MG ZS Hybrid+ high engine revs

[Nico]

Some of the above comments are appreciated but a little too technical for me so I hope you all don't mind if I get a bit basic.
I regularly use a road in mid Wales called Bwlch y Groes.The southern ascent is approximately 1.7 miles (2.7 km) long with severe gradients throughout (steepest 1 in 4). In my old ZS 1.5 petrol I'd approach this at 60 mph and within a few hundred metres the car had slowed to 30 mph and needed many gear changes to get to the summit.
With the ZS hybrid it's a breeze for 90% up and I can easily hold 40-50 mph.
But then I assume the battery depletes and revs pass 5000 with speed reducing significantly. I assume the car is now basically a 3 gear 1.5 petrol.
Is the PD052 update likely to help this situation? If the update doesn't allow the battery to deplete as much then surely I will receive even less support on the hill climb?

 

[Jockster]

OK. Hi, there are some tips and tricks to Hybrids esp if you are not too familiar with them.
If the hybrid battery is low the engine will rev to refill it. If you are stealing power from the engine for Heater and AC it has to work harder. For gradients and hills choose Sport mode
. Regen 1,2 or 3 for going downhill depending on severity of slope. Braking also is regenerating the battery.
I too have the high revving problem. Today no hills and window open 1cm only steering wheel on ( works off 12v not hybrid battery) achieved 65mpg 88mins of driving. It gets better as car is run in and car temp gauge is 3 or 4. (See bottom Right)
Hit pages button, right centre on s wheel. Silver toggle over to right x 2 I think? Just past tyre pressure display. Then toggle up or down there are four useful screens there.
Read my previous posts.

 

[Jockster]

Some of the above comments are appreciated but a little too technical for me so I hope you all don't mind if I get a bit basic.
I regularly use a road in mid Wales called Bwlch y Groes.The southern ascent is approximately 1.7 miles (2.7 km) long with severe gradients throughout (steepest 1 in 4). In my old ZS 1.5 petrol I'd approach this at 60 mph and within a few hundred metres the car had slowed to 30 mph and needed many gear changes to get to the summit.
With the ZS hybrid it's a breeze for 90% up and I can easily hold 40-50 mph.
But then I assume the battery depletes and revs pass 5000 with speed reducing significantly. I assume the car is now basically a 3 gear 1.5 petrol.
Is the PD052 update likely to help this situation? If the update doesn't allow the battery to deplete as much then surely I will receive even less support on the hill climb?

I think the hybrid battery depletes too far. 20% or so isn't enough. Other Hybrids don't let the battery go that far down. Hence high revs I guess??

 

[mick78]

I think the hybrid battery depletes too far. 20% or so isn't enough. Other Hybrids don't let the battery go that far down. Hence high revs I guess??

Technically, the MG has a larger battery than many, so 20% is not (the only) issue. But under full throttle, it should never deplete so far, and driving should be prioritised over charging as well once a critical level of charge is reached.
High RPMs as such are really not uncommon in hybrids, as well as occasionally revs and acceleration/throttle position being out of sync as well, as in theory the system will utilise situations with less load to recharge the battery after it has been used as a booster or sole power source. In a way, the most efficient power to consumption ratio of an ICE is around max torque, so higher RPM for charging is more efficient than lower for operating a generator, especially parallel to driving wheels.

 

[Jockster]

I hapily concur with what you have said. It is a bigger battery and when full you can get formula1 buzz out of it at high speed just on battery but after 3 mins max back to empty and very empty. The other Hybrids can scream at you as if to say don't push me at the moment but they don't leave you dead in water as if a ton of bricks has dropped on you. Very dangerous when overtaking a large lorry knowing that the dual lane road is about to drop to one and other traffic behind you are trying to execute the same manoeuvre with the same urgency. Highly dodge! Worthy of the media covering this in fact.

 

[Busman]

Very dangerous when overtaking a large lorry knowing that the dual lane road is about to drop to one and other traffic behind you are trying to execute the same manoeuvre with the same urgency. Highly dodge! Worthy of the media covering this in fact.

A good idea would be to contact Rogue dealers at the BBC

 

[Jockster]

I did contact one show but only one.

 

[Busman]

I did contact one show but only one.

Rogue dealers on The One Show

 

[mick78]

The other Hybrids can scream at you as if to say don't push me at the moment but they don't leave you dead in water as if a ton of bricks has dropped on you.

I think that the first part is certainly very true. Most hybrids really don't encourage you to a very spirited driving, which the MG certainly does more, given normally there is a lot of power for a small SUV; Unfortunately, the huge electric boost is also part of the problem, as without it, the difference is much more than with others, and pre PD052 really seem to have this running dry problem (although I could so far, in 4 months, not yet reproduce that, and I tried recently with "pumping" the throttle up on Europe's steepest motorway climb, which is around where I live in Austria. The car would just rev higher, and even after a few kilometers starting with 3 bars on the indicator, still would happily accelerate on a steep exit at the end at 90 to 115km/h, still with 3 bars, before I had to break for a stop sign, of course all in the name of science )
Another factor is, that with my Toyota I would not start some overtakes, as a initial scream and not much initial poke would make you consider passing a lorry twice, even if initial, the eCVT would help to keep power more linear than the MG can.

