Best help/advice to a EV Newbie

[9174sam]

Hi all, after test driving the MG this week I’m 99% sure I’m going to purchase an MG5 LR exclusive on the affinity scheme which for me just seems incredible value for money compared to other EV cars on the market.

I’m just looking for some help and advice before I make the plunge just to be certain I’m making the right decision. I have tried to research what I can around EV but it’s hard to know exactly what’s what and was hoping EV owners can help.

Please can you let me know in your experiences what the best tips are in running and maintaining the car, what home chargers are the best for the mg5, what tariffs people are on and anything that might be helpful for a newbie.

Really appreciate any help, this is a great forum and I have already learnt quite alot reading some of the posts.

Thanks

 

[Justin H]

Hi all, after test driving the MG this week I’m 99% sure I’m going to purchase an MG5 LR exclusive on the affinity scheme which for me just seems incredible value for money compared to other EV cars on the market.

I’m just looking for some help and advice before I make the plunge just to be certain I’m making the right decision. I have tried to research what I can around EV but it’s hard to know exactly what’s what and was hoping EV owners can help.

Please can you let me know in your experiences what the best tips are in running and maintaining the car, what home chargers are the best for the mg5, what tariffs people are on and anything that might be helpful for a newbie.

Really appreciate any help, this is a great forum and I have already learnt quite alot reading some of the posts.

Thanks

They are many good 'smart' chargers on the market at various price ranges. Don't go too cheap because you get what you pay for. I personally favour the Myenergi Zappi as it I think it has the best PEN fault detection and has a big screen for programming. Work out if you want a tethered or untethered charger. Some people like a charger that works with the Octopus Agile tariff which is linked to wholesale electricity prices. I prefer a fixed rate so I am on the Octopus Go tariff. Unfortunately because of the current problems Octopus are not accepting new customers at the moment. Other off peak tariffs are available. I have had my MG5 SR exclusive for 3 months/4000 miles now and it is a pleasure to drive.

 

[Valiant5]

It's recommended keeping your battery charge level to between 20 and 80 per cent most of the time. And once a month to do a balancing charge where you leave the car charging up to 100 per cent, including an extra hour or three while the battery management system finds the remaining space for the last electrons to fit into the individual cells. All this is in the manual, but it's good to know in advance.

You'll also realise pretty quickly that adopting a different approach to driving with an EV will reward you with more range. It may be fun, given the 5's acceleration, to sprint away from every traffic light and blast down the motorway at 70 mph or more, but that destroys range and instead of getting 250 miles from a long range, it could drop to sub 200. So, accelerate steadily but gently and stick to 60/65 on motorways to get better distances between charges.

New owners now are buying just as the weather turns colder, making the battery less efficient and requiring use of the heater, also making demands for your precious fuel. Headwinds, and heavy rain requiring the tyres to pump large volumes of water off the road also take their toll, but these cars will still notch up a decent mileage if driven sensibly in the winter.

If you cross that bridge to ownership with the remaining 1 per cent, you won't regret it!

 

[Alb]

You'll find the answer to all your key questions by working your way through the threads here.
The only thing overtaken by events within those discussions is the question of tariff as the recent price hikes mean it's not generally considered a good idea to change your tariff now. Regardless of this, the cost of home charging will still be much less than the equivalent cost of petrol or diesel.

 

[smokie]

... and of public charging, though the home chargers aren't cheap.

 

[Valiant5]

If you have a large Tesco nearby, it's likely to have free charging via the pod point app. Only 7kWh an hour, but that's 25-30 miles for free, and you can stay up to three hours.

I'd say it's only fair to spend a decent amount in the supermarket if you use its charger.

You will end up with lots of different apps for the various networks, plus the highly useful zap map, arguably the most complete guide to finding chargers wherever you are going

 

[lebelinconnu]

I made the switch to an EV (Nissan Leaf) 2.5 years ago and I think electric vehicles are fantastic to drive and so cheap to run. After extensive research on this forum and elsewhere (other electric car forums and YouTube- reading the comments on YouTube reviews can be interesting!) I ordered the MG5 LR on the affinity scheme last month. Don't forget you will also get the type 2 cable thrown in for free charging at Tescos etc-although how long it will be free for with the current energy crisis I guess no-one knows!

 

[lebelinconnu]

If you have a large Tesco nearby, it's likely to have free charging via the pod point app. Only 7kWh an hour, but that's 25-30 miles for free, and you can stay up to three hours.

I'd say it's only fair to spend a decent amount in the supermarket if you use its charger.

You will end up with lots of different apps for the various networks, plus the highly useful zap map, arguably the most complete guide to finding chargers wherever you are going

Tescos in Wells is only 1.5 hours- I guess it's because of all the tourists... grr...

 

[smokie]

Or maybe because of the non-shoppers clogging up the charge points?

I gather ours is monitored by video, and they do issue "fines" if you overstay. Hearsay only...

 

[EVsince2016]

Hi all, after test driving the MG this week I’m 99% sure I’m going to purchase an MG5 LR exclusive on the affinity scheme which for me just seems incredible value for money compared to other EV cars on the market.

I’m just looking for some help and advice before I make the plunge just to be certain I’m making the right decision. I have tried to research what I can around EV but it’s hard to know exactly what’s what and was hoping EV owners can help.

Please can you let me know in your experiences what the best tips are in running and maintaining the car, what home chargers are the best for the mg5, what tariffs people are on and anything that might be helpful for a newbie.

Really appreciate any help, this is a great forum and I have already learnt quite alot reading some of the posts.

Thanks

I jumped in 2016.
I started gently and gradually ramped up what I did with the EVs, this year driving to Portugal.

There are issues with EVs, you will need to change the way you drive & fuel up and plan long trips.

The best way to do it is just go for it and use the forum for help until you know what you need to know.

It is actually easier than you expect and you will never want to go back.

 

[9174sam]

Many thanks for your help. Ordered on Friday ready for January delivery. Just looking into Wall Chargers but the dealership I bought from have a partnership with Rolec and the guy said they are very good as they do schedule charging. Has anyone used this wall charger? What is your view on it? Thanks

 

[Alb]

Many charge points do scheduled charging so look at the whole marketplace and go for the best rather than the most convenient.

 

[EVsince2016]

There are 3 basic types of charger: -

1 - Dumb chargers that switch on when you plug them in, cheapest but no grant
2 - Smart chargers that include timers etc that attract a grant
3 - Intelligent chargers that can read and use smart tariffs, have grid management and options DNS remote control.

Most people go for 2 but if you are daring enough to want a smart tariff, have solar panels or push the limits of your power supply 3 is best.

Zappi is a good example of 3 but it requires some skills to update, adjust and manage.