MG ZS EV 2024 charging port door won't open (dead 12V)

[Gadget Geek]

What....So they need to sit and monitor the computer because otherwise it will time out ?

I was told this when I asked about the Tesla fix. A tech has to monitor the process. They even wanted me to pay for a second tech if I had it done at the 2 year service. I think you can probably guess my reply.

 

[Data]

What....So they need to sit and monitor the computer because otherwise it will time out ?

I would have imagines that it was like with a windows install, you start it and every 10 minutes you just press "Continue" and then it would do it, by itself and if you left it for 1 hour it would still happily continue after you pressed the button.

This method is so archaic, especially when other manufacturers have been able to update every bit of the car Over the air for longer than the ZS EV have been around.

You don't have to sit & monitor for the whole time. In fact MG are quite good from what my dealer tells me but all cars require monitoring with interaction at various stages during the process otherwise the car will stop & wait for the next instruction & will disconnect from the main central computer if not done within a fixed period of time.

I would not describe the current update service as archaic. It's one followed by every manufacturer. It's safe which is what manufacturers seek. I am not aware of any manufacturer who currently allows their cars to update critical systems over the air. Firstly it could take a long time due to bandwidth issues & secondly it's simply not reliable enough & can brick a car if anything goes wrong. Of course, our cars & others receive certain updates over the air but these are not critical updates. For example, my own car received new map updates over the air a few days ago. This occurred after doing a system hard re-set to try to cure the issues the car was having. Next day upon start up the map updates were waiting for me. It all worked rather well.

From my own experience in the trade it looks to me as though MG are much more advanced than many other motor manufacturer regarding EVs. And more advanced than many people give them credit for. Of course, they get issues like everyone & nothing is ever perfect. But by comparison to Peugeot & Citroen & particularly their EVs, MG are streets ahead. Much more reliable & largely trouble free by comparison.

UPDATE: my neighbour who has a Tesla tells me he thinks some critical updates are available for that car over the air as hmadsen indicates. He's a tech & like me was surprised by this.

 

[DBedford]

I think the trouble is, that the UK Government won't allow over their updates of Chinese Car for security reasons.

 

[Data]

I think the trouble is, that the UK Government won't allow over their updates of Chinese Car for security reasons.

MG does get over the air updates. But not critical system updates.

 

[Data]

Ok, just an update regarding the 12V battery & the ZS's ability to charge this battery.

I can now be completely clear on this. THE 12V BATTERY IS CHARGED on the later MG ZS EV's when the vehicle is parked & switched off. Not only has my dealer confirmed this, I have also checked the car owners manual which states very clearly (page 9) that the car will intelligently charge the 12V battery when the car is switched off.

I say to hmadsen, check your manual.

I have witnessed my car do this at least 4 times. My friend also with the same car has noticed his car do this too. There is no doubt about it. If someone's 12V battery hasn't been charged, you may have a fault which has caused the intelligent 12V charging to stop or fail to start, as per what the manual says.

I do not know if this applies to some earlier cars or if this is just the MK2 ZS LR TROPHY CONNECT EV's. Mine is a later 2024 model purchased January 2025. Although I'm running the very latest software for the BMS & every other module, my car still charged the 12V battery with its older software. So this isn't happening due to any upgrades the car has had. I do not know if there is an upgraded software to allow other cars to charge their 12V battery also. Hoping this helps others to be more certain about the situation.

FURTHER UPDATE: The MG EV forum Podcast covered this 12v battery charging issue last August where Miles from Chorley MG group stated that the most common cause of 12v batteries going flat is due to one or more of the cars 6 ECUs failing to go to sleep causing a considerable parasitic drain. This causes the cars intelligent 12v battery charging to fail/stop. This is to protect the main traction battery. Of course there are other things that can cause a parasitic drain too. If this happens more than once it's worth checking with your dealer for a software upgrade which will make sure the ECU's go to sleep.

 

[JohnV6]

Thanks for the claity

 

[Pete G]

We have a gen 1 MG ZS EV, there is a cable inside the bonnet to open the charging port if the electric lock fails.
It seems odd that MG would have deleted that cable.
Have a look on the right hand side of the engine bay for a cable.
Pete

 

[Data]

Pete, the cable hasn't been deleted. I think the original poster just didn't know one existed.