Carry a charging cable?

[DB00nowthen]

New Trophy came with what I now know to call a granny charging cable, but not a Type 2. I have. Zapppi with a tethered cable so no issues at home. I had assumed that all public chargers would have tethered type 2 or rapid charging cables. But now realised that there won’t be the cables tethered to many non rapid public chargers. I know it’s a stupid newbie question, but I’d rather ask it than be caught short.

If so, MG hasn’t shortchanged me by not including a type 2 cable have they? They are just not included?

So if I have to buy one, can someone please provide a link to a trusted source/brand, eg on Amazon.

 

[Tight Git]

How often will you need to use a fast charger while you are away from home? All DC rapid chargers will be tethered so you won't need one there

I managed 6 months/10000 miles without one but went on holiday so needed one for a destination charger. Bought it from Green Flag about £95 on offer.

Also as you have a Trophy it would be worth buying a 3 phase cable that would allow you to charge at around 10kW where the charger allows. The MG supplied type 2 cable is only single phase and will only charge at 7kW.

 

[Rolfe]

My dealer persuaded me to pay extra for a type 2 cable when I bought the car. I agreed, thinking I'd get one in a nice MG-branded bag. No such luck, generic cable with AN Other branding. Boo.

It lives under my bonnet, on top of the plastic tray. I've used it several times. First time was at a charger right outside the house of a friend I was staying with. (Imagine me ripping the wrapping off the thing with my teeth.) Second time was at a car park where I wanted to charge while I went to the theatre for over three hours. Third time was at a tourist attraction where there was free charging for visitors.

I think it's a bit daft not to carry one, because it's quite likely you might find yourself in a car park with the opportunity to charge while you're away, or even somewhere with free AC charging.

I use the granny charger all the time as I don't have a wall box. I don't carry it in the car routinely because I think (possibly wrongly) that the more it's unplugged and then plugged in again, the more wear on the pins and connectors which you don't want. Also, if I know I'm going to be back well within the range I have in the car, what would be the point?

I do take it with me if I'm going to be staying away overnight. I've not yet headed for anywhere without a type 2 charger within walking distance of where I was staying, but you never know, chargers could be broken and then I'd look silly if I couldn't tap into my friends' electricity supply.

And in the wildly unlikely scenario of finding oneself in the middle of nowhere, running out, no working charger within reach and not even a house with a wall box to ask for help, it's a last resort if you can get to any 13A plug before your turtle dies.

 

[DB00nowthen]

My dealer persuaded me to pay extra for a type 2 cable when I bought the car. I agreed, thinking I'd get one in a nice MG-branded bag. No such luck, generic cable with AN Other branding. Boo.

It lives under my bonnet, on top of the plastic tray. I've used it several times. First time was at a charger right outside the house of a friend I was staying with. (Imagine me ripping the wrapping off the thing with my teeth.) Second time was at a car park where I wanted to charge while I went to the theatre for over three hours. Third time was at a tourist attraction where there was free charging for visitors.

I think it's a bit daft not to carry one, because it's quite likely you might find yourself in a car park with the opportunity to charge while you're away, or even somewhere with free AC charging.

This one look ok? And is 5 metres long enough? Ratio Type 2 Charging Cable 22kW 4 Metre 32A 3 Phase - Mode 3 Type 2 to Type 2 EV Charging Cable, EV and PHEV Fast Charger Cable for Model S/X/Y/3, ID3, ID4, ID5, E-Tron, e-208, I4, IX1, Kona & More https://amzn.eu/d/iM5Swkr

 

[Rolfe]

I'm no expert but it looks fine to me.

Edited, because I have re-thought the length situation.

I thought my dealer told me my granny cable was five metres, and just assumed he was right. But it's never seemed like five metres to me. The car's charging port is only a metre and a half from the socket, and I don't think there's three and a half metres lying there spare.

It's possible he actually said that the type 2 cable he was supplying had a five metre cable, and that seems more rational to me. I can check in the morning, but it's possible five metres is the usual length for type 2. But I'm actually confusing myself now, so don't take my word for it.

The type 2 cable I have is way more than you need if you can park right beside the charger, but it does give you more leeway if there's an issue. For example, if a type 2 charger is blocked by an ICE car parked in the bay, you might be able to park a bit further away and still reach the charger. (Me, I'd be tempted to block him in while I was at it.)

