Ipswich to Southampton on a single charge?

[Bovyboy]

Hi all, I'm picking up my new MG5 2022 Trophy on 4th December from Ipswich and planning to drive it back to Southampton. Looking from you guys are saying I should make it on a full charge. Would you make the journey or would you plan a charge? I will be travelling with wife and kids and my very first EV. Any help much appreciated. According to Google maps 180 miles.

 

[Jomarkh]

You could a quick charge on or just off the M3. Winchester services or there are some Instavolts around Fleet.
Have you confirmed with the dealer that it will be at 100%?
Have you got a home EVSE ?

 

[Bovyboy]

You could a quick charge on or just off the M3. Winchester services or there are some Instavolts around Fleet.
Have you confirmed with the dealer that it will be at 100%?
Have you got a home EVSE ?

Hi, thanks for replying. Dealer has promised to fully charge the car, I got a zappi installed a few months ago. I'm hoping it works alright as I've not used it yet.
Fleet services sounds good, I shall give them a try.

 

[Les burrows]

Hi welcome to the forum Bovyboy, well 180 in a five LR should be no problem but it could depend a bit on the weather 4th December if it turns a lot colder range drops quite a bit in cold weather and of course you would then be using the heater my advice keep the heater to a reasonable temp 20/21 use the heated seats for extra if needed as they don’t have much if any effect on range keep to a reasonable speed around 65ish and then see how you go plan a couple of possible charging places in advance and don’t worry about the Zappi that will be fine and I’m sure your trip we be also enjoy.
Just one other tip if you do stop to charge don’t be tempted to full charge it again just put in enough plus 10/15% more to get you home be much cheaper than the motorways
Les

 

[BugEyed]

I will be travelling with wife and kids

It's at least 3 hours driving so I'd plan at least one comfort break for the family. Lots of destinations such as pubs and McDonald's have Rapid charge points so you can get a top up at the same time. Whilst strictly not necessary it will both prove that it works on the car and remove any range anxiety.

 

[Fluffykins]

It's at least 3 hours driving so I'd plan at least one comfort break for the family. Lots of destinations such as pubs and McDonald's have Rapid charge points so you can get a top up at the same time. Whilst strictly not necessary it will both prove that it works on the car and remove any range anxiety.

My 2020 MG5 SR did Horsham, West Sussex to North Walsham, Norfolk on Sunday in one charge. 180 miles driven, starting at a 100% and balanced charge. I arrived home with 33 miles left in the battery, according to the GOM. Travel was A264, M23, M25, A12, A120, A140 then random A roads home. Driven 55-65mph most of the way in E mode and KERS3, using KERS braking as much as poss. Heater on most of the time, headlights full time, plus rear fig light for a while

Side note 1: I'm using a little kWh meter in a short extender lead for my granny charger. It gets a 13A socket out through a letterbox and lets me see how much I owe my daughter in law for leccy when I charge there. The meter read ~2.45kW while charging. No info on balancing power (I was asleep) but it was flicking around just 1.5W once balancing had finished .

Side note 2: I thoroughly recommend the White Horse at Stoke Ash on the A140.

 

[Lguk]

If it's your first EV, chances are you will not be driving at full efficiency and with the possibility of temperatures being in the 5c range. Personally I would plan for charging for 15%—20% to give that bit of comfort, the range anxiety alone when you're in that final 15% will be enough to finish some people off, the first time I arrived at destination with 5% charge wasn't a pleasant drive and certainly not something I would want to do for my first journey in an unknown car.

 

[jackois]

I usually aim for about 2 hours for a break and a top up... this is generally around 125 miles and that's where I'd be looking for a services/charger point, top up to 75/80% and arrive home with plenty of charge for the next few days...

 

[Bovyboy]

Hi welcome to the forum Bovyboy, well 180 in a five LR should be no problem but it could depend a bit on the weather 4th December if it turns a lot colder range drops quite a bit in cold weather and of course you would then be using the heater my advice keep the heater to a reasonable temp 20/21 use the heated seats for extra if needed as they don’t have much if any effect on range keep to a reasonable speed around 65ish and then see how you go plan a couple of possible charging places in advance and don’t worry about the Zappi that will be fine and I’m sure your trip we be also enjoy.
Just one other tip if you do stop to charge don’t be tempted to full charge it again just put in enough plus 10/15% more to get you home be much cheaper than the motorways
Les

Hi Les, thanks for the welcome and advise. I will definitely do your tip about not fully charging to save some pennies.

