Long Range's Range Cant Be Trusted? Almost Failed To Arrive Home... 😮‍💨

[Ethernea]

Hey guys... I just got back from my first "long trip" in my mg4 450km "long" range...

And here's my experience:

I had it charged to 80% last night. Trip wasn't planned otherwise i would have charged up to 100%. So this was kind of improvised trip with my kids.

I analyzed the km required for the trip... From home to destination ~140km so back home its ~280km.

At 80% it said 370km range... So i thought i would have 90km left to use around the city we were arriving.

Cool. 20~30km is enough i thought to go eat or something. Giving us an extra 60~70km.

Now google map has been ultra precise in kms to arrive to destination. So 140km to destination was precise. So i thought i would have left 240km when i arrived.

And in the road, AC on ECO mode driving slow with low volume music... I calculated a progress of 4.5km every 1% less.

When i arrived destination it said 43% left... Almost 40% to arrive... So i had 43% to come back??? Wtf... I felt like getting my car stuck there...

138.1 km from home to destination. -37%. To go home it would be another -37%... Supposedly. And that would mean 6% left and not use the car at all. But we did use it - to go to a beach not so far away. Dropped to 41% for next day.

I panicked. I confessed to my wife... (Yep, i thought i had my numbers right so i didnt tell her).

We asked the hotel to kindly share an outlet to charge the car. I saw on Google that mg4 native charger can be used with 110V. Not in my case. And MG Car dealer told us it can use any 220V to charge.. when i checked the "legs" (pins) it's foreign to my country. So impossible to use here... And also... Who has a 220V laying around in parking lots? Not in my country...

Non sense.

I was terrified. So we left the car there and moved in taxi the rest of the trip.

Now coming back home... It rapidly drop to 38%... So i didnt have that 41% i thought i had to come back home. And from there... It got worse.

A/C turned off. Eco mode on. And it got worse performance... 3.5km per 1%... Why was it less economic??

Yellow warning turned on at 11% and i was driving alone..wife n kids sleeping. Felt the paranoia alone. Haha...

To end the story now - i arrived at home with 6% left. And 30km range left... So i had left 30km and not 100km as i initially calculated.

I cant trust this car prediction of how much it can run. And i was lied to. 450km is nowhere nea true. No A/C, eco mode and it randomized between 3.5 ~ 4.5km per 1%? That averages 4km per 1% so it's 400km... And no one runs a car to 0%.

Tip for everyone:

• Charge your car to 100% on weekends, specially on holidays just in case.

• Get one of these from Amazon. Its supposed to charge from 0 to 100% in 24 hours. Works both 110V or 220V (charges in 12 hours).

https://a.co/d/hXMSvuT

Reviews are nice. Thanks to this trip - I'm getting one of these. I cannot use what the car dealer gave me with car purchase. So no idea what to do with it...

P.S. My surprise when opened the box where the useless portable charger is... This is what i saw.

Ive never seen this 220V connector in my country. And because the car got purchased in one payment, i received a home charger. Otherwise how would i charge this car?

 

[Tight Git]

If your long trip is done at a higher speed than you have been doing on your recent local journeys then your GOM (or range display) will not be accurate.

It's a learning curve and you will get to know what your car is capable of! The best way to improve your range/efficiency is to slow down 70mph uses a lot more energy than 60mph.

 

[Tuareg]

Exactly the same with ICE vehicles. My 2009 BMW 330D used to give a range in kms when the tank was full but that estimate changed significantly depending on the types of trips during that tank full. Few if any ICE vehicle owners bother with checking the range in kms when full and simply drive the car from tank full to tank full, each tank giving different ranges in kms. It's just an EV 'thing' that 'range' seems to be a focal point. I never look at the range in my EV, just drive the car, occassionally look at the %age. Any car, EV or ICE can't tell you the real range before you actually drive the car the distance you as it does not know how you will drive the car beforehand, the traffic volumes, your speed, yiur acceleration, braking etc. Same for ALL vehicles on the road.

 

[Coulomb]

Also, Ecuador is rather mountainous, and that kills range as well. Yes, you get some range back from regeneration, but the losses are gone forever.

 

[Tuareg]

Normal for any 'range' displayed on any (ICE/EV) vehicle. It's an estimate that will be adjusted as soon as you start driving based on the driving conditions, topography, weather etc and the driver's use of the controls during the use of the fuel/energy that is in the vehicle.

 

[Kithmo]

ECO mode gives you false hope, just drive in Normal mode for better accuracy.
Also don't keep resetting the economy meter, let the car work out how you drive and give you a true reading.

 

[Anon70]

As a general rule I will always allow a 50 mile (80km) buffer when calculating a distance between charges. So for a 100 mile (160km) trip charge for 150 miles (240km). Also make sure you are doing a battery conditioning charge (down to less than 10% and then up to 100% on an AC charger) once a month to help the GOM calibration as close to the battery status as possible. I have usually found the GOM to be pretty accurate and to save energy you can reduce your motorway speeds, dropping from 70mph (112km/h) to 60mph (96km/h) will increase efficiency sometimes by more than 1 mile per kWh.