I heard a guy who uses lamp post charging points in London say that he had bought an extra long cable so that he could reach the socket in the lamp post even if he had to park further away from it. But that's a niche situation.

 

[RayReliable]

I got an MG branded Granny and Type 2 in an MG branded bag. Mine is a lease though so less potential to up sell a cable I guess and an obligation to supply all the kit by the lease company.

I do think they should all come with both though. Even Apple still includes a cable with its devices.

 

[Tig170]

Its one of those things just to have all options, mine came with a 7KW cable, but bought a MG granny charger off ebay for around £100, which is all fine from my charging preferances: I've used home (fixed), work = free (7Kw, but need to arrive 7am) & granny, its worth having them all for peace of mind.

 

[Tight Git]

This one look ok? And is 5 metres long enough? Ratio Type 2 Charging Cable 22kW 4 Metre 32A 3 Phase - Mode 3 Type 2 to Type 2 EV Charging Cable, EV and PHEV Fast Charger Cable for Model S/X/Y/3, ID3, ID4, ID5, E-Tron, e-208, I4, IX1, Kona & More https://amzn.eu/d/iM5Swkr

Yes that would be fine (the car will restrict it to ~11kW so you won't get the 22kW) and 5 metres is plenty long enough.

 

[Rolfe]

I was watching one of these videos where some guys drive EVs until they literally die, just to see what happens. They tried to drive the last little bit near enough to a charger to get on it somehow, and a couple of people managed to push their cars the final few yards to the charger. (These were rapid chargers, so having a longer type 2 cable wouldn't really have helped.) One guy turned into a field and got told off by the RAC for making his car difficult to get to.

One car died in a housing estate, and people rallied round with an extension cable and he was able to get enough charge with the granny cable to make it to the charger a few hundred yards away.

One thing which was pretty much common to all of them was that the cars would crawl along in "turtle" mode for further than one might imagine after reaching nominal zero charge. Eight to ten miles was common, and when Bjorn Nyland tried it with the MG4 Trophy he circled a car park for all of 15 miles before conking out.

This made me re-think what might happen in the event of a genuine running out of charge situation. You still have a little bit of range and some manoeuvering ability, albeit at a slow speed, for some time before the car actually bricks. The guys in the videos were trying to brick the cars, but a driver in a real pickle would not. If by some evil chance you're down to nothing and too far from a working charger to get to it, your first best bet is to find a reasonably well-to-do neighbourhood where the houses have driveways, and hopefully some people have wall boxes. A fellow EV owner will probably be happy to give you a bit of juice for a tenner. But failing that, almost every property in the land has a 13A plug. Be it an isolated farm or a shop on a terraced high street, there's the potential to find help, and a bit of charge.

If you have your granny charger with you.

 

[Rolfe]

Yes that would be fine (the car will restrict it to ~11kW so you won't get the 22kW) and 5 metres is plenty long enough.

Thanks. I was clearly mistaken about the lengths of my cables, and the dealer must have been talking about the type 2 when he said five metres. I've been looking at that granny cable for a couple of months thinking, five metres? Really? And not actually thinking it through.

 

[Rip Van]

I was watching one of these videos where some guys drive EVs until they literally die, just to see what happens. They tried to drive the last little bit near enough to a charger to get on it somehow, and a couple of people managed to push their cars the final few yards to the charger. (These were rapid chargers, so having a longer type 2 cable wouldn't really have helped.) One guy turned into a field and got told off by the RAC for making his car difficult to get to.

One car died in a housing estate, and people rallied round with an extension cable and he was able to get enough charge with the granny cable to make it to the charger a few hundred yards away.

I've seen Bjorn Nyland's. Could you post links to the others please?

 

[Ian Key]

This one look ok? And is 5 metres long enough? Ratio Type 2 Charging Cable 22kW 4 Metre 32A 3 Phase - Mode 3 Type 2 to Type 2 EV Charging Cable, EV and PHEV Fast Charger Cable for Model S/X/Y/3, ID3, ID4, ID5, E-Tron, e-208, I4, IX1, Kona & More https://amzn.eu/d/iM5Swkr

Yes it looks OK. Ratio is based in Redditch so the cable should be made to UK standards. More info here.