 

[Bovyboy]

If it's your first EV, chances are you will not be driving at full efficiency and with the possibility of temperatures being in the 5c range. Personally I would plan for charging for 15%—20% to give that bit of comfort, the range anxiety alone when you're in that final 15% will be enough to finish some people off, the first time I arrived at destination with 5% charge wasn't a pleasant drive and certainly not something I would want to do for my first journey in an unknown car.

Hi, if I may ask one more question. Which route/map planner do you use? I use Android Auto on my berlingo at the moment, but it doesn't show charging points (OK this car is diesel) but is there a better app that runs on the MG that shows charging points?

 

[smokie]

I'll chip in and say have a plan B just in case your dealer forgets to fully charge before you go - somewhwre within about 100 miles of the dealership would be good, if only for a "splash and dash"

 

[smokie]

Zapmap is good at finding chargers in a specific area but you can't route with it.

ABRP is a route planner which will design your route between chargers dependent on parameters you put in. The defaults are a little conservative for me but it is useful. I wouldn't pay for it though.

For actual navigation I use Waze through Android Auto (which, as far as I'm aware, is just a means to connect your phone rather than a route planning app).

 

[Gomev]

Hi, if I may ask one more question. Which route/map planner do you use? I use Android Auto on my berlingo at the moment, but it doesn't show charging points (OK this car is diesel) but is there a better app that runs on the MG that shows charging points?

I agree with others, use ZapMap to locate chargers, look for an area, for example a 30 mile stretch along the route with more than one site if possible so if first in use you can move on etc. as @Jomarkh mentioned in post #2, and then use Google Maps, Waze, whatever for the navigation.
Make charging en-route part of the journey and try and avoid thinking of it as something that gets in the way of the journey.

 

[NickG]

Yep, Zap-Map is the goto app for me, especially for longer distance and motorway drives. But if you want to save a few dollars get the Pod Point app and filter on 43-50kw chargers - you'll get a mix of Tesco and Lidl locations and they are the cheapest on the road (that aren't free) - currently 40p/kwh. They're not super quick but you'd usually be looking at 66p/kwh at motorway locations. Some are reasonably close to motorways (Waltham Abbey, Camberley etc on your route) - depends how much of a rush you're in. Just watch out for Lidl's that have ANPR car parks and make sure you abide by the rules (potentially buy something instore).

I've driven over 14,000 miles since March in my 5LR with 2 kids (2 and 5) and charging while out an about on long drives is no worries.. getting kids out of a car, past the service station kids ride and to a toilet and back takes an easy 30 mins and time for a decent top up

 

[Vipar]

Hopefully I can post the dashboard pictures. I think that I got good consumption. I am glad that I could plug the granny charger for 9.25 hours at the track that enabled me to get home without having to use the motorway charger. Comments welcome.
I started with a full 100%. And arrived home with 6% and a sweaty bum??

I used the Cruise Control at 55mph as much as possible on eco and 3 regen.
Round trip mileage 340.

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[Vipar]

Bovyboy. See above hope your trip is as successful as mine was.

Bovyboy. Bovington. Army?

 

[Gomev]

Yep, Zap-Map is the goto app for me, especially for longer distance and motorway drives. But if you want to save a few dollars get the Pod Point app and filter on 43-50kw chargers - you'll get a mix of Tesco and Lidl locations and they are the cheapest on the road (that aren't free) - currently 40p/kwh. They're not super quick but you'd usually be looking at 66p/kwh at motorway locations. Some are reasonably close to motorways (Waltham Abbey, Camberley etc on your route) - depends how much of a rush you're in. Just watch out for Lidl's that have ANPR car parks and make sure you abide by the rules (potentially buy something instore).

I've driven over 14,000 miles since March in my 5LR with 2 kids (2 and 5) and charging while out an about on long drives is no worries.. getting kids out of a car, past the service station kids ride and to a toilet and back takes an easy 30 mins and time for a decent top up

Although you will need the podpoint app to start and pay for the charge you can still search for them on Zapmap. You can filter in or out by network and charge speed.

 

[Bovyboy]

Bovyboy. See above hope your trip is as successful as mine was.

Bovyboy. Bovington. Army?

Hi Vipar
Very good guess, I spent 14 years as a tank mechanic at bovy. At the Tank Museum. Some of the best years of my life.
Hope to pick up new car end of next week.