MG ZS EV adaptive cruise control efficiency

[Gadget Geek]

This is exactly the kind of situation where i would think the Tesla M3/MY would be worse.

Back in 2020/2021 they opted to omit the front radar, and make the ACC and AEB wholly dependent on the front facing camera, they claim it will do as good of a job as the radar, but i would beg to differ, in situations like this or in heavy fog, where the radar can see through it, but the camera is just as "blind" as you and i.

Unless they have infra red lamps and night vision cameras (which they don't), without a radar they are not going to see things in the dark.

 

[hmadsen]

Unless they have infra red lamps and night vision cameras (which they don't), without a radar they are not going to see things in the dark.

I totally agree, but Tesla claims the camera is just as good for AEB and ACC.

This is offcourse a lie, especially in bad weather conditions

Also they are now removing the ultrasonic sensors they used for reverse sensors, Blind spot detection and so on, as far as i can see.

Tesla Is Now Removing Ultrasonic Sensors In Move To Vision Only

When Tesla announced that it was removing radar, people said it couldn't be done, but Tesla Vision was eventually tested and approved by safety organizations.

insideevs.com

 

[Matt M]

It’s the same as any conventional ice vehicle tbh. It has its uses if you are feeling lazy but you use significantly more fuel with “cruise control” on. Have used it on various motorcycles and cars and it’s just not an efficent way of driving. The lack of Kers is why I rarely use the system in our ZS

 

[adiel]

I agree that the ommission of regen braking with MG Pilot is a BIG mistake. Other than that, I find it really useful. When I see traffic slowing down or if I'm approaching a junction, I pause MG Pilot and let the regen slow me down. I then engage it to accelerate and cruise along (I got 4.4mpkWh this morning on a 10 mile journey). Hopefully, MG will listen to its customers and correct this with an update in the future.

I do the same. Aside from the additional faff, it does work well.

 

[Susanna]

It’s the same as any conventional ice vehicle tbh. It has its uses if you are feeling lazy but you use significantly more fuel with “cruise control” on. Have used it on various motorcycles and cars and it’s just not an efficent way of driving. The lack of Kers is why I rarely use the system in our ZS

I haven’t yet received my ZS, and I am not expecting to use ACC much at all - most of my driving these days is fairly local, and the lack of regen on ACC is disappointing. However, I have always used ordinary CC on my present and previous ICE cars (even on local roads), and found that fuel economy is much improved. I am surprised you have found the opposite!!

 

[MikeN]

The ACC system is from Bosch and was designed for ICE vehicles and then adapted for MG. It is not possible for it to be updated to include regen.
I agree it's a useful tool but needs to be turned off when on long downhill roads as it will in fact apply the brakes to keep speed down so it not only fails to regrn but stops momentum.

What’s the point of having it if you have to keep turning it on and off??

 

[Gomev]

What’s the point of having it if you have to keep turning it on and off??

It's only the same as ordinary CC, touch the brakes it turns off. On motorways etc. you need to constantly do this and be aware when to do it, at least with ACC you don't have to turn it off by braking and then resuming all the time.

 

[sgt4hed]

This is exactly the kind of situation where i would think the Tesla M3/MY would be worse.

Back in 2020/2021 they opted to omit the front radar, and make the ACC and AEB wholly dependent on the front facing camera, they claim it will do as good of a job as the radar, but i would beg to differ, in situations like this or in heavy fog, where the radar can see through it, but the camera is just as "blind" as you and i.

If I remember rightly, the camera doesn't just see in the visible spectrum that our eyes do... it also utilises 3 front facing cameras and runs a neural net to process it all. It has been proven that cameras can outperform radar already.

Hacker shows what Tesla Full Self-Driving's vision depth perception neural net can see

A hacker managed to pull Tesla’s vision depth perception neural net from his car with “Full Self-Driving” package. You can see how the vehicle detects depth with a point-cloud view powered by computer vision. Tesla has recently started to move away from its radar sensor, which is useful to...

electrek.co

 

[peterseddon]

Was driving south on the M6 yesterday and all of a sudden the front camera obstructed alarm arose, I figured that the very low sun and wet glair from the road had blinded the high screen camera which is used for the lane keep assist.

 

[DriverX]

Completely drained the battery in only 140km during my test drive when car should have a 300km range, I'm hoping this was just from my use of CC.

 

[hmadsen]

Was driving south on the M6 yesterday and all of a sudden the front camera obstructed alarm arose, I figured that the very low sun and wet glair from the road had blinded the high screen camera which is used for the lane keep assist.

This is another situation where the Tesla system would fail.

The sun does not blind the radar nor does a leaf or something, that blows onto it.

 

[Matt M]

Just for some context and to back up my previous post my daily commute is 40 miles. In the am I achieve 3.8miles/kWh as mostly all uphill. 19 miles of dual carriageway. Return journey car sits at 4-4.2 miles/kWh. The average over 2 and a half thousand miles is sitting at 3.8. The attached journey was all dual carriageway bar about 3/4 of a mile from my house with acc on and its down at 3.0 miles/kWh. Certainly not as efficient. And a side note the predicted range disappears from the dash at 9 miles. I was 2 miles from home so knew I was safe. Still had the range anxiety sweats though

 

[Susanna]

Would the reduction be due to no regen when using ACC? And, of course, colder weather?

 

[grahamwalker]

I have used ACC for tailgating lorries/trucks on long motorway journeys and the car is much more economical about 10-15%, The ACC and distance control takes much of the mental effort out of doing what in the past I thought was an inherantly dangerous practice, due to lapses of concentration/reaction time etc, on the plus side a car has a much shorter braking distance than a truck. N.B. the truckers do this themselves a lot!

 

[RobinH]

I have used ACC for tailgating lorries/trucks on long motorway journeys and the car is much more economical about 10-15%, The ACC and distance control takes much of the mental effort out of doing what in the past I thought was an inherantly dangerous practice, due to lapses of concentration/reaction time etc, on the plus side a car has a much shorter braking distance than a truck. N.B. the truckers do this themselves a lot!

I don't have my ZS yet but in my Volt I tailgate trucks wherever I can and I agree it can add 10% to my range. That can be the difference between doing my whole commute on electric or not. With the ZS's tall blunt aerodynamics it could well be more. You don't need to be dangerously close to get the benefit either.
However.... there is quite a high risk of damage from stone chips & debris and with a LR EV I will be a lot less concerned about driving for pure economy, so I probably won't be doing it in the ZS!