Issue with AC charging/New CCU fitted (Phase One SE LR)

[SimonS]

See section 12 & 12.1 of the Zappi 2.1G User Manual.

Edit to add that the Zappi will only restrict the power in Eco (no +) or if you have a Device Limit or a Grid limit set (16.2 or 17.1 in the manual). Power can also be variable if you are on Intelligent Octopus Go (rather than the standard Octopus Go).

 

[Ian Key]

Hi All,

Thought id jump in on this thread, i am a new EV car owner, had my MG4 Trophy LR about 3-weeks now, i have a Zappi charger, but been struggling to set it up correctly.

I have solar panels, but will mainly want to charge overnight at the cheap Octopus Go tariff at 9p KWH. I set up the Zappi as follows;

Charging Mode - ECO+ Mode
Boost settings - Scheduled between 00:30hr - 04:30hr

Yesterday late afternoon (starting to get dark) i plugged the car into the Zappi charger with the intention for it to commence charging at 00:30hrs (my boost settings). At the point of plugging it in the Zappi App on my phone and on the Zappi charger said “waiting for surplus” (The car was already charged to 68% but i needed 100% due to long journey today).

At 00:35hrs (early hours this morning) i checked the charge status via the Zappi App (hoping the car to be charging at 7kwh), and found the car not to be charging but saying “boosting”. At this point i noticed boost setting was set to “stop all”, no idea why this was set like that. I changed the setting to “schedule” and it eventually starting charging, but only at a rate of 1.4kwh. This was not what i was hoping!!! I had to change the charging mode to “fast” to get the charge up to 7kwh.

Any advice/help on setting up the Zappi would be great please, as I want to charge overnight (00:30hrs - 04:30hrs) at 7kwh.

Thank you.

Try turning your Zappi off at the mains and waiting for a couple of minutes before turning it back on again. I've found I need to do that every now and again when mine doesn't charge as expected.

 

[APH]

You're essentially doing and expecting the right thing. I've been caught out once by the stop all on the Zappi app and concluded I'd just fat fingered the app. Set it back to Eco+ and it should be OK.

Why not add a temporary 15 minute slot on the schedule at a point in the day when you can watch and gain confidence? Then clear it.

Go into the charging screen in the car and I think it may default to charge at 10A set it to 32 or max and you should never have to touch it again.

Just for reference, I rcv on average 26.3 kw from the Zappi in a four hour charge. That's on a SE SR, you may see slightly different.

Apart from the fault the OP outlines on his car, I've found Zappi/MG4 charging to be 100% reliable.

Good luck.

By the way ECO+ is spot-on for the solar panels but unless you've a bigger than average size array, it's a lost cause at this time of year

Thanks for the info.

i got a successful charge over night, and in the 4-hour window managed to get 27.76 kWh added.
I will check the setting on the car charging screen is set to 32a or max.

My car is still plugged in (Zappi set to ECO+), the sun is out and im exporting back to the grid, but the car is not charging, im guessing not enough power is being generated by the solar panels.

One other question, does the car have a log file of dates and time period of charges along with kWh added?

 

[DevonMG4]

You rcvd a max charge rate in four hours with those numbers - good. No need to check the car.

Correct not enough surplus solar generation. I believe the standard defined for AC charging requires a minimum of about 1.4kw to start charging. If your surplus is less than that the Zappi will not charge, I believe this is not a myenergi or MG limitation. If the surplus falls below 1.4kw due to passing clouds then a charge will stop. There is a grace period I think in the Zappi to say wait n seconds before stopping - incase the cloud passes!

But perhaps a better way to control this is with the 'Green energy' slider just below the Fast, Eco, Eco+, Stop modes on the phone app. Try setting it to 70% for example, Zappi will top up the solar with peak grid and may take you over the 1.4kw threshold?? If it charged at 70% solar and 30% peak all the time it would be the same as 100% at 9p (the Go night rate) - hope that makes sense. But if you're generating less than 1kw surplus it's a lost cause. You could argue setting the green percentage lower is worth it as you will ride the cloudy interruptions better. Set to 60% you'll only need a temporary surplus of 0.84kw.

When a charge stops and then starts again it takes the MG best part of a minute before the charge restarts and if it happens too many times our car just gives up and terminates the whole session. Stand next to the car as the power dips and you'll hear all sorts of clicks and clunks as it stops and starts.

Charging log - unaware of one in the car or the phone app. But if you login to myenergi on a browser and go to the Zappi, it'll list all your charging sessions on screen.

Hope that helps

 

[APH]

You rcvd a max charge rate in four hours with those numbers - good. No need to check the car.

