MG ZS EV won't equalise (Aus)

[Liz]

Hi all,

Hoping someone can help/share experiences here!

We've had our MG ZS EV for about 2 months now. We were among the 1st few customers to buy one on the Gold Coast, and the dealers are still incredibly clueless on this car (as such WE bring information to them found online to get literally anything done).

We were supplied a non-MG basic portable charger like this one, no controls, it just...charges

For the 1st 2 months we've only ever charged the vehicle like this, with 2 exceptions of fast charging. Recently a 7kw charger has been installed at our place too.

For the past few weeks, the car displays a persistent Please Slow Charge Vehicle warning. We are aware what equalisation is and have been attempting to complete it numerous times however it just won't happen! The light goes from blinking to constant to off, indicating completed process, yet warning persists. This has been going on for weeks so many attempts have been made.

New update didn't seem to help also.

Service department knows nothing and keeps blaming MG Australia for not providing info, so unfortunately not much help there - this forum has been much more fruitful.

Could the cable be faulty or unsuitable for slow charging?

What could we be missing?

Also will the car equalise at 7kw? We haven't tried this yet but is it "slow" enough charging? Manual is ambiguous on this.

Any help appreciated!

 

[Cocijo]

Hi. 7kw is acceptable for an equalisation charging. Perhaps give it a try using this charger. It can take in some instances many hours - but it sounds like you’ve tried this. It’s worth trying to establish exactly what update you have had if you can. When fully charged the battery voltage is a reasonable indication 455v for some and 450v for those with the latest BMS update. some UK MG dealers are not much more informed or better than yours - although others are quite switched on. There’s a weekly podcast every Monday from this forum and that might also help you

 

[ARealHuman]

Yes, as @Cocijo says, UK dealers are no better and I 've had to take info into mine that they weren't aware of. And yes, a 7Kw charger - I have one at home - will do an equalisation charge overnight.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

 

[JohnG]

Liz have a look at the MG EV's Community Podcast on YouTube from Monday the 1st February. There is a very good explanation of the balancing process and tips on how to do it provided by Miles Roberts. If you dont want to watch it all scroll to around the 1 hour 17 minute mark and you will hear what Miles has to say on this subject.

 

[Liz]

Hi. 7kw is acceptable for an equalisation charging. Perhaps give it a try using this charger. It can take in some instances many hours - but it sounds like you’ve tried this. It’s worth trying to establish exactly what update you have had if you can. When fully charged the battery voltage is a reasonable indication 455v for some and 450v for those with the latest BMS update. some UK MG dealers are not much more informed or better than yours - although others are quite switched on. There’s a weekly podcast every Monday from this forum and that might also help you

Yes, as @Cocijo says, UK dealers are no better and I 've had to take info into mine that they weren't aware of. And yes, a 7Kw charger - I have one at home - will do an equalisation charge overnight.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Thank you so much! Will find out what exact update we got, but they specifically said it had to do with charging system enhancements. Attempted a 7Kw equalisation today - error still pops up but from browsing this forum I'm guessing this may need to happen several times.

Liz have a look at the MG EV's Community Podcast on YouTube from Monday the 1st February. There is a very good explanation of the balancing process and tips on how to do it provided by Miles Roberts. If you dont want to watch it all scroll to around the 1 hour 17 minute mark and you will hear what Miles has to say on this subject.

Thank you so much! Will most definitely check this out, great info!

 

[Peter WA]

How did you go? Any progress?

 

[AV2EV]

Hi all,

Hoping someone can help/share experiences here!

We've had our MG ZS EV for about 2 months now. We were among the 1st few customers to buy one on the Gold Coast, and the dealers are still incredibly clueless on this car (as such WE bring information to them found online to get literally anything done).

We were supplied a non-MG basic portable charger like this one, no controls, it just...charges

For the 1st 2 months we've only ever charged the vehicle like this, with 2 exceptions of fast charging. Recently a 7kw charger has been installed at our place too.

For the past few weeks, the car displays a persistent Please Slow Charge Vehicle warning. We are aware what equalisation is and have been attempting to complete it numerous times however it just won't happen! The light goes from blinking to constant to off, indicating completed process, yet warning persists. This has been going on for weeks so many attempts have been made.

New update didn't seem to help also.

Service department knows nothing and keeps blaming MG Australia for not providing info, so unfortunately not much help there - this forum has been much more fruitful.

Could the cable be faulty or unsuitable for slow charging?

What could we be missing?

Also will the car equalise at 7kw? We haven't tried this yet but is it "slow" enough charging? Manual is ambiguous on this.

Any help appreciated!

Had a lot of problems after the BMS update in early December - the range dropped about 100 km - the real range after the update remained about 140 km only. Couldn't trust the numbers of remaining km at all. One has to divide it by 2 to get the realistic range after the update. The other day it showed a "Low Charge" warning at 96 km... Every day - multiple warnings "Slow Charge the Vehicle" although I have slow charged the vehicle almost every night.
The car was at the dealership for more than 20 days, and they did the daily charge/empty cycles - only after 21 days the car was back to normal.
I'm not the only one - met a guy with similar problems from another city - his car is in the MG garage for two weeks already.

 

[Peter WA]

Had a lot of problems after the BMS update in early December - the range dropped about 100 km - the real range after the update remained about 140 km only.

How many km do you drive per day or week? Did you charge every night?

 

[AV2EV]

How many km do you drive per day or week? Did you charge every night?

Depends - sometimes 100, sometimes more. Yes, charged every night.
The point is that after that the dealership replaced the faulty BMS update, it took them 21 days of charge/empty cycles to get the car back to normal.

 

[Peter WA]

Depends - sometimes 100, sometimes more. Yes, charged every night.
The point is that after that the dealership replaced the faulty BMS update, it took them 21 days of charge/empty cycles to get the car back to normal.

Thanks, that puts it into context. So about 2 months of faulty BMS, with 60 charges, each close to 50%, resulted in enough voltage imbalance that it took 3 weeks to equalise.

I hope they gave you a loan car in the meantime!

 

[AV2EV]

They did allow me to use their car, so that part went well