Charging questions and Zappi wall charger questions

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Lucky

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Hi all,

First time poster - I'm from Australia and I am yet to take delivery of my ZS EV but will hopefully get it before Christmas. The first batch of ZS EVs has just landed in Australia in the past month or so.

Something that I didnt check on my test drive and haven't seen in any online reviews is if there is a charging limit. Is it possible limit the charge to say 80%? Or will it just charge all the way to 100% if not unplugged sooner?

Is there any advice from MG or the community on how to charge for best battery-pack longevity? E.g. like Teslas is it best to charge to 80-90% and try not to discharge past 20%? Should we only charge to 100% before a long trip? Should we periodically charge to 100% to balance the cells?

Does anyone have experience with Zappi chargers? I don't expect any issues, but thought it would be nice to know others experiences and confirming that it does charge the ZS well. Has anyone in Australia had an issues getting an electrician to install a Zappi that was ordered directly from Myenergi?

Any responses appreciated!
 
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Unfortunately unless you have the charging unit on a specific timer it will generally charge to 100%; you can’t set it to 80% and shut off.
 
We collected our car two days ago and there is no charging screen in our car.
I find this almost unbelievable.
I re-watched a Bjorn Nyland video yesterday and it clearly shows a charging screen.
It seems that either:
1. This has been omitted from the Australian version. or
2. The latest version of the software has not been installed.

I hope alternative 2 above, is the case?
 
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@Lucky
As long as your not leaving the battery at 100% for long periods of time, or below 20% for long periods, just charge it how you like. 7kw charge will not put no near the strain on the battery as a rapid charge (like telsas superchargers), where charging to 80% is best for time and battery management.
Dont know what Australian electricity regulations are like, but UK electricians love zappis as they dont have to earth rod, so its fit charger and on to the next job. No messing around with earth rods to get the right ohmes or accidentally drilling into something hidden underneath or fitting additional PEN devices.
@JohnCM Was that on the infotainment system? If so, us europeans dont have that either as the cars code had to be rewriten to comply for our GDPR laws. Only Thai and Indian have it.
 
Thanks for your reply. I understand a little about charging - I have another EV.
The lack of a charging screen in the Australian MG ZS EV is incomprehensible to me. Without it, the following must be done manually: scheduling; setting the state of charge required; setting the charge power / current. Reasonable charging functionality is fundamental for an EV in my view.
 
The Zappi will allow a boost charge to a certain % of battery capacity. You can set this at 80%. But, as Fishettibean stated, charging regularly to 100% is no problem, is even required to balance the cells and so improve battery life.
 
JohnCM said:
We collected our car two days ago and there is no charging screen in our car.
I find this almost unbelievable.
I re-watched a Bjorn Nyland video yesterday and it clearly shows a charging screen.
It seems that either:
1. This has been omitted from the Australian version. or
2. The latest version of the software has not been installed.

I hope alternative 2 above, is the case?
Click to expand...
Thanks John, this is very interesting! And disappointing.. I believe the Zappi has a timer so could probably use that if there's any benefit to not charging to 100%.
 
Ok, so how would a Zappi unit know the state of charge in the battery? I’m intrigued as Zappi is my charger of choice and will be on order as soon as my ZS arrives.
 
nielsvdv2 said:
The Zappi will allow a boost charge to a certain % of battery capacity. You can set this at 80%. But, as Fishettibean stated, charging regularly to 100% is no problem, is even required to balance the cells and so improve battery life.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your response.

So do we know that the cells in the MGs are CATL cells with LFP chemistry? I haven't come across found that information from MG yet.
 
nielsvdv2 said:
The Zappi will allow a boost charge to a certain % of battery capacity. You can set this at 80%. But, as Fishettibean stated, charging regularly to 100% is no problem, is even required to balance the cells and so improve battery life.
Click to expand...
The zappi does NOT charge to a % of battery capacity. Type 2 charging doesn't allow it without some kind of access to the data API of the car.

It does charge to either timer, to exact kWh (manual boost), to minimum kWh by particular time (smart boost), dumb fast charging or a any % of green charging.
 
Lucky said:
Hi all,

First time poster - I'm from Australia and I am yet to take delivery of my ZS EV but will hopefully get it before Christmas. The first batch of ZS EVs has just landed in Australia in the past month or so.

Something that I didnt check on my test drive and haven't seen in any online reviews is if there is a charging limit. Is it possible limit the charge to say 80%? Or will it just charge all the way to 100% if not unplugged sooner?

Is there any advice from MG or the community on how to charge for best battery-pack longevity? E.g. like Teslas is it best to charge to 80-90% and try not to discharge past 20%? Should we only charge to 100% before a long trip? Should we periodically charge to 100% to balance the cells?

Does anyone have experience with Zappi chargers? I don't expect any issues, but thought it would be nice to know others experiences and confirming that it does charge the ZS well. Has anyone in Australia had an issues getting an electrician to install a Zappi that was ordered directly from Myenergi?

Any responses appreciated!
Click to expand...
Lots of useful q&a on this website that I helped write.

www.mgevownersclub.co.uk

MG EV Owners Club

MG EV Owners Club
www.mgevownersclub.co.uk
 
JohnCM said:
We collected our car two days ago and there is no charging screen in our car.
I find this almost unbelievable.
I re-watched a Bjorn Nyland video yesterday and it clearly shows a charging screen.
It seems that either:
1. This has been omitted from the Australian version. or
2. The latest version of the software has not been installed.

I hope alternative 2 above, is the case?
Click to expand...
Bjorn Nyland bought a ZS EV in Thailand, there the ZS EV comes with a different software because it is internet based so it shows a different menu/features on the display.
 
Last edited:
JohnCM said:
We collected our car two days ago and there is no charging screen in our car.
I find this almost unbelievable.
I re-watched a Bjorn Nyland video yesterday and it clearly shows a charging screen.
It seems that either:
1. This has been omitted from the Australian version. or
2. The latest version of the software has not been installed.

I hope alternative 2 above, is the case?
Click to expand...
The UK has a charging screen which stays on for about 1 minute or less when the car starts to charge. You can also see it if:

A) you open the tailgate

Or

B) you press the unlock button on the drivers door without the key being in range.
DC20DD03-2731-47C6-808B-E180589755E2.jpeg
 
I don't think it is possible to do the following with that screen:

1. Set the charging start time.
2. Set the required State of Charge.
3. Set the required charging power / current.

This functionality should be provided in all EVs, in my view.
 
If your sitting in the car while it’s charging you can just push the brake pedal and the charging screen will come on for a brief moment too.
 
Mark Holmes said:
If your sitting in the car while it’s charging you can just push the brake pedal and the charging screen will come on for a brief moment too.
Click to expand...
I tried that yesterday and the charging screen did not appear. I tried in Off and ready states.
Also I don't have a time showing, just --/--
 
That’s strange as it does it on mine, car is powered off, doors locked from the inside, push the brake pedal down and the red brake light come up on the dash and so does the charging status on the middle screen.
Can someone else try this and see if their car does it or doesn’t?.
 
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