Correct not enough surplus solar generation. I believe the standard defined for AC charging requires a minimum of about 1.4kw to start charging. If your surplus is less than that the Zappi will not charge, I believe this is not a myenergi or MG limitation. If the surplus falls below 1.4kw due to passing clouds then a charge will stop. There is a grace period I think in the Zappi to say wait n seconds before stopping - incase the cloud passes!

But perhaps a better way to control this is with the 'Green energy' slider just below the Fast, Eco, Eco+, Stop modes on the phone app. Try setting it to 70% for example, Zappi will top up the solar and may take you over the 1.4kw threshold?? If it charged at 70% solar and 30% peak all the time it would be the same as 100% at 9p - home that makes sense. But if you're generating less than 1kw surplus it's a lost cause. You could argue setting the green percentage lower is worth it as you will ride the cloudy interruptions better.

When a charge stops and then starts again it takes the MG best part of a minute before the charge restarts again and if it happens too many times our car just gives up and terminates the whole session. Stand next to the car as the power dips and you'll hear all sorts of clicks and clunks as it stops and starts.

Charging log - unaware of one in the car or the phone app. But if you login to myenergi on a browser and go to the Zappi, it'll list all your charging sessions on screen.

Hope that helps

Thank you for the extra info on the Zappi (learning more day by day). I have adjusted the green energy slider to 70% (didn’t know what this was tbh).

I took the car on my first long journey yesterday to North Wales (260 miles round trip), used 70% battery on the outbound trip (130miles), plugged in to a public 50kwh charger and it took approx. 1hr 15mins to fully charge (but stopped at 97%). Cost me 60p per kWh. On the inbound journey got a better economy as used 60% battery (exactly same route, but in reverse).

 

[FiferMG4]

That’s the car booked in for the 1st of December. It could have been looked at earlier, but they had no courtesy cars available until December. I’ll update the thread once I hear back from the dealer.

 

[Alex Brumpton]

That’s the car booked in for the 1st of December. It could have been looked at earlier, but they had no courtesy cars available until December. I’ll update the thread once I hear back from the dealer.

I'm getting this strange behaviour too. But it's quite infrequent compared to how often I charge. It tends to happen once a week, which isn't a lot considering I charge every night.

But I'm getting the exact same behaviour your describing. Where it will only add 2-3 kWh of charge before the car thinks it's full. I've contacted MG about another issue (rear brakes corroded after 10 months :/) might have to bring this up when the manager of my local dealer rings me back.

I thought I was the only one as I couldn't find anything else on the weird charging characteristics. What makes it even stranger, is that this only started back in August. I got the car on November last year.

I also have a Zappi

 

[FiferMG4]

I'm getting this strange behaviour too. But it's quite infrequent compared to how often I charge. It tends to happen once a week, which isn't a lot considering I charge every night.

But I'm getting the exact same behaviour your describing. Where it will only add 2-3 kWh of charge before the car thinks it's full. I've contacted MG about another issue (rear brakes corroded after 10 months :/) might have to bring this up when the manager of my local dealer rings me back.

I thought I was the only one as I couldn't find anything else on the weird charging characteristics. What makes it even stranger, is that this only started back in August. I got the car on November last year.

I also have a Zappi

@tsedge replied, saying that other members have reported problems with AC charging (as opposed to DC fast/rapid charging) which sounds like the issue we’re having Alex. As I don’t do that many miles, I tend to charge once a week. At the moment the strange behaviour seems to happen over 70%. If that changes, I’ll let you know. Are you finding the same pattern?

I’ll look for some of those threads on AC charging problems.

 

[Alex Brumpton]

@tsedge replied, saying that other members have reported problems with AC charging (as opposed to DC fast/rapid charging) which sounds like the issue we’re having Alex. As I don’t do that many miles, I tend to charge once a week. At the moment the strange behaviour seems to happen over 70%. If that changes, I’ll let you know. Are you finding the same pattern?

I’ll look for some of those threads on AC charging problems.

Interesting, the last time it happened was Saturday night but I'd only driven 15-20 miles on Saturday so was still at around 85% and it had that same behaviour.

But since the temperature has dropped and I'm regularly having to charge daily in the week when the car is below 55% it hasn't happened.

This might be why I started noticing it from July/August.

 

[Arcalis0]

Hi
My MG4 came back from dealer after electric window motor issue on Wednesday. Ever since, I've had issues charging with Eassee one on a schedule overnight So I did some experimenting today to clarify what's happening. Tried just plugging in without schedule, tried charging at range from 6A to 32A, tried charging with app and without. Tried using car software and screen. Tried it locked and unlocked and tried all the above with the Granny charger too. All it does is start charging for a minute or two max. Then stops, it retries for two or three times, same result then gives up.
I took it to the local Lidl and charged up on CCS rapid charger which works.
Any thoughts on what I could do? Obviously I'm ringing MG as we speak on a Friday afternoon though!!?