 

[GaryMG4]

I bought my type2 from EV Extras, I ordered the wrong length by mistake. When I realised my error they sent me the correct length and a prepaid returns label and a full refund for the wrong one.

 

[DB00nowthen]

Thanks all. I’ve ordered the 8m version of
https://amzn.eu/d/iM5Swkr because I frequently see people blocking chargers spaces.

 

[tkmaxx5]

My dealer persuaded me to pay extra for a type 2 cable when I bought the car. I agreed, thinking I'd get one in a nice MG-branded bag. No such luck, generic cable with AN Other branding. Boo.

It lives under my bonnet, on top of the plastic tray. I've used it several times. First time was at a charger right outside the house of a friend I was staying with. (Imagine me ripping the wrapping off the thing with my teeth.) Second time was at a car park where I wanted to charge while I went to the theatre for over three hours. Third time was at a tourist attraction where there was free charging for visitors.

I think it's a bit daft not to carry one, because it's quite likely you might find yourself in a car park with the opportunity to charge while you're away, or even somewhere with free AC charging.

Just out of interest how do you secure your cable under the bonnet?

 

[QLeo]

New Trophy came with what I now know to call a granny charging cable, but not a Type 2. I have. Zapppi with a tethered cable so no issues at home. I had assumed that all public chargers would have tethered type 2 or rapid charging cables. But now realised that there won’t be the cables tethered to many non rapid public chargers. I know it’s a stupid newbie question, but I’d rather ask it than be caught short.

If so, MG hasn’t shortchanged me by not including a type 2 cable have they? They are just not included?

So if I have to buy one, can someone please provide a link to a trusted source/brand, eg on Amazon.

This worried us when we bought our car too. We asked for an MG cable, then learnt that, as @Tight Git says, it's a single-phase cable best suited to the SE SR, while the SE LR and Trophy can charge at 11kW 3-phase rather than 7kW single phase.
We ended up more confused when looking at third-party cables, which ranged in price from about £50 to £300. While we thought quality is important in a device that is handled frequently and carries so much power, it's difficult to know about quality of online products. We ended up going for a 5 metre cable from Ring, mostly because it seemed to balance cost versus quality.
We need ours, as we can't charge at home, and the local (ie, only charger for 45 miles) is, as you say, fine for 50kW, as the cable is tethered, but we need the cable for the cheaper charger. This is working out quite well.

We've not used our granny charger, except once when we first got the car and wanted to test it. But we did get a heavy duty extension cable to accompany it, to give us options, as, as said earlier, we can't charge at home.

Next cable purchase is a vehicle-to-load one....

 

[Tonych]

New Trophy came with what I now know to call a granny charging cable, but not a Type 2. I have. Zapppi with a tethered cable so no issues at home. I had assumed that all public chargers would have tethered type 2 or rapid charging cables. But now realised that there won’t be the cables tethered to many non rapid public chargers. I know it’s a stupid newbie question, but I’d rather ask it than be caught short.

If so, MG hasn’t shortchanged me by not including a type 2 cable have they? They are just not included?

So if I have to buy one, can someone please provide a link to a trusted source/brand, eg on Amazon.

Mine arrived 2 weeks ago with a type 2 cable

 

[siteguru]

Just out of interest how do you secure your cable under the bonnet?

You don't need to. Just place the "heads" near the front with the cable coiled up towards the middle, then carefully close the bonnet to make sure all is located OK. Once done there's nowhere for the cable to go, so it stays still.

 

[tkmaxx5]

You don't need to. Just place the "heads" near the front with the cable coiled up towards the middle, then carefully close the bonnet to make sure all is located OK. Once done there's nowhere for the cable to go, so it stays still.

Excellent thanks will try this (although I'm an interloping MG5 driver so the space may be different).

Trip to France coming up to chunky three phase cable and lots of boot space very needed!!

 

[Rolfe]

Just out of interest how do you secure your cable under the bonnet?

I don't. The space is just right so that the bonnet itself holds the cable (in its bag) in place. I saw someone do that in a video review of the car, and tried it, and it's perfect. It's not a deliberately-created space for a cable, I think it's just good luck that it fits.

ETA: Gazumped by Siteguru. What he said. Except, I do this with the cable in its bag.