Charging to 100 % on 7 kW home charger.

[DK1083]

I have an MG5 Exclusive 22 pre-facelift and an Indra home charger with the Smart+ app. I am on the Octopus Go tariff which has cheap rate between 00:30 and 04:30 nightly. The only time settings I can find on the Smart+ app is the time I need the car to be ready by. Can anyone confirm that: a) the charger will automatically start charging during the cheap tariff period? b) it will automatically stop at the end of the cheap tariff period? And finally, do I need to set the car ready by to a time or can it be left blank? Hoping someone out there has the same system and can advise..

 

[Jomarkh]

Does the app allow you to set a don't charge above 10p/kWh rate or duration?

 

[DK1083]

Does the app allow you to set a don't charge above 10p/kWh rate or duration?

Not that I can find. It only seems to have “car ready by” setting which can be set for each day of the week. I thought I had read somewhere that the charger will only charge at the cheapest period but I can’t find where I read it..

 

[Petriix]

Chemistry and physics are not subject to opinion. It's only a 'debate' because people who don't fully understand the facts decide to chime in with their assumptions.

As this is the MG5 forum and every MG5 EV has NMC chemistry it's objectively accurate to state that the closer the battery is to either end of its voltage range and the higher the rate of charge/discharge, the greater the degradation will be.

Now nobody knows exactly how much this degradation will be, but it's typically slightly higher in the first year then reasonably linear unless/until you start getting weak cells. However, it's absolutely true that charging to 100% every day will cause higher degradation than keeping the voltage close to the middle of its range.

Whether or not you care is a different question. But let's not confuse personal choice with fact. Do what you like with your own battery, but don't give misleading information.

You don't know the long term effect charging to 100% every day so, at best, you're making a guess that the additional degradation will be insignificant enough not to bother you in your period of ownership. You might be right. But you might be wrong, and you might have different priorities to another owner.

So, let's stick with the facts. You can minimise degradation (but not avoid it) by minimising the stress on the battery. That means keeping it as close to the middle of the voltage range as possible and minimising the charge/discharge rate.

Obviously it's a vehicle which is designed to be used as required. No one is suggesting limiting its utility. Just take some simple, pragmatic steps to take care of it. Charge to 100% whenever you might need your full range, and at least once per month. Otherwise keep it as close to 50% as practical without inconveniencing yourself. Most importantly don't rapid charge unnecessarily, and avoid extreme acceleration - especially at very low or high states of charge.

 

[DK1083]

Chemistry and physics are not subject to opinion. It's only a 'debate' because people who don't fully understand the facts decide to chime in with their assumptions.

As this is the MG5 forum and every MG5 EV has NMC chemistry it's objectively accurate to state that the closer the battery is to either end of its voltage range and the higher the rate of charge/discharge, the greater the degradation will be.

Now nobody knows exactly how much this degradation will be, but it's typically slightly higher in the first year then reasonably linear unless/until you start getting weak cells. However, it's absolutely true that charging to 100% every day will cause higher degradation than keeping the voltage close to the middle of its range.

Whether or not you care is a different question. But let's not confuse personal choice with fact. Do what you like with your own battery, but don't give misleading information.

You don't know the long term effect charging to 100% every day so, at best, you're making a guess that the additional degradation will be insignificant enough not to bother you in your period of ownership. You might be right. But you might be wrong, and you might have different priorities to another owner.

So, let's stick with the facts. You can minimise degradation (but not avoid it) by minimising the stress on the battery. That means keeping it as close to the middle of the voltage range as possible and minimising the charge/discharge rate.

Obviously it's a vehicle which is designed to be used as required. No one is suggesting limiting its utility. Just take some simple, pragmatic steps to take care of it. Charge to 100% whenever you might need your full range, and at least once per month. Otherwise keep it as close to 50% as practical without inconveniencing yourself. Most importantly don't rapid charge unnecessarily, and avoid extreme acceleration - especially at very low or high states of charge.

Re my earlier question about my charge app, your advice to charge to 100% has confused me even more. I’m not doubting your advice as I have read this in the manual but, going back to my question, if, (as I’m sure I’ve read somewhere), my charger will automatically stop at the point when my cheap rate ends how, in 4 hours, will I ever get it to charge to 100%?

 

[smokie]

Tell your charger to not stop at the end of cheap power. It must be configurable.

 

[DK1083]

Tell your charger to not stop at the end of cheap power. It must be configurable.

You would have thought so but I can’t find it. The instructions I have are useless and I can’t find anything online which I find strange as I can’t be the only person with this system.

