IM6 Rapid Charging

[LenEV2016]

Yes although hopefully we can clarify this before then. It may be that it works with the satnav rather than all the time. Hopefully the meeting Miles is having this week will clarify.

Agree seems a strange thing to just activate with temperature, as you say if you've no intention of DC charging on your trip it is doing more harm than good

 

[tsedge]

Agree seems a strange thing to just activate with temperature, as you say if you've no intention of DC charging on your trip it is doing more harm than good

NB: I am not yet convinced this is behind the poor efficiency measured in IMs in low temps, but if it turns out it is always running, would make the efficiency significantly better (once we can turn it off), although still not class leading by any means.

 

[MSvirus]

Too bad the premium IM < budget MG4 in the cold/winter. MG4 has significantly lower consumption, quicker heater, quicker heated seats, much more power in the heated steering wheel, functioning door handles and the ability to turn off auto mirror folding.

 

[NikLiverpool]

Too bad the premium IM < budget MG4 in the cold/winter. MG4 has significantly lower consumption, quicker heater, quicker heated seats, much more power in the heated steering wheel, functioning door handles and the ability to turn off auto mirror folding.

To be fair I am not noticing any issues with the heating speed of either seats, steering wheel or the AC itself.
Now I cannot compare with the MG4 but against my wife's BYD they are on par.
Only when I run the car on ECO there is a lag on AC heating but this is set this way.
Can you please expand on this?

As for the door handles I did not have any issues so far. Fully agree on the annoying lack of turning off the mirror folding.

 

[MikeJS]

Hi Mike. Thanks for pursuing this. I may have missed this but did MG clarify that this would activate if you select a rapid charger on the navigation or it will just warm/cool the batteries to maintain temp within specific thresholds?

They said - The battery heater operates automatically when the high voltage battery temperature falls below a specific threshold - nothing about Navigation. They seem to think it comes on if the battery temp drops below XX degs. If this is the case they have not learnt from others. Firstly, if you have enough battery to get to your destination the last thing you want is for the battery heater to come on by itself becuse of temp, as all this will do is use power unnecessarily. What is best is to have the driver’s option to switch it on if you are navigating to a rapid charger and you want to charge as fat as possible. Second best is for it to switch on automatically if you are Navigating to a rapid charger. However, this then tends to mean you must use the car’s Nav system and it will come on even if you do not need it and use power unnecessarily.

 

[MikeJS]

Too bad the premium IM < budget MG4 in the cold/winter. MG4 has significantly lower consumption, quicker heater, quicker heated seats, much more power in the heated steering wheel, functioning door handles and the ability to turn off auto mirror folding.

In my IM6 the heater and heated seat are quick and I can feel them when I am 300m down the road and the steering wheel is hot enough to warm my hands. I have no problem with the door handles working and you can adjust what the mirrors do in reverse….

 

[MikeJS]

We need our Norway members to test this battery heating statement with a OBD scanner…..

 

[MSvirus]

To be fair I am not noticing any issues with the heating speed of either seats, steering wheel or the AC itself.
Now I cannot compare with the MG4 but against my wife's BYD they are on par.
Only when I run the car on ECO there is a lag on AC heating but this is set this way.
Can you please expand on this?

As for the door handles I did not have any issues so far. Fully agree on the annoying lack of turning off the mirror folding.

I must precise, the heated seats, heated wheel and interior heater is not bad on IM6, MG4 on the other hand is probably very good in this aspect. But after driving the MG4 for over two years, and testing my IM6 in -20°C the other day, I really notice a difference.

The MG4 wheel gets warm so quick, it takes just a minute, and it gets really hot. IM6 wheel it takes time, and never get hot, just mild warm. In fact I sometime wonder if it has timed out, but hasn't. It's heat there, just not that much. Seems on the other thread, that this issue has been taken up to CG Miles.

IM6 heated seats is good, but probably not that high max amperages as the MG4, as that is rapid and really hot.

MG4 blows hot in just seconds after starting the car in really cold, without any preheating. IM6 takes some minutes. PTC heater and heat pump on my Norwegian MG4 and just heat pump on my Norwegian IM6 maybe? Heat pumps use some minutes to provide heat.

