It was all going so well

[keeley26]

Had the car a week and really pleased with it, until today.
My wife has just coasted to a halt at the side of the road with a system fault.
Luckily only a mile from home but she's not best pleased.
Getting a vehicle control system fault.
I'm on my way to see if I can get it started, maybe by disconnecting the 12 v battery?

 

[lee graham]

That's the power system malfunction indicator lamp. This lamp will illuminate if a power system failure is detected, contact authorised repairer asap.

Thats from MG website, good luck getting it going.

 

[Mark Holmes]

Had the car a week and really pleased with it, until today.
My wife has just coasted to a halt at the side of the road with a system fault.
Luckily only a mile from home but she's not best pleased.
Getting a vehicle control system fault.
I'm on my way to see if I can get it started, maybe by disconnecting the 12 v battery?

Crap that’s not good, but get it back to the main dealer ASAP via your MG AA cover

 

[keeley26]

AA couldn't fix it so we towed the car back to the dealers :-( That wasn't fun getting towed in the dark and the rain, watching the 12 volt battery drop convinced the window wipers were going to die!

 

[Mark Holmes]

I’m so sorry, that must have been tough..I hope they get it sorted for and give you answers..

 

[kiltox]

AA couldn't fix it so we towed the car back to the dealers :-( That wasn't fun getting towed in the dark and the rain, watching the 12 volt battery drop convinced the window wipers were going to die!

I didn’t think you could tow EVs apart from very slowly over very short distances - to load onto a trailer for instance ?

 

[Frank]

I didn’t think you could tow EVs apart from very slowly over very short distances - to load onto a trailer for instance ?

HI,

According to the handbook the ONLY way you can move the MG ZS is by flatbed or towing with the front wheels off the ground.

If your electric motor is not damaged I will be very surprised and YOU MUST inform MG how the vehicle was taken to the premises because the recovery company is responsible for any damage caused to the vehicle. Let MG deal with that and at the very least have them check out the motor for damage. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I hope I am wrong but if you go by the handbook and everything I know about EVs you CAN'T tow them.

Regards

Frank

 

[Paulie68]

I'm pretty sure no recovery service at all will let an owner sit in their car and be responsible for steering and braking when towing conventionally, just no way, no insurance and massive potential for disaster as most people don't know how to handle a towed car, it takes immense concentration even if you know what you are doing!

I suspect the OP towed it themselves. The motor would be producing back EMF as it's always engaged and getting spun up whilst towing, no idea of the effect of this on a non powered up car with the contactors open as they would be with this fault...

To the OP, please let us know how it turns out, I hope your car is OK.

 

[keeley26]

I towed behind the AA van, not by myself. The AA guy checked and you can tow our cars at a maximum of 20mph for 30 miles. The dealer was 4 miles away so not too bad, but no way would the 12v battery have lasted 30 miles at that speed with the lights and window wipers on. I'll update this post on progress

 

[Mark Holmes]

Fingers crossed for you as I’ve not seen this problem on the forum until now, hopefully it’s a one off, sorry that it happened to you, but you do sometimes get teething problems with new cars. My brother once bought an Astra and the roof leaked....

 

[kiltox]

The handbook says it shouldn’t be towed with the driven wheels in contact with the road surface:

 

[Kithmo]

I towed behind the AA van, not by myself. The AA guy checked and you can tow our cars at a maximum of 20mph for 30 miles. The dealer was 4 miles away so not too bad, but no way would the 12v battery have lasted 30 miles at that speed with the lights and window wipers on. I'll update this post on progress

I think the AA man was confusing an EV with a conventional ICE automatic.

 

[KasEV]

Towing with the driven wheels being drag rolled by towing can be bad for the motors/ transmissions as it may cause an unwanted dynamo effect.

 

[keeley26]

Will find out soon enough I guess, if the motor is damaged then the AA and MG can argue between themselves, AA guy did check on his tablet.
I'll be returning the car for a full refund as its less than 30 days old if its knackered.

Hopefully won't come to that as my wife and I both like the car, and as its not 4 wheel drive and the car was in neutral I'm not convinced there will be any damage.

Garage have phoned to say they have managed to start the car but are still investigating the issue, with the EV expert down South.
They'll report back at the end of today but most likely they will have to discuss with MG UK.

 

[KasEV]

Will find out soon enough I guess, if the motor is damaged then the AA and MG can argue between themselves, AA guy did check on his tablet.
I'll be returning the car for a full refund as its less than 30 days old if its knackered.

Hopefully won't come to that as my wife and I both like the car, and as its not 4 wheel drive and the car was in neutral I'm not convinced there will be any damage.

Garage have phoned to say they have managed to start the car but are still investigating the issue, with the EV expert down South.
They'll report back at the end of today but most likely they will have to discuss with MG UK.

Very good to hear some progress has been made. You must make sure the issue has been properly investigated and resolved, tested and unlikely to recur before you get the vehicle back.
It is not uncommon to some dealerships to just say nothing was detected and all seems OK.

 

[keeley26]

The replacent part has arrived and fitting started today. Should get car back next week. Had the demo EV longer than I drove my own.
Demo car has been faultless, so fingers crossed this was a one off.

 

[Mark Holmes]

Good luck Keeley26 done nearly 11k miles in mine since March with no issues; perhaps I shouldn’t say that...tempting fate.!,

 

[Severnless]

What part is being replaced?
Have they said what is actually wrong with the car?
Hope you get it sorted to your satisfaction

 

[Richie]

Hi all
Just to mention slightly off thread but still EV towing:
Anyone been watching The Long Way Up with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, seen on Apple TV or by other means. Actor Ewan McGregor and his friend, Charley Boorman, travel 13,000 miles around Central and South America on electric Harley Davidson motorcycles.
They are using two Harley Davidson EV motor cycles (prototypes) and have two Rivian EV pickups (prototypes) as support vehicles. These Rivians' did run out of power a couple of times on the road and were "recharged" by towing them for 30mins to 80%. Check it out,
Maybe something they could teach MG?

 

[keeley26]

Well 8 weeks later and the car is still not fixed. New parts have been fitted, a power delivery board or unit, and MG eventually got it coded and talking to the rest of the car. Unfortunately as a salesman was testing it the errors came back after a quick charge.
New charge port been fitted but still having issues.
At this point we don't want the car back.
Don't know whether to ask for a new car or a refund, what would you do?