Battery equalisation on ZSEV Trophy LR

[fred12345]

Ok, so this is getting to be an older thread now but I did say I'd come back to you all with more info about my NMC battery equalisation experiences.

Firstly, I can say quite categorically that my ZS EV does not equalise it's battery at anytime if the slow charge is started & the 'low battery' warning has not been given. It is imperative that the low battery warning has been given first prior to charging as per the owners manual for the MK2's. This ensures the cars battery management system takes full control of the whole charge. Smart charging (eg: Octopus Energy IG) should be turned off to avoid the network pausing the charge which can stop the equalisation from happening even when it resumes. The charge must not be interrupted. On the facelift MK2 EV's low soc warning is at 20%.To be sure all battery cells are below the 20% soc level I've found it best to go to 17 or 18% before charging.

I have found that equalisation charging at 100% takes around 12-15mins. During that time the charge rate drops progressively from 7.1kw to eventually 200w & 100w. After that my full range seems improved a little & the GOM certainly seems more accurate. The car shows routinely 325-329+ miles after the equalisation in eco mode. Eco being the mode all manufacturers show their range in. My actual range last week in eco mode showed an easy 279miles. Running the battery down to 10%, if I had done that, would have given me just a bit under the lower gom figure probably at around 305 miles. So that is an extrapolated figure.

So, I still don't understand why some people on here are saying they can equalise at any state of charge. Mine won't & neither will my friends ZS MK2 EV. I'm guessing software has changed. Anyway, that is my experience which is as the owners manual says.

Thanks for detailed post. I charged mine to 100% quite a few times from various percentages and from what I can see, there is always balancing at the end when the charge reduces from 3kW (granny charger) towards 1kW or less for random amounts of time, sometimes 15 min, sometimes much longer. I can only assume it's doing the balancing... Mine is 2022 standard range MK2 model...

 

[Data]

Thanks for detailed post. I charged mine to 100% quite a few times from various percentages and from what I can see, there is always balancing at the end when the charge reduces from 3kW (granny charger) towards 1kW or less for random amounts of time, sometimes 15 min, sometimes much longer. I can only assume it's doing the balancing... Mine is 2022 standard range MK2 model...

Thanks Fred. The LFP batteries seem to do that ok.

 

[Lovemyev]

Ok, so this is getting to be an older thread now but I did say I'd come back to you all with more info about my NMC battery equalisation experiences.

Firstly, I can say quite categorically that my ZS EV does not equalise it's battery at anytime if the slow charge is started & the 'low battery' warning has not been given. It is imperative that the low battery warning has been given first prior to charging as per the owners manual for the MK2's. This ensures the cars battery management system takes full control of the whole charge. Smart charging (eg: Octopus Energy IG) should be turned off to avoid the network pausing the charge which can stop the equalisation from happening even when it resumes. The charge must not be interrupted. On the facelift MK2 EV's low soc warning is at 20%.To be sure all battery cells are below the 20% soc level I've found it best to go to 17 or 18% before charging.

I have found that equalisation charging at 100% takes around 12-15mins. During that time the charge rate drops progressively from 7.1kw to eventually 200w & 100w. After that my full range seems improved a little & the GOM certainly seems more accurate. The car shows routinely 325-329+ miles after the equalisation in eco mode. Eco being the mode all manufacturers show their range in. My actual range last week in eco mode showed an easy 279miles. Running the battery down to 10%, if I had done that, would have given me just a bit under the lower gom figure probably at around 305 miles. So that is an extrapolated figure.

So, I still don't understand why some people on here are saying they can equalise at any state of charge. Mine won't & neither will my friends ZS MK2 EV. I'm guessing software has changed. Anyway, that is my experience which is as the owners manual says.

We have had our Trophy LR ( NMC battery type of course ) for over 3 years now and charge exclusively from a wall box at home. Never charged from any external chargers, that includes rapid units.
The car is charged to 80% SOC for 99% of the time, only charging to 100% on a few occasions.
From day one I have reset the trips before charging and the GOM regularly predicts a range of 212 miles in the default mode of normal on boot up.
This can be lower when it is really cold .
On numerous occasions, I have tried to catch our car commencing the balance cycle, by monitoring our home energy unit.
I can see no evidence that this is the case, so yes balance cycle starts after the battery has reached 100%.
We had the original ZS EV ( Gen1 ) with the smaller NMC battery first, and I have witnessed that balance after 100% charge many times.
Same NMC battery chemistry, so no surprise there then !.
Our car has now covered 26,000 miles and some battery degradation is evident.
The new MG5S model has a LFP battery but the LR has the NMC battery chemistry, which is interesting.

