Decreasing Range of MG4

[DYWLC]

I bought an MG4 in May 2023. It has now done less than 22000 miles. My Daughter lives 110 miles away from us a round trip of 220 miles obviously. I bought the MG4 on the understanding that it would do 316 miles on a charge. So it should do my daughters round trip with a good margin to spare. I charge up so 100% now and it shows a range of about 250-280 miles. When I actually do the journey I struggle to get back home with range left in the low 10's. I drive at about 55mph on the dual carriageway (about 60% of ther journey) and the rest is A roads so between 45 and 55mph. I use the heater as little as possible opting for heated seat and steering wheel as needed. I am so disappointed that I've bought and MG ZS Hybrid+ to do the journey in in future. We'll use the MG4 just for short journeys locally and to visit my son who's round trip is only 90 miles. Can I complain to MG about this abysmal range?

 

[Everest]

I bought the MG4 on the understanding that it would do 316 miles on a charge.

what made you think that? Do you have that in writing from the dealership?

Can I complain to MG about this abysmal range?

Unlikely, unless you have got that written guarantee you hint at. It's only just out of winter and still cold. Wait till the summer and range will improve.

 

[ReintjeWA]

My MG4 came with a WLTP range of 435 km, in winter, doing mostly highway driving (100 to 110 kph) I get 350km of range. Lessons learned about what they sell you I guess. I doesn’t bother me though, 350 is still more than enough for my 110 km round trip daily commute.

 

[T1 Terry]

The sticker on the windscreen of my MG4 51 claims it will do 415km on a charge, I'm yet to find a 415km down hill run travelling in both directions to Adelaide and return.
Maybe I could get 415kms on a charge, but I'd go crazy driving like that, well before I'd clocked up the 415kms ..... but if I tailgate a truck, I can get really good consumption rates ..... that's ok on the down hill bits, but they are tad slow on the uphill sections ......

T1 Terry

 

[DYWLC]

Not that cold. If I

what made you think that? Do you have that in writing from the dealership?


Unlikely, unless you have got that written guarantee you hint at. It's only just out of winter and still cold. Wait till the summer and range will improve.

The advertising blurb say 316miles. I've tried battery heating but it says not needed as it's warm enough. When buying cars take it all with a shovel full of salt.

 

[ReintjeWA]

Not that cold. If I

The advertising blurb say 316miles. I've tried battery heating but it says not needed as it's warm enough. When buying cars take it all with a shovel full of salt.

316 miles sounds like a maybe for an ER, but not a Trophy. What size battery pack do you have?

Here is a little blurb from some AI generated slop;

 

[T1 Terry]

Can I complain to MG about this abysmal range?
As trial run, complain to your local politician that they haven't kept their election campaign promises and you want them to either honour those promised or come up with a method of compensating you for your perceived loss .....
If you have a win on that one, then take on MG about their promises

T1 Terry

 

[Griffian]

Our ER can just about do 320m at a very steady pace and when it's warmer weather.

 

[Bam Bam]

I bought the MG4 on the understanding that it would do 316 miles on a charge.

I assume you've got the ER.

Here is the real world estimation

Essentially, you will struggle to do 220 miles when the temperature drops, but should be fine in the warmer months.

Mostly, the UK is somewhere between these two temperatures.

Can I complain to MG about this abysmal range?

No, there will have been an asterix somewhere indicating the various assumptions they have made to reach that conclusion.

Just as with mpg figures for ICE cars. It isn't a guarantee, just some kind of optimistic average.

 

[gary333]

I bought an MG4 in May 2023. It has now done less than 22000 miles. My Daughter lives 110 miles away from us a round trip of 220 miles obviously. I bought the MG4 on the understanding that it would do 316 miles on a charge. So it should do my daughters round trip with a good margin to spare. I charge up so 100% now and it shows a range of about 250-280 miles. When I actually do the journey I struggle to get back home with range left in the low 10's. I drive at about 55mph on the dual carriageway (about 60% of ther journey) and the rest is A roads so between 45 and 55mph. I use the heater as little as possible opting for heated seat and steering wheel as needed. I am so disappointed that I've bought and MG ZS Hybrid+ to do the journey in in future. We'll use the MG4 just for short journeys locally and to visit my son who's round trip is only 90 miles. Can I complain to MG about this abysmal range?

