First public charging - nervous?

[Rolfe]

There is at least one thread in MG4 forum about cars that won't DC charge. This could well be a disaster and if they can't look at the car maybe press for a courtesy car?

 

[davethomasson]

In June, I'll need to make a return journey of 350 miles (without the wife as a passenger) but have never needed to use public chargers on shorter sub 200 mile trips. TBH, I'm bricking it.
I know I shouldn't worry but having never done it before, it's the unknown that gets me. Zap Map has helped me somewhat, having set filters for fast (>50kW) chargers., so at least I have some options on the way back.
You've all been there before, so what was it like the first time you used a public charger and should I be concerned?

Charge when u can, not when u need to. Worked for me in remote Western Australia.

 

[Archev]

Tip: whilst the car is negotiating with the charger, physically hold up the CCS plug into the car port so that the smaller pins at the top of the port make proper connection. If the connection breaks (e.g. because the weight of the cable causes the plug to tilt down and so pull the top pins away) then the negotiation will fail. Once the charge has started then you can carefully let go of the plug.

I'm not saying that this is your issue, just that it's something to try. I've not had any problems with Gridserve chargers, but I've read about people having issues with BP Pulse especially, and perhaps also Shell.

Yep been there had that issue

 

[Grriff]

@Themist0 Did you try phoning the charger's help desk? We've found Gridserve helpful.

 

[slmorgan42]

Really obvious but caught me out the first time. Make sure the car is turned off.

 

[Themist0]

Thanks for the suggestions, I did try holding the connector in to no avail… I’ll give grifffs sequence a go… and yes gridserve help desk were brilliant, the guy tried to google the problem with Mg4 for me

 

[Jonoffun]

Charge when u can, not when u need to. Worked for me in remote Western Australia.

This is what I do when I do a long journey:
1) Set regen to minimum 2) Drive at 63mph on adaptive cruise control and enjoy the journey. Travelling faster massively reduces range and time saved travelling is lost recharging!
3) Research chargers and make a hard copy printout of their locations, before the journey - find 3 or 4 around 200miles along the journey or when you expect to have 50miles left of charge.
4) Take every charge card payment method you own. I found that of the ones I have only my Santander card worked (and that was lucky!)
5) Go to a local charger and test that you know what to do and the car will charge.
6) Do not worry about price per kwh - it's irrelevant when you need to charge!
7) You are better stopping early and topping up from 20%/30% than dropping to 5%.
8) if you have a 7kwh charging cable take it - the granny charging cable is next to useless.
9) If you want to drive faster than 63 or accelerate fast - do it on the way home so long as you keep the range left >15miles more than the distance to home.
10) Remember to do item 3 above incase you don't have an internet connection for the app!

 

[Rolfe]

Thanks for the suggestions, I did try holding the connector in to no avail… I’ll give grifffs sequence a go… and yes gridserve help desk were brilliant, the guy tried to google the problem with Mg4 for me

I can't find the thread right now, but there is an issue with some MG4s not accepting DC charging. Sometimes it's something that happens after a software update. I think you should escalate this with your dealer.

 

[tsedge]

I can't find the thread right now, but there is an issue with some MG4s not accepting DC charging. Sometimes it's something that happens after a software update. I think you should escalate this with your dealer.

Did you mean this thread?

Car not charging on DC chargers / Fault code P1EB2 Battery Interface Control Module 1 Not Programmed

Anyone have knowledge or experience of this fault code which the AA diagnosed on my 10 month old Trophy? I have been happily charging the car since new on a 7 kWh charger at home with occasional charges on fast chargers. Yesterday I tried to top up at a Gridserve 350 kWh charger. It didn’t...

www.mgevs.com

 

[Rolfe]

Yes, thanks for that.