 

[Data]

We have had our Trophy LR ( NMC battery type of course ) for over 3 years now and charge exclusively from a wall box at home. Never charged from any external chargers, that includes rapid units.
The car is charged to 80% SOC for 99% of the time, only charging to 100% on a few occasions.
From day one I have reset the trips before charging and the GOM regularly predicts a range of 212 miles in the default mode of normal on boot up.
This can be lower when it is really cold .
On numerous occasions, I have tried to catch our car commencing the balance cycle, by monitoring our home energy unit.
I can see no evidence that this is the case, so yes balance cycle starts after the battery has reached 100%.
We had the original ZS EV ( Gen1 ) with the smaller NMC battery first, and I have witnessed that balance after 100% charge many times.
Same NMC battery chemistry, so no surprise there then !.
Our car has now covered 26,000 miles and some battery degradation is evident.
The new MG5S model has a LFP battery but the LR has the NMC battery chemistry, which is interesting.

That's very interesting Lovemyev. Thanks for injecting that info. So it's probable your car hasn't equalised for some time? My 80% charge gives me a bit more range in normal mode than your car is reporting. Not forgetting the range shown is also dependant on how the vehicle has been driven of course. But if you have reset the GOM I'm thinking you may still recover some extra range if you did a full BMS/equalisation charge as per the book. Worth a go.
Most of the time I too go to 80% & normally don't go below 40%. This gives me ample range for everyday driving & doesn't stress the battery. I love to hear what other folks are doing. Thanks again.

 

[Lovemyev]

The charging advice for the NMC battery iis a little contradictory in my mind really ?.
On one hand, it suggests that you should be charging to 80% SOC to improve the long term health of the pack, then only charge to the max 100% for the occasional longer trips, As charging to 100% constantly WILL speed up the degradation of the pack ?.
So, if the balance cycle only commences after 100% SOC has been reached, then what are you expected to do ?.
The advice for the LFP packs are completely different, they encourage you to charge from any SOC level.
What is the age of your car and how many miles has it covered ?.
If you reset your trips, then charge to 80% SOC, what is your predicted range in default normal mode ?.

 

[Data]

The charging advice for the NMC battery iis a little contradictory in my mind really ?.
On one hand, it suggests that you should be charging to 80% SOC to improve the long term health of the pack, then only charge to the max 100% for the occasional longer trips, As charging to 100% constantly WILL speed up the degradation of the pack ?.
So, if the balance cycle only commences after 100% SOC has been reached, then what are you expected to do ?.
The advice for the LFP packs are completely different, they encourage you to charge from any SOC level.
What is the age of your car and how many miles has it covered ?.
If you reset your trips, then charge to 80% SOC, what is your predicted range in default normal mode ?.

Yeah, I don't think there is any sort of contradiction in the advice about how we treat our batteries. Just some fear about going to 100% especially with the NMC packs, which is quite understandable. Folks think their NMC battery pack is going to be toast very quickly if they do that. In fact that doesn't seem to be the case. One of my neighbours has a Tesla with an NMC battery. It was new just over 3yrs ago. He goes to 100 % 75% of the time. The battery SOH is at 95% with 61,000 on the clock, he tells me. He goes to 100% so he doesn't have to charge on his longer journeys. He rarely goes below 20% SOC. He has the car on a 4yr lease so I guess he's not too bothered about how long the battery lasts. However, I doubt the battery will fail or degrade anytime soon.

I'm intent on keeping my ZS for quite some time so it seems prudent to treat the battery in the best way I can. Therefore I use 100% only for equalisation, about every 8-10 weeks, or for my very long runs.

My own cars range at 80% charge is variable of course dependant on how it's been driven. But typically it's between 235-245 miles in NORMAL mode. I'll be going to 80% later this week so I'll take a picture if I think of it & post.

 

[Lovemyev]

My own cars range at 80% charge is variable of course dependant on how it's been driven. But typically it's between 235-245 miles in NORMAL mode. I'll be going to 80% later this week so I'll take a picture if I think of it & post.

That would be great to see.
Do you zero your accumulative total trip meter when taking your results ?.
235 - 245 miles of predicted range sounds more like the prediction in ECO mode not NORMAL mode ?.
Our car predicted 211 - 213 miles of range when charging to 80% SOC.
This was consistent every time for at least the first 18 months or so.