 

[DevonMG4]

Sounds the same as Zappi failing to charge car to 80%
ignore the Zappi content, the behaviour is the same, charging on AC for a few mins then stopping

 

[Arcalis0]

Sounds the same as Zappi failing to charge car to 80%
ignore the Zappi content, the behaviour is the same, charging on AC for a few mins then stopping

Thanks, so others getting similar issues. Mines going in on Thursday so will update thread then.

 

[FiferMG4]

Four attempts to charge it with the Zappi tonight, going from around 40% to just over 60%. Here’s a screenshot of the charging history for reference. The fourth attempt was the shortest.

 

[timE]

I've been experiencing the same problem over the past 6-8 weeks, and it has been getting progressively worse and now will only charge 0.5 kWh each time I connect with my Zappi. The granny charger shows the same problem. I mainly use the car for short journeys, so have little need to charge frequently, but have had to resort to (expensive) DC charge for my most recent trip. Have finally booked an appointment with the local MG garage to get a diagnostic, though not until Nov. 23rd. Will post the outcome. Have had my Trophy since March 2023 so it seems likely it was from the same batch.

 

[ttforever]

I'm getting exact same issue just appeared in last 2 weeks on podpoint charger. Also Trophy March 2023 model

 

[Alex Brumpton]

Quick update on my situation. It happened again last night, first time in nearly two weeks. Luckily I woke up at 2am and decided to check it, noticed that it had only put 2 kWh in and went to the charger to unplug and plug back in. Put it on fast mode and it was at 100% when I woke up at 6am.

I noticed something different this time that I don't remember seeing before. My WiFi went down at roughly the same time my car stopped charging. I mean it could be a coincidence but right now I'm trying to look for similarities in our situations. Is everyones chargers networked via WiFi or hard wired over Ethernet? Also, what kind of WiFi system do people have? I've got three Google WiFi pucks that create a Mesh network over my house.

Another thing I'm wondering is what software version everyone is on for the car. I've got an SE SR and haven't had any updates yet apart from the recall update. The system was down when I had my first service but I've said to them I want to book it back in for the updates to see if it helps.

Probably clutching at straws with the WiFi thing but it was worth mentioning.

 

[Jomarkh]

Same here last night, nothing went into the car using the Zappi

 

[Tight Git]

Quick update on my situation. It happened again last night, first time in nearly two weeks. Luckily I woke up at 2am and decided to check it, noticed that it had only put 2 kWh in and went to the charger to unplug and plug back in. Put it on fast mode and it was at 100% when I woke up at 6am.

I noticed something different this time that I don't remember seeing before. My WiFi went down at roughly the same time my car stopped charging. I mean it could be a coincidence but right now I'm trying to look for similarities in our situations. Is everyones chargers networked via WiFi or hard wired over Ethernet? Also, what kind of WiFi system do people have? I've got three Google WiFi pucks that create a Mesh network over my house.

Another thing I'm wondering is what software version everyone is on for the car. I've got an SE SR and haven't had any updates yet apart from the recall update. The system was down when I had my first service but I've said to them I want to book it back in for the updates to see if it helps.

Probably clutching at straws with the WiFi thing but it was worth mentioning.

Not heard of any issues with mesh systems but have heard that powerline adaptors can cause problems- have you any in the house?

Mine is connected by wi-fi to the router instead of my mesh but not for any reason.

 

[Alex Brumpton]

Not heard of any issues with mesh systems but have heard that powerline adaptors can cause problems- have you any in the house?

Mine is connected by wi-fi to the router instead of my mesh but not for any reason.

Nope don't have any power line adapters, only my mesh network. My VM router is the modem. I've recently upgraded to gigabit which has made my Google WiFi mesh a bit redundant (WiFi 5) so when my new VM router arrives I'll see how that is on its own.

 

[FiferMG4]

I've been experiencing the same problem over the past 6-8 weeks, and it has been getting progressively worse and now will only charge 0.5 kWh each time I connect with my Zappi. The granny charger shows the same problem. I mainly use the car for short journeys, so have little need to charge frequently, but have had to resort to (expensive) DC charge for my most recent trip. Have finally booked an appointment with the local MG garage to get a diagnostic, though not until Nov. 23rd. Will post the outcome. Have had my Trophy since March 2023 so it seems likely it was from the same batch.

Hope your garage is able to figure out what the problem is. I’ll also let everyone know what my dealership finds out.