 

[Gomev]

Re my earlier question about my charge app, your advice to charge to 100% has confused me even more. I’m not doubting your advice as I have read this in the manual but, going back to my question, if, (as I’m sure I’ve read somewhere), my charger will automatically stop at the point when my cheap rate ends how, in 4 hours, will I ever get it to charge to 100%?

Do as I and many others do if a full charge is needed, do it over more than 1 night. You can put in approximately 40% in one night in 4 hours for a LR, now so long as you don't use all 40% the next day, just rinse and repeat the next night as many times as necessary.

PS on your charger can you put in your electricity tariff, if so it will know when the cheap rate is. Mine, a Rolec, uses the same idea of when do you want the car ready by. I set 4:30, and price less than 10p/kWh. it then sets a charge to start when low rate starts and it finishes charging at whatever time I have said to be ready. So if I only want to add 20% I tell it that I want the car ready by 2:30am.

 

[DK1083]

Do as I and many others do if a full charge is needed, do it over more than 1 night. You can put in approximately 40% in one night in 4 hours for a LR, now so long as you don't use all 40% the next day, just rinse and repeat the next night as many times as necessary.

PS on your charger can you put in your electricity tariff, if so it will know when the cheap rate is. Mine, a Rolec, uses the same idea of when do you want the car ready by. I set 4:30, and price less than 10p/kWh. it then sets a charge to start when low rate starts and it finishes charging at whatever time I have said to be ready. So if I only want to add 20% I tell it that I want the car ready by 2:30am.

Thank you for this advice. Just what I had hoped for. As I said I am with Octopus Go and the two tariffs are on the app. The basic instructions I have imply that it will automatically select the cheapest charging period but it’s not that clear. Now to give it a try! I just didn’t want to plug it in and find it had been on all night! Thanks again.

 

[Gomev]

Thank you for this advice. Just what I had hoped for. As I said I am with Octopus Go and the two tariffs are on the app. The basic instructions I have imply that it will automatically select the cheapest charging period but it’s not that clear. Now to give it a try! I just didn’t want to plug it in and find it had been on all night! Thanks again.

Make sure you have the app set up and then go and plug the car in and see what happens. If it works like mine it will not start charging if you have set the app up right, i.e enable/set to smart charging. My app which is ev.energy will then send me a notification at some point - don't expect it instantly, saying that a smart charge is planned , and will also show as planned on the app.

 

[DK1083]

Make sure you have the app set up and then go and plug the car in and see what happens. If it works like mine it will not start charging if you have set the app up right, i.e enable/set to smart charging. My app which is ev.energy will then send me a notification saying that a smart charge is planned at some point - don't expect it instantly, and will also show as planned on the app.

I’ve only used the home charger once so far just to see if it worked and on that occasion I pressed the Boost button to make it work which it did. I’ll plug in this evening and see how we go.

 

[Gomev]

I’ve only used the home charger once so far just to see if it worked and on that occasion I pressed the Boost button to make it work which it did. I’ll plug in this evening and see how we go.

The boost button is usually only needed when you have it set up to smart charge only, i.e. it's an override. If the smart charging is not set you can plug in and away it goes. Your app seems similar to mine, so just look at it carefully and set what you think is right in the settings. On mine I have only charge off-peak, a price limit which I have set (8p) which is just above my off-peak rate and way below the daytime rate.
It also has a setting for locking/unlocking the charger which I leave set at unlocked and lock it when I am away on my jollies. There is also another lock that only allows smart and boost charging, so no random charging, not that anyone is likely to come and park on my drive for hours to charge up.

 

[DK1083]

The boost button is usually only needed when you have it set up to smart charge only, i.e. it's an override. If the smart charging is not set you can plug in and away it goes. Your app seems similar to mine, so just look at it carefully and set what you think is right in the settings. On mine I have only charge off-peak, a price limit which I have set (8p) which is just above my off-peak rate and way below the daytime rate.
It also has a setting for locking/unlocking the charger which I leave set at unlocked and lock it when I am away on my jollies. There is also another lock that only allows smart and boost charging, so no random charging, not that anyone is likely to come and park on my drive for hours to charge up.

Although similar your system seems to have more options than mine which is why I had hoped that someone on here might have exactly the same as me. I'll try it this evening and see how it goes. Thanks again for your advice..

 

[smokie]

I have an MG5 Exclusive 22 pre-facelift and an Indra home charger with the Smart+ app. I am on the Octopus Go tariff which has cheap rate between 00:30 and 04:30 nightly. The only time settings I can find on the Smart+ app is the time I need the car to be ready by. Can anyone confirm that: a) the charger will automatically start charging during the cheap tariff period? b) it will automatically stop at the end of the cheap tariff period? And finally, do I need to set the car ready by to a time or can it be left blank? Hoping someone out there has the same system and can advise..