Both cars seems to be closed up in the cabin. Seems that the fan pushes air into the cabin but the outlets maybe too small so it gets low circulation of the air, as the smallest diameter restricts it. In -20 the IM6 needs to be at fan speed 7 (quite high) to keep the front three windows totally misting up, with only 1 person in the car. Same problem on MG4s. At -30°C the fan needs to be on max to see out the window of that car.

I have had a handle freeze up, but no bad things happened (yet). Not had the mirrors to freeze up, but looks like the weather later this week will challenge that.

 

[MSvirus]

We need our Norway members to test this battery heating statement with a OBD scanner…..

I have the BT OBD2 dongle stationary in the socket in my IM6, but hasn't had time to configure up the app to look at the values, I am afraid. Need to get the data collection up and running!

 

[MikeJS]

A further note re Battery Heating. As suggested by MG Customer Services (SIC) I contacted my dealer - Lookers Brighton, who I must say have been excellent.

They said - Our senior technician has reviewed all the information MG has provided – that’s training, technical and diagnostic information – and all it effectively says is that the car is equipped with a battery heater which will operate in extreme cold weather – it does not get any more specific. I’m sure there are some temperature parameters programmed into the software for it to begin automatically heating the battery, but MG UK has not made that information available.

!!!

MSvirus - we need you!

 

[NikLiverpool]

I have the BT OBD2 dongle stationary in the socket in my IM6, but hasn't had time to configure up the app to look at the values, I am afraid. Need to get the data collection up and running!

How easy is to get the dongle set in the car? Do you mind sharing a photo? I am tempted to get one

 

[MSvirus]

This is my blue ELM327 mini OBD2 bluetooth dongle, permanently installed into the car. It doesn't set of the alarm as on my MG4 when locking the car. Unsure about any potential parasitic 12V drain tho, but no problem yet. Maybe not the best idea to keep it there if car is stationary for a long time. It connects to my CarScanner app. This is a LHD car tho, so I suppose it looks different on RHD cars. Will start collecting data now.

 

[MikeJS]

This is my blue ELM327 mini OBD2 bluetooth dongle, permanently installed into the car. It doesn't set of the alarm as on my MG4 when locking the car. Unsure about any potential parasitic 12V drain tho, but no problem yet. Maybe not the best idea to keep it there is car is stationary for a long time. It connects to my CarScanner app. This is a LHD car tho, so I suppose it looks different on RHD cars. Will start collecting data now.

Great. As far as battery heating goes, I have been told that it should come on if the battery temperature drops to 5 deg C or less….

 

[NikLiverpool]

I need to remember what my Tesla did.
There was the snow symbol which meant that the battery was heating but that was for below 0.
Could explain the reduced efficiency during morning drives.

 

[LenEV2016]

If it is the battery heater activating then its not great, as has been said it should be a feature you can physically control.

So many journeys don't require the battery heated and it's just a waste of range.

 

[NikLiverpool]

Right so I did some digging regarding Tesla approach on the matter.
As I remembered there's no direct control by the user on heating the battery. The only way you can directly activate battery heating is by choosing a supercharger as destination on navigation.
Tesla cars apparently do not heat the battery unless temperature goes wildly low. Ranges below -20 oC. There are some concerns of people in North climates that it may be affecting battery longevity but so far there is no evidence either way.

I don't know the exact chemistry of the the IM battery Vs the Tesla one besides both being NMC. (Long range or AWD teslas).

But it looks to me that if indeed the IMs heat the battery if temp goes below 5 degrees that this is a massive inefficiency.

 

[tsedge]

That makes more sense to tie it to the satnav, so it knows you will charge.

I think best of all would be a prompt if the temperature is below 5C: would you like to start battery heating?

 

[MikeJS]

But it looks to me that if indeed the IMs heat the battery if temp goes below 5 degrees that this is a massive inefficiency.

Sure, but do they ever go below 5 deg C in UK? It is a large well insulated mass.

 

[LenEV2016]

Sure, but do they ever go below 5 deg C in UK? It is a large well insulated mass.

Be interesting to see what the battery temp is sitting at after nights at -6,-7 etc which we regularly get

 

[MikeJS]

Be interesting to see what the battery temp is sitting at after nights at -6,-7 etc which we regularly get

Agree but we need some firm numbers from someone with an OBD reader….