Can I streamline my OLD MG ZS EV ?

[Wulnoth]

I wonder if anyone else here has left a fast charger and driven off with the charging grill open ?

I have done it a couple of times and on both occasions my driving efficiency has nose dived, hardly any surprise you might say with the added drag.

But, here's my question, on either sides of the charging port is a grill with open holes ducting air through to the inside of the bonnet, this must have a significant drag effect as well.

Has anybody here managed to block off this part of the grill, it should make the car much more aerodynamic.

Any advice would be gratefully accepted (except don't do it because it cools the drive motor, In summer maybe but when it's 0%C and driven carefully, I will risk it).

 

[Kithmo]

I wouldn't think it would alter much on a brick shaped SUV anyway.

 

[Lovemyev]

I wonder if anyone else here has left a fast charger and driven off with the charging grill open ?

I have done it a couple of times and on both occasions my driving efficiency has nose dived, hardly any surprise you might say with the added drag.

But, here's my question, on either sides of the charging port is a grill with open holes ducting air through to the inside of the bonnet, this must have a significant drag effect as well.

Has anybody here managed to block off this part of the grill, it should make the car much more aerodynamic.

Any advice would be gratefully accepted (except don't do it because it cools the drive motor, In summer maybe but when it's 0%C and driven carefully, I will risk it).

Interesting to note, that the front grill has ALMOST been completely blanked off on the new face lift model.
Maybe in an attempt to improve the efficiency slightly by reducing the drag through that very open grill on the Gen1 model.

 

[michaelgaunt]

An aftermarket grill?

 

[Wulnoth]

I wouldn't think it would alter much on a brick shaped SUV anyway.

Well actually it does !

On the couple of occasions that I have driven with the charge port open, I have noticed a dramatic reduction in range over a very small distance ( 3 or 4 miles ).

So much so that I could tell that I had done it just by the loss in range.

It is about two or three times the loss you would expect with the heater on full blast.

It is dramatic enough for me to post this thread, and incidentally those three or four miles driven with the port open were at low speed ( 30-40 mph ), It must be much worse at higher speeds.

It got me thinking that a major factor in the improved economy of the new MG ZS EV might be the blanked off grill.

 

[Kithmo]

Well actually it does !

On the couple of occasions that I have driven with the charge port open, I have noticed a dramatic reduction in range over a very small distance ( 3 or 4 miles ).

So much so that I could tell that I had done it just by the loss in range.

It is about two or three times the loss you would expect with the heater on full blast.

It is dramatic enough for me to post this thread, and incidentally those three or four miles driven with the port open were at low speed ( 30-40 mph ), It must be much worse at higher speeds.

It got me thinking that a major factor in the improved economy of the new MG ZS EV might be the blanked off grill.

How did you measure this two or three times loss ?
If it was real, it could have been a number of things, a headwind, colder journey, more weight if you filled the car with shopping etc.
3 or 4 miles is not a lot of distance to measure it over.
I do the same 3 miles each way journey every day and my m/kWh varies between 2.4 and 3.9 without the flap left open. There are too many variables to say the open flap caused a loss.

 

[Archev]

How did you measure this two or three times loss ?
If it was real, it could have been a number of things, a headwind, colder journey, more weight if you filled the car with shopping etc.
3 or 4 miles is not a lot of distance to measure it over.
I do the same 3 miles each way journey every day and my m/kWh varies between 2.4 and 3.9 without the flap left open. There are too many variables to say the open flap caused a loss.

Oh come on I’m sure you find a similar phenomenon with the Minor that I see you have Kithmo. I used to find the drag from the use of the semaphore indicators on mine helped peel off speed and actually assist the steering effort in pulling the mighty Morris into the corners.

 

[Zoomy]

Those holes feed the radiator and so the battery cooling system.

 

[Alan5]

Well actually it does !

On the couple of occasions that I have driven with the charge port open, I have noticed a dramatic reduction in range over a very small distance ( 3 or 4 miles ).

So much so that I could tell that I had done it just by the loss in range.

It is about two or three times the loss you would expect with the heater on full blast.

It is dramatic enough for me to post this thread, and incidentally those three or four miles driven with the port open were at low speed ( 30-40 mph ), It must be much worse at higher speeds.

It got me thinking that a major factor in the improved economy of the new MG ZS EV might be the blanked off grill.

I agree with you the grill fitted to the Gen 1 ZS EV is just a modified ICE ZS , on the right hand side Of the grill at the back you can see the air intake for the ICE , it looks like the Gen 2 ZS EV mainly uses the lower air intake for cooling which the Gen 1 also has , as my Gen 1 gets older there are a few mods that I am planning to do ( for fun ) , trying to make it a bit more efficient at speed is one of them , the drag coefficient of the new BMW IX is supposed to be as low as the Tesla M3 for a big SUV that's amazing. There are now a few apps that can monitor battery/engine temps on the ZS so I can't see any problems with experimenting to see what may make help to get those extra miles especially at motorway speeds , as I will be sticking with my Gen 1 for a while

 

[Gomev]

Well actually it does !

On the couple of occasions that I have driven with the charge port open, I have noticed a dramatic reduction in range over a very small distance ( 3 or 4 miles ).

So much so that I could tell that I had done it just by the loss in range.

It is about two or three times the loss you would expect with the heater on full blast.

It is dramatic enough for me to post this thread, and incidentally those three or four miles driven with the port open were at low speed ( 30-40 mph ), It must be much worse at higher speeds.

It got me thinking that a major factor in the improved economy of the new MG ZS EV might be the blanked off grill.

I hold my head in shame but on a journey home in the summer I stopped for a top up at Shell services just off the A1 at Newark. I then proceeded to drive the remaining 70 odd miles back to Leeds up the A1 at speeds of 65mph, 70 when needed.
Only when we stopped close to home to pick up some bread and milk did someone point out the charging flap was open.
No damage to flap, and no noticeable loss of range.

 

[JodyS21]

I wonder if anyone else here has left a fast charger and driven off with the charging grill open ?

I have done it a couple of times and on both occasions my driving efficiency has nose dived, hardly any surprise you might say with the added drag.

But, here's my question, on either sides of the charging port is a grill with open holes ducting air through to the inside of the bonnet, this must have a significant drag effect as well.

Has anybody here managed to block off this part of the grill, it should make the car much more aerodynamic.

Any advice would be gratefully accepted (except don't do it because it cools the drive motor, In summer maybe but when it's 0%C and driven carefully, I will risk it).

I've thought about adding some kind of blanking on the grill for aero.
I saw something somewhere on internet where someone had done it.
I also think under tray would probably help a bit.