Battery heating on the MG5

[jackois]

Hi all,

I've done a search for this on the MG forum and there are a lot of replies, mostly in the MG4 and ZS forums.

Does anyone have a definitive 'how and when to use it' procedure or information as the days are starting to get colder?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jomarkh]

Can you get battery heating on the MG5?

 

[Buchanty]

Hi all,

I've done a search for this on the MG forum and there are a lot of replies, mostly in the MG4 and ZS forums.

Does anyone have a definitive 'how and when to use it' procedure or information as the days are starting to get colder?

Thanks in advance.

This isn’t definitive, as such, but I think you access it via Vehicle Settings. Hope that helps.

 

[Buchanty]

Can you get battery heating on the MG5?

I think I came across it in vehicle settings (and ignored it because it was the summer). But maybe I didn’t!

 

[Philb]

Yes there is a tab in the car settings section. I'm not really sure when to use it though, I think it is just to preheat the battery before rapid charging but I could be wrong! I haven't ever used it yet!

 

[jackois]

This isn’t definitive, as such, but I think you access it via Vehicle Settings. Hope that helps.

Thanks for that... I know how to access it, but was wondering more, when to use it.

I've gleaned from the ZS & MG4 that pre-heating helps speed up charging at lower ambient temperatures, but I'm interested as to when I should switch it on, how much GOM would it rob and so on.

All views welcome.

 

[Gomev]

Thanks for that... I know how to access it, but was wondering more, when to use it.

I've gleaned from the ZS & MG4 that pre-heating helps speed up charging at lower ambient temperatures, but I'm interested as to when I should switch it on, how much GOM would it rob and so on.

All views welcome.

Have a look at this thread about the ZS EV, it deals extensively with the battery heating.

MG ZS EV Long Range - Rapid Charging Test - 76kW Peak?

Last night, myself and Jake @MG ZS EV WEST YORKSHIRE took the Chorley Group Burnley demonstrator on a journey to test the real-world rapid charging capabilities. I picked up Jake around 7pm from Oakworth, and we headed to the Ionity chargers at Leeds Skelton Lake Services. I used the "Battery...

www.mgevs.com

 

[Dino]

is battery heating only on the LR or Exclusive models? I can’t see anything in the settings on my SR Excite

 

[EVsince2016]

I have the battery heater on my MG5 LR exclusive but when I select on it just turns back off immediately.

 

[aled]

Battery heater only works on the lr not Sr mg5. They added an optional update on the Sr designed for sub zero use.
I pop it on about 15 mins before a rapid charge. When I looked comparing % to apbr on my way to a rapid once it appeared to use about 2% to heat the battery then very little (beyond the very inaccurate use of apbr) to maintain the heat. I have looked at charge speed with and without it.
When it is above 10° outside I have found it isn't particularly beneficial if you are less than 25% since the charging heats the battery up before it starts slowing down at the higher %. However it makes a very noticeable difference to preheat the battery when using a 50kw charger above 40% since the speed picks up slower and slows down quicker.
My recommendation for use is if you are aiming to reach the charger above 20% and have enough battery to cope with any charging issues stick it on 15-20 mins before you rapid charge.
It automatically switches of if you leave the ignition off for a few minutes but if you are sitting in the car while charging don't forget to turn it off as if its cold or wet it will noticeably reduce range.
I believe but can't remember where it came from that it heats the battery to about 20°. I think the temperature range for the fastest charge is about 30-35° with battery degradation becoming a bigger issue around 40°.
Apart from using it to see the maximum charge speed I could get all my use had been for 50kw chargers so may not be accurate for faster ones. But I have been doing it for over a year now and I tend to watch the charge speed while charging as I usually stop when it gets to 80% but if I forgot to preheat etc I tend to stop at 60-70% as I notice the charge speed going down.

 

[Gomev]

Battery heater only works on the lr not Sr mg5. They added an optional update on the Sr designed for sub zero use.
I pop it on about 15 mins before a rapid charge. When I looked comparing % to apbr on my way to a rapid once it appeared to use about 2% to heat the battery then very little (beyond the very inaccurate use of apbr) to maintain the heat. I have looked at charge speed with and without it.
When it is above 10° outside I have found it isn't particularly beneficial if you are less than 25% since the charging heats the battery up before it starts slowing down at the higher %. However it makes a very noticeable difference to preheat the battery when using a 50kw charger above 40% since the speed picks up slower and slows down quicker.
My recommendation for use is if you are aiming to reach the charger above 20% and have enough battery to cope with any charging issues stick it on 15-20 mins before you rapid charge.
It automatically switches of if you leave the ignition off for a few minutes but if you are sitting in the car while charging don't forget to turn it off as if its cold or wet it will noticeably reduce range.
I believe but can't remember where it came from that it heats the battery to about 20°. I think the temperature range for the fastest charge is about 30-35° with battery degradation becoming a bigger issue around 40°.
Apart from using it to see the maximum charge speed I could get all my use had been for 50kw chargers so may not be accurate for faster ones. But I have been doing it for over a year now and I tend to watch the charge speed while charging as I usually stop when it gets to 80% but if I forgot to preheat etc I tend to stop at 60-70% as I notice the charge speed going down.

Useful thanks. What is apbr ?

 

[aled]

A better route planner is an app that let's you put mg5 as the car then estimates range and plans charging stops.

 

[Gomev]

A better route planner is an app that let's you put mg5 as the car then estimates range and plans charging stops.

Ah thanks, ABRP. I was confused with apbr that you wrote, thought you might have a dongle and app.
Your's must be the 'Yoda' version A planner better route.

 

[aled]

Ah thanks, ABRP. I was confused with apbr that you wrote, thought you might have a dongle and app.
Your's must be the 'Yoda' version A planner better route.

Just dyslexia although an all knowing yoda version would have been helpful.

 

[BrianG]

So do the short range batteries charge more quickly at lower temperatures? My Mk 1 ZS struggles to charge above 30 kWh on rapid chargers unless it is the height of summer. Not usually a problem as I rapid charge only 10 times a year or so and rarely for more than 10-15 kWh. But I am thinking a new car might be on the cards next year/2024.

 

[aled]

From what I've seen ignoring preheating, and plugged into a rapid rapid they will charge similar % for similar times so twice the battery size charges twice as fast in terms of kwh.
With preheating I got 90-93kw from 10% to 35% for mg5 lr on a big rapid, on a 50kw rapid it's usually still pulling 50kw when I stop at 80%.

 

[BrianG]

Thanks. I am intrigued, the SR version has battery chemistry that might last twice as long as the LR so provided it can charge quickly with preheating that might be a better choice for me who spends 3-4 months year abroad with my family. Longevity rather than other features being more important.

 

[aled]

The Sr doesn't have battery preheating. It's only got an optional update designed to allow it to heat the battery when it's sub zero since they found in Norway that it was particularly bad at it as it couldn't charge fast enough to heat the battery with waste heat so the "rapid" charge just stayed slow.