12V Battery dead, how to charge?

[Gadget Geek]

Is this a confirmed issue affecting all (MG ZS EV) cars?

It affects ALL electric cars, not just MG.

 

[Inexorabilis]

Hello everyone,

See my thread here:

MG ZS EV - 12V regularly dies or goes flat. What to do and How to Fix Longterm [SOLVED]

Hello everyone, I posted this as a reply in a thread previously, but I feel it deserves it's own thread so that anyone googling this problem will find a good resource with steps to take to resolve the issue. Background: I bought my MG ZS EV in November 2022 and in the following year the 12V...

www.mgevs.com

 

[SFPlatt]

I have a CTEK smart charger that has a short set of fly leads that are permanently attached to the battery.
So I just have to attach the smart charger to the short loom on the battery, plug it into a 13 amp socket and off you go.
So, the battery stays in place on the car.
Always use one of the modern smart chargers and not the older type chargers.

Hi I have a similar problem with the 12 volt battery being low, and I am assuming it is the Vueroid Dashcam that may be causing this. As I am not an expert re charging but I do have a CTEK charger I assuming it is fine to connect to the 12 volt battery whilst it remains connected to the car with this type of charger. Dash cam now disconnected until resolved.

 

[Lovemyev]

Hi I have a similar problem with the 12 volt battery being low, and I am assuming it is the Vueroid Dashcam that may be causing this. As I am not an expert re charging but I do have a CTEK charger I assuming it is fine to connect to the 12 volt battery whilst it remains connected to the car with this type of charger. Dash cam now disconnected until resolved.

Yeah - I use to charge the 12 volt battery with the CTEK Smart charger, without disconnecting the terminals in our ZS EV.
In fact, I bought the optional CTEK “quick connect. / disconnect” loom.
The small loom has two eyelet connections, you connect each wire to the battery terminals.
The other end of the loom has a quick connection, this allows you attach the CTEK charger very quickly and saves using the large crocodile clamps.
You view it here :-

https://amzn.eu/d/77R8nWZ

 

[SFPlatt]

Yeah - I use to charge the 12 volt battery with the CTEK Smart charger, without disconnecting the terminals in our ZS EV.
In fact, I bought the optional CTEK “quick connect. / disconnect” loom.
The small loom has two eyelet connections, you connect each wire to the battery terminals.
The other end of the loom has a quick connection, this allows you attach the CTEK charger very quickly and saves using the large crocodile clamps.
You view it here :-

https://amzn.eu/d/77R8nWZ

Brilliant thanks for the speedy reply, I do have the quick connect connectors and so I will try this.

 

[Lovemyev]

Brilliant thanks for the speedy reply, I do have the quick connect connectors and so I will try this.

I have fitted the loom onto our new S5 now.

 

[JohnV6]

I use ctek quick connect

 

[hmadsen]

It is very easy to test if the onboard 12V battery charger, actually charges the battery.

Measure the voltage on the battery with the car off. 12.6 volt is fully charged and anything below 12V is pretty much a depleted battery.

After than, put the car into READY mode and measure the voltage on the battery, the voltage should rise above 13 volts and can go as high as 14.4 volts while charging.

If the voltage stays at the voltage when the car was off, the charger does not charge the battery.

 

[Spinynorman]

The ZS EV also has an indicator on the speed dial - right at the bottom of the dial is a series of dashes. If you power up without going to ready status, you’ll see the present battery charge. If you then turn off and start with the pedal depressed, i.e. in ready mode, you’ll see the charge being applied the main battery - usually rising to around 14 V or so.
It’s not as exacting as a multimeter but it does mean you can get an idea of what’s going on without popping the bonnet and leaving the car on.