I presume your car is the Long Range not ER. What are your miles per kw/h showing. I went down to Brighton the other day and got 3.5mi/kwh driving at 60 for over 200 of those miles. The weather was cool, roads were wet, some wind. On the way back I was driving at 70mph and got around 4.2mi/kwh as the weather was much better, no wind, no rain (this is the best economy I have ever had out of this car at 70mph). Rain and cold weather really drop this cars range.

You say you are in low 10's upon returning so this seems to suggest the car is doing exactly what is expected to be honest. It was never going to do 316 miles on fast roads, you must have confused the city figures or the ER model

I've got 248miles in warm temps driving down to a few percent at a pretty stable 60mph.

 

[EvTek23]

@DYWLC, as @ReintjeWA points out it does sound like a typical range for an ER, but I didn't think they were about that early in 2023, so I guess it probably is a LR.
Where did the figure of 316 miles come from ? The official range (combined) for the LR is 270 miles, and in city driving 358 miles. Did your car show that sort of range on a 100% charge originally?
The way the range is recorded I would suspect is very similar if not identical to those of an ICE car, where a route is followed by the driver on a rolling road in a lab under ideal test conditions, meaning nobody is really ever going to achieve the results, its just a comparison as all cars are tested in the same way.
I have seen mine as high as 310 during the summer months on the GOM as a prediction, but I don't think it would ever achieve that as it's only a prediction based on the information the car has built up during charge and use cycles.
During winter months when charged to 100% I see as much as 50% of the battery used for a 100 mile trip, while in summer that will only be around 37%. I always charge at my destination back up to 80% if possible to make sure I have a margin on my return journey.
A tip that may make a difference is to reset the Accumulated Totals in the trip computer, then the car uses the default values and not what it has learnt. I do this monthly now recording the results to keep a track of efficiency.

 

[gary333]

I assume you've got the ER.

Here is the real world estimation


View attachment 44609

Essentially, you will struggle to do 220 miles when the temperature drops, but should be fine in the warmer months.

Mostly, the UK is somewhere between these two temperatures.



No, there will have been an asterix somewhere indicating the various assumptions they have made to reach that conclusion.

Just as with mpg figures for ICE cars. It isn't a guarantee, just some kind of optimistic average.

I don't think it can be the ER as the press launch for it was Tuesday 8th August 2023

 

[Bam Bam]

Good points about how early May 2023 was in the release cycle.

I think my advice would be to take the MG4 on these long trips and just give it a brief top up on the way back. A couple of minutes stop could take the pressure off.

 

[siteguru]

I too am interested in where (publicly) MG advertised the SE LR/Trophy LR as having 316 miles of range .. I would be amazed if you could show us, as I don't believe that they ever have.

I suggest you watch this video.

 

[OriginalBigAl]

You have had the car for two summers and two winters and done 22000 miles . Why the surprise at what is considered perfectly normal range for the time of year

 

[salty]

Manufacturers figures are wildly optimistic. Be it, EVs or ICE. For a start off, there figures are gained by driving at absolute optimum speeds and they pick perfect weather conditions. It just does not happenin real life driving, it's as simple as that.

 

[Tuareg]

All depends on how the car is driven. 'Range' in any vehicle is always subjective, EV, ICE and just like the pointless discussions on 'how many miles do get out of <name of tyre>'. Always going to be different for everyone, different road surfaces, different temps, different humidity, different driving styles no matter how 'similar'. So much over analysis of something impossible to predict

 

[Everest]

You have had the car for two summers and two winters and done 22000 miles . Why the surprise at what is considered perfectly normal range for the time of year

I was just musing that too.

The OP's title says "Decreasing Range of MG4"... to me that implies that he originally got over 300 miles range, but doesn't get so much now - which seems unlikely

 

[GaryMG4]

IIRC my 2023 Trophy had a wltp of 265 miles with the SE LR around 10 miles more due to the lack of a drag inducing spoiler. I have seen just over 300 miles on the GOM but drops off as soon as you start driving. I'd say 220 miles was marginal in the winter even in the fens, summer no problem. 3 years/21k miles into my ownership I'd place the winter range at 200. I've not noticed a reduction in range but then I don't tend drive that close to the limit.