It won't only charge on the cheap time unless it knows when the cheap time is, which would presumably need you to tell it (usually via an app, unless it is provided by your energy provider in which case they may have a cunning control over it - but I suspect not).

If you're saying there is no option for that in the app then it will do what my previous car did - I'd tell it (actually in my case via the car not an app) what time I wanted the car 100% charged by (which would usually be the end of my cheap period), and it would start at whatever time it needed (without reference to the prevailing tariff) in order to get the right amount of electrons in, such that it was at 100% by the required end time. I had no choice to say "only charge to 80%" - all or nothing.

As someone said above, you can get about 40% charge in your 4 hour windows ( I think I get a bit more) so if your car is always above 60% full when you start to charge it will be all within your cheap slot.

If you don't find any other method you could use the method I use - I have a WiFi switch driving a contactor which simply turns the charger off outside my cheap period. But that's probably a job for an electrician, or at least a very competent d-i-y'er (but maybe that's not "legal").

 

[DK1083]

It won't only charge on the cheap time unless it knows when the cheap time is, which would presumably need you to tell it (usually via an app, unless it is provided by your energy provider in which case they may have a cunning control over it - but I suspect not).

If you're saying there is no option for that in the app then it will do what my previous car did - I'd tell it (actually in my case via the car not an app) what time I wanted the car 100% charged by (which would usually be the end of my cheap period), and it would start at whatever time it needed (without reference to the prevailing tariff) in order to get the right amount of electrons in, such that it was at 100% by the required end time. I had no choice to say "only charge to 80%" - all or nothing.

As someone said above, you can get about 40% charge in your 4 hour windows ( I think I get a bit more) so if your car is always above 60% full when you start to charge it will be all within your cheap slot.

If you don't find any other method you could use the method I use - I have a WiFi switch driving a contactor which simply turns the charger off outside my cheap period. But that's probably a job for an electrician, or at least a very competent d-i-y'er (but maybe that's not "legal").

Thanks. As I said my app has my tariff details and there is an implication that it will select the cheapest automatically. There’s only one way to find out!

 

[Gomev]

Thanks. As I said my app has my tariff details and there is an implication that it will select the cheapest automatically. There’s only one way to find out!

What is your app called as I cannot see a smart+ app in the store?

 

[DK1083]

It says Smart+ The charger is an Indra Pro and was installed by Chargedev. The app came with the installation. I’ve searched for a user manual but can’t find anything. The Chargedev website says Page not found so I’ve no idea what’s going on there.
I have plugged the car in this afternoon and the car says “connected- not charged” and the app says “charger idle” and “your charge will start in your off peak period” so all seems good so far.

 

[smokie]

Well here's the Indra manual which seems to include all you need to know about the app, although I've not read it in detail.

https://plugmein-ev.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/User-Manual.pdf

 

[DK1083]

Well here's the Indra manual which seems to include all you need to know about the app, although I've not read it in detail.

https://plugmein-ev.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/User-Manual.pdf

Many thanks. Looks like I'm on track but this is helpful. Thanks again.

 

[Scott J]

I took possession on Mon 1st Aug @ 18:00, drove from Hessle(Hull) along the A63 onto M62 then M18 to M180 onto Scunthorpe, the salesman didn't tell me the bloody thing steers itself, quite unnerving really, anyway got that crap turned off eventually.
Since then we've travelled quite a bit really, and mostly enjoyed it until Thursday last, I needed to go early to Leicester, but there was only 65-75% charge available due to late putting on charge previous night, on the way back up the M1 the leaderboards showed M18 Jn4-5 10mins delay, a bit further on it changed to 20mins, so diverted off at the Worksop(Chesterfield) junction, that's when I started getting worried about battery reserve, found a free 7kWh PodPoint charger at Tesco Worksop,so went into their cafe for an hour and a half, when we came out we found the charger had stopped charging and we had no more than when went in, accessed the SatNav for shortest way home, it gave us 24miles distance, we had 54miles range so went for it, got home with 22miles left and 9% battery, but it proved that the figures on the clock are realistic, and convinced me that I'd made a good decision to get the MG5.
As can be seen, we've done a fair amount for couple of crinklies, in the fortnight we've had it, and pleased with it too.

Hi not sure if you know but the podpoint chargers only give you 15min of charge unless you use their app to confirm your charge.