 

[Ethernea]

Oh i did go 90kmh max. Both initial trip to backhome trip. As thats the allowed max speed in highways here. There were moments it dropped to 85 or went up to 95 (up/downhills).

Around ~56mph if you need that number.

Hmm ive never done this so i didnt know..now that i do, 100% is a must for trips.

ECO is a fake thing? Hmm and there's an additional option in driving settings
(Energy Driving Mode)?

ECO mode gives you false hope, just drive in Normal mode for better accuracy.
Also don't keep resetting the economy meter, let the car work out how you drive and give you a true reading.

BTW, I don't reset the economy... I just switch options, from last charge or last start.

And I do charge to 100% once per month. But it's important to let it drop below 10%?

I don't have rapid chargers here. Maximum 30A type 2 plug in. Charges 20% to 80% in 5 hours. Not sure if that's AC (should be?)

 

[craigupnorth]

Should prob have stopped in Cerecita for a fast charge ?

 

[Seajays]

ECO is a fake thing? Hmm and there's an additional option in driving settings
(Energy Driving Mode)?

"ECO" isn't fake, but all it really does is change the accelerator profile curve, so that you have to press the accelerator harder for the same acceleration. In theory this makes it easier to do gentle acceleration which is more efficient, but you can achieve the same in normal mode by accelerating more gently anyway.

"Energy Saving Mode" will adjust some other things, and from the manual "The power of the air conditioner is limited. The energy regeneration level is automatically adjusted and fixed to "strong"."

 

[Anon70]

ECO also reduces HVAC use, if you cycle through the modes you have to manually disable the ECO function in the HVAC settings. (you notice this more on cold days when the heater is used less)

 

[Ethernea]

Should prob have stopped in Cerecita for a fast charge ?

Fast charge you say lol... That doesn't exist in Ecuador. Fastest is 5~6 hours to go from 20% to 80% and that is currently only available at home.

Then we have commercial charging points only for Kia owners (yep, those greedy dudes...). When you buy a Kia EV their app adds your account that unlocks these points.

Other brands can't use them.

And then Supermaxi parking lots have slower charging spots that are usually occupied by gas-powered cars. And these are not found in small towns. Just big cities.

I assume this may change in the future...........

"ECO" isn't fake, but all it really does is change the accelerator profile curve, so that you have to press the accelerator harder for the same acceleration. In theory this makes it easier to do gentle acceleration which is more efficient, but you can achieve the same in normal mode by accelerating more gently anyway.

"Energy Saving Mode" will adjust some other things, and from the manual "The power of the air conditioner is limited. The energy regeneration level is automatically adjusted and fixed to "strong"."

So it basically does nothing even if I use sport horse power in custom mode and lightly touch acceleration pedal.

Regeneration is always at 3. I like how it auto stops anyways.

The power of A/C is in eco always. And if it's turned off, then nothing else is beneficial from that option? Hmm.

Sounds like pure marketing magic.

 

[tsedge]

A large part of the issue is that EVs show range in percent and miles. That's unnecessary.

If they just had an analogue gauge with a vague:
F -> 3/4 -> 1/2 -> 1/4 -> E

Then everyone new to EVs would be more relaxed, work out "their" range (according to their individual risk appetite) and be less obsessive on efficiency.

When ranges were tiny, you needed to know exactly percentages and miles, nowadays it is largely irrelevant.

 

[Ethernea]

A large part of the issue is that EVs show range in percent and miles. That's unnecessary.

If they just had an analogue gauge with a vague:
F -> 3/4 -> 1/2 -> 1/4 -> E

Then everyone new to EVs would be more relaxed, work out "their" range (according to their individual risk appetite) and be less obsessive on efficiency.

When ranges were tiny, you needed to know exactly percentages and miles, nowadays it is largely irrelevant.

I prefer 100%. As a noob its hard to want precision..but understanding things better...

I have my calculations in % required. And not in km.

For example, a city near mine i frequently go - i know it consumes 4% to go there. So its 8% to go and come back.

It allows me to do 10 trips to be empty .

I wouldnt be able to do this if i had a vague UI.

 

[Bam Bam]

Fast charge you say lol... That doesn't exist in Ecuador.

I assume this may change in the future...........

Sounds like there is a gap in the market!

 

[pjmmk]

ECO mode is like a panic button, to eke out the last scraps of range when you think you won't reach your destination. Just being careful with the acceleration and keeping the speed down is all you really need to do.

 

[Lord Randall]

In my experience, MG4 guess-meter is quite reliable compared to other brands.
MG instruments doesn't usually lie. Speed reading too is very accurate.