For comparison, it would be interesting to drive a Honda HR-v/Jazz Hybrid (that in theory works very similar, with only 1 gear available for direct drive or a Nissan Qashqai hybrid, as those also mainly rely on electric driving and use the petrol for directly driving only at higher (motorway) speeds, how they react to depleting at speeds not ideal for the gearing of engine to directly driving. I have driven a Honda briefly twice, and I had the impression that anything above say half throttle it immediately started screaming, again not really encouraging you to a spirited way of driving, even though outright power is quite okay, as drive happened through the electric engine. But I didn't get to drive it in "extreme" scenarios. The Nissan I have no personal experience with.

 

[Jockster]

Rogue dealers on The One Show

It's a whatsapp contact. They won't act on one solitary comment. Help everyone!

 

[inca]

Had the ZS hybrid+ since December and it started sticking at 2000rpm and accelerator vibrates.
I have to stop for to go into EV mode for it to reset but even crawling at 10 mph still 2000 rpm & vibrating pedal until I stop. This is the 3rd time it’s happened now. Anyone having same problem, going to phone MG dealer tomorrow.

 

[Noel]

I suspect that no one has responded, due to your problem being difficult to answer.
The onboard system controls the engine speed depending on the cars requirements.
If the main battery requires charging, or you have heated seats and steering wheel etc on, the engine will run at different speeds, e.g. 1.1, 1.3, 2.0 (x 1000 rpm) to provide the required current. So nothing unusual there.
I don’t think any one else has reported the vibrating peddle problem, due to them not having experienced it. Could you describe this in more detail please?

 

[kirsty87]

Hi. I have had my MG ZS hybrid trophy since 23 Dec 2024. Straight away I was getting rpms in the 2000s on hills. I went back to the dealer asking about the high revs on inclines in case it was damaging the car because it didn’t sound good. I was told that the high revs was to charge the electric battery. Since then the revs are getting worse and for a longer period of time, and it’s hardly switching to EV. I’m getting high revs on flat roads now and I also can feel a vibration under the accelerator pedal. The rpms can go over 4000, most of the time it's close to 3000. I drove a couple miles down the road and back and when I got out the car I could smell a burning smell coming from the front of the car, obviously being concerned about the car and for my safety and reading up on this forum I emailed the dealer and they have booked my car in for 3 weeks time (Im away for one week and the service dept is away for the week after, hence 3 weeks time), they called me back pretty quick to get booked in so I feel sure there is an issue. I will update here once my car has been into the garage. Hopefully there’s some software updates they install too.

 

[Noel]

Hi. I have had my MG ZS hybrid trophy since 23 Dec 2024. Straight away I was getting rpms in the 2000s on hills. I went back to the dealer asking about the high revs on inclines in case it was damaging the car because it didn’t sound good. I was told that the high revs was to charge the electric battery. Since then the revs are getting worse and for a longer period of time, and it’s hardly switching to EV. I’m getting high revs on flat roads now and I also can feel a vibration under the accelerator pedal. The rpms can go over 4000, most of the time it's close to 3000. I drove a couple miles down the road and back and when I got out the car I could smell a burning smell coming from the front of the car, obviously being concerned about the car and for my safety and reading up on this forum I emailed the dealer and they have booked my car in for 3 weeks time (Im away for one week and the service dept is away for the week after, hence 3 weeks time), they called me back pretty quick to get booked in so I feel sure there is an issue. I will update here once my car has been into the garage. Hopefully there’s some software updates they install too.

Hi Kirsty. I expect Inca will be relieved to learn that he is not the only one experiencing this problem. It makes me wonder if others are also experiencing this, but haven’t raised it on this forum. It will be very interesting to hear what happens when you take your car into the dealership. Good luck Noel.

 

[srich]

I raised this exact problem previously on here (see thread last updated in Feb titled “vibration”). As you’ll see not many responses so thought I was alone! But the vibration is so noticeable! Tends to be at 2 to 2.2 revs when it’s at it worst. Taken to dealer and they said they couldn’t feel anything! Sort of given up on it but it cannot be right!!

 

[shazer01]

I have the MG3 hybrid automatic 2024 and the revs are so loud going up a slight hill that I worry the engine is going to blow up, it s like you go into neutral literally put your foot to the floor , so I end up taking my foot off the accelerator, which does not help.

 

[kirsty87]

Just got my car back, it wasn’t even in 24 hours. They said my car had a recall for an update that would sort all the issues I stated, revving, pedal vibration, hardly switching to EV, and so far so good, it drove perfect on the way home. Fingers crossed it stays that way. They didn’t state which update it was but it definitely is driving smooth now. I took mine to Glyn Hopkin Buckhurst Hill in case your garage is being unhelpful you could call them for advice.

 

[srich]

Just got my car back, it wasn’t even in 24 hours. They said my car had a recall for an update that would sort all the issues I stated, revving, pedal vibration, hardly switching to EV, and so far so good, it drove perfect on the way home. Fingers crossed it stays that way. They didn’t state which update it was but it definitely is driving smooth now. I took mine to Glyn Hopkin Buckhurst Hill in case your garage is being unhelpful you could call them for advice.

Many thanks for this update. Mine is in next week so hopefully they will sort it. And thanks for advising which garage provided the update!!

 

[kirsty87]

Many thanks for this update. Mine is in next week so hopefully they will sort it. And thanks for advising which garage provided the update!!

No probs. Good luck with yours.

 

[Obstreperous]

Hello,
I have just bought an MG zs hybrid + and when I put the regulator on on the freeway, it sometimes (regularly) goes up to 5000rpm...is this normal? When I take the regulator off, everything's fine.