the loss (much)

I seriously think the 4 is NOT a particularly economical EV ....

 

[JonEV]

Interesting - I would have said 220 from our LR Trophys before this morning (when Mine was showing 270miles with the heating on) ...

Do you know if ECO mode does anything other than make you accelerate more slowly?

 

[Rolfe]

I am not sure how I knew about this before I bought the car, but I did. I remember sitting in the sales office asking the salesman if he thought the SR could do a trip of 100 miles at motorway speeds in the depths of winter at sub-zero temperatures, and he said he reckoned it could.

In fact my journey to Glasgow is just under 50 miles, so just under 100 miles round trip. In summer I invariably arrived at exactly 75% charge, and got home at 47-48% charge. This is mainly due to altitude - my home is 800 feet higher than Glasgow. Last time I went there I arrived at (I think) 69% charge and got home at 33% charge. This is still fine and it can get a bit worse yet before I have to think about doing anything, but I have it in my mind that if I get to the car park under 65% I'll think about the destination chargers, and if I'm under 60% then absolutely definitely I'll plug in. I think it will be OK unless I start taking the M8 at over 80 when the temperature is under -10, but it's as well to have a contingency plan.

(Another reason to consider the destination chargers is to arrive home at a higher SoC and so reduce charging time to get back to 100% if I'm doing another long trip the next day.)

I don't want to sound prescriptive here, but there is a danger of yet another thread which was started specifically about the LFP SR battery taking off into a thread about the NMC LR battery. They are two different animals with very different chemistries, and comparisons can only go so far. Can we stick to the SR for once?

 

[NewMG4me]

Do you know if ECO mode does anything other than make you accelerate more slowly?

It turns the brakes into spongy cheese.

 

[JuziWomble]

....Can we stick to the SR for once?

Sure ;-)

 

[NewMG4me]

Which will make bugger-all difference to the actual miles he'll get from the charge. Not only is that fooling yourself, it's a recipe for running out of charge if you actually believe you've increased the miles the car will run on that charge.

The car is trying to do its best for you, to warn you about the real mileage you can expect based on the conditions that pertained last time it was driven. Telling it to forget all about that and go back to factory settings assuming summer weather and moderate speeds is nuts

Well actually I disagree. On a long run, its better to start with the best view of what the car could do, it will soon work out based on your driving and temp etc what you are going to get out of it.

 

[Rolfe]

Well, each to his own. In winter especially, I think that's foolhardy. If you're using the factory reset range to plan your next charging stop, you could come badly unstuck.

You're right, the car will work out how the drive is going and adjust accordingly, but you might get a very nasty surprise in the middle, or indeed near the end. This is especially likely if you haven't been allowing the battery to balance regularly.

 

[PhilT]

There a number of factors controlling the estimated range - cold weather reduces range, your driving style, your regen setting, the balance status. My Trophy shows a range drop from 260 odd to around 240 but I have not balanced at 100% recently and have not had a long trip. I would not worry.

Edit: use of the heater reduces range too.

I get that with the factors affecting it so is it based on previous history and does it correct itself at all Sorry to be so dull!!

 

[Rolfe]

When you are charged to 100% the GOM range is based on the conditions the car was last driven in - both weather and driver habits. As you drive it will gradually correct itself based on the conditions pertaining to the drive in progress. You have to learn to read it intelligently. I once saw mine sit at 29-30 miles remaining for at least 20 miles, as I finished a fast motorway stretch followed by a steep hill climb, and went on to a 45-50 mph drive that was downhill all the way. From at one point being told that I'd be lucky to have two miles in hand at the end, I got home on 9% battery with 18 miles of range. The car had moved on from basing its calculations on the motorway stretch at 2.5 miles/KWh to basing them on the 4 miles/KWh I was doing as I neared home.

It's best to remember what the range was after you've driven at a particular speed in particular conditions, so that you can use that to guess how far you'll get in similar conditions. But restoring your GOM to factory settings is probably the worst thing you can do, especially in winter.

 

[PeteC]

It's best to remember what the range was after you've driven at a particular speed in particular conditions, so that you can use that to guess how far you'll get in similar conditions. But restoring your GOM to factory settings is probably the worst thing you can do, especially in winter.

Which is good advice whatever type of battery you have - as are a number of other contributions in this thread. Agreed the two types may behave differently in cold weather, but a lot of stuff here is useful for both. I don't see this as an LFP only thread.