MG ZS Hybrid+ high engine revs

[Robert1957]

I asked my dealership if my vehicle had received PD052 and the answer was yes. I then asked what it was supposed to do and they replied it changes the point at which the battery starts to recharge. Originally the battery could get down to 10% charge now it starts to recharge at 30% as a minimum. It does not I was told have anything to do with the issue of high revs on hills.

I think this explains why people who live in hilly areas are experiencing more issues.
Effectively it seems like I now have a lower capacity battery to run in EV mode as now the petrol engine is used a lot more. It kicks in much earlier and doesn't allow me to use the 'free' EV charge that's been collected from the regeneration. Also due to the number of hills being steeper and longer I get messages saying that regeneration braking is not being utilised which I assume means it;s charged the battery enough so again energy is wasted? Hence my mpg has gone down.
The high revs may be due then to the system recognising that the hills are steep due to the increased pressure on the accelerator which you don't need to do on shallower hills.
I still get revs often over 4500 and on long hills still lose the ability to accelerate when needed.
My dealer has said the same as all others that MG say it's a characteristic of the car but my car performed better before the PD052 update and I think the above may explain why so MG have altered the performance of the car I purchased to its detriment.
The PD052 update may have improved the performance for the majority of people without too many hills but certainly not for me and I believe many others so be good to see a few comments

 

[Robert1957]

update on my previous post
Took a drive yesterday to Little Haven and on the return the car behaved very strangely.
Climbed a very long steepish hill so car was revving over 4500 revs for several minutes. tried taking foot off accelerator but car slowed quickly and so had to keep pressing and revs continued. Of course what goes up must come down so started coasting down with regn at either 1 or 2 to keep me at a nice safe speed. Warning sign came on saying regeneration braking limited and revs shot up to 4500 without my foot on the accelerator. this was alarming but then car speeded up I imagine due to there now being no engine braking so I had to brake. Car continued revving high for a few minutes all the way down. If that had happened at one of the many 90 degree bends on this road I believe I could have crashed. This would be similar to being in a low gear in a manual car to stop the car running away but then putting the car into neutral and so car speeds up. MPG was also seen going down instead of increasing as I should be freewheeling down the hill. I think this sums up what i was saying in my previous post but worse as why should the engine be revving and using petrol when in fact the battery is full and the engine wasn't needed. Has to be something to do with actually trying to stop the battery overcharging but again never did this before the PD052 update

 

[jakeyboy]

Hi all.
Has anyone experienced throttle lag while going up a hill. While I was going up a hill doing 50mph engine started to over rev 4000 rpm . I put my foot down on accelerator to overtake slow moving lorry and there was no response for a couple of seconds. This has happened several times now. I took my car to local MG dealership which I brought it from. I was told it was a characteristic of the car. I asked if had the latest software PD052 update but was told PD052 is not suitable for my MGZS+ hybrid . Anyway car is booked in June 16th to see if they can find anything on the dyno.

 

[TDT]

Hi all - am reading your comments with great interest as I too have the high revving and zero power in our new ZS Hybrid plus pitched in Australia earlier this year. I am currently checking with my MG dealership to see what can/will be done as it is definitely not normal, acceptable or safe. I am away from our home for a few weeks and checked with the local dealership who updated some software (not PD052) but this problem has not been fixed. When I pointed this out, they suggested I go back and discuss this with my dealer.

 

[Hybrid Ann]

If going up a hill, do not use Cruise control. And before applying Cruise control bring the car up to the required speed then initiate Cruise control and you will find it not so harsh. If/when the over rev is heard take your foot of the accelerator slightly for a sec.