MG ZS LR long trip and charging speeds

[LittlePluggers]

We've just done our first fairly long journey in the MG ZS LR. 245 mile roundtrip with an overnight. The efficiency was not amazing 2.8m/kWh but it we drove it like a normal car: 60-70mph, at night, temperatures 0-6c, family of 5 + dog + full boot.

For charging on the way back we visited the new BP pulse charging hub (150kW) at Gatwick airport. There are no facilities but we saw a few planes taking off which helped entertain the kids. We were fairly happy with the charging rates.

Peak 81.9kW
Average: 65.52kW.
Arrived at 10%
Departed: 61% (32 mins)
Temperature: 0c

We turned on the battery heater around 30% which drew an extra 7kW but we thought it would help get more heat into the battery pack

The charge rate was peaking before we ended it at 61% so it may go higher (based on fastned charging curve). Presuming the battery pack was warming up nicely at this point.

Overall pretty satisfied, looking forward to what it can do when the weather warms up.

 

[Vipar]

How much was the charge cost?

 

[Lovemyev]

Thanks for taking the time to post your results !.
Charging speed was good I thought ?.
I guess you where running the cabin heater fairly high too, given the conditions.
That helped munch through the range as well !.

 

[LittlePluggers]

How much was the charge cost?

50/pkWh sl £18.04 by the time we unplugged.

We knew it would be expensive, we choose the hub to guarantee no charging issues. With 7 rapids available (3x 150kW, 4x 50kW) they couldn't all be broken or in use even if they are all BP Pulse. Will probably try somewhere else next time though due to lack of facilities.

 

[LittlePluggers]

Thanks for taking the time to post your results !.
Charging speed was good I thought ?.
I guess you where running the cabin heater fairly high too, given the conditions.
That helped munch through the range as well !.

Yes was good.

Cabin 20c with AC turned off.
Driving mode Normal

 

[SparkyEV]

You did well to find a BP Pulse charger that actually works!

 

[Oakers]

That's really useful info - thanks for posting! Most of the information around the max charing speeds I've seen rate the ZS LR at 76kW (despite 100kW being on the official car information). 35.5kWh in just 30 minutes is great news! Best I've seen from my Leaf is 44kW - what a difference that'll mean

 

[biffo]

That's really useful info - thanks for posting! Most of the information around the max charing speeds I've seen rate the ZS LR at 76kW (despite 100kW being on the official car information). 35.5kWh in just 30 minutes is great news! Best I've seen from my Leaf is 44kW - what a difference that'll mean

I'm not convinced that 100kW is the official information (link) - I think the manufacturer shows charging time using a 100kW charger and compares this to a 50kW charger to show speed, only because 80kW, etc charges don't exist / aren't common - and it also advertises better to list 100 kW than 76 kW.

Edit : post below links to charging graph showing 94kW speed

I saw 86 kW show for my MG5LR on an MFG unit, but whether the car was taking 80kW (the published max for all MG5 SR & LR models - but same marketing "trick" shows SR as 50 kW and LR as 100 KW) and the unit was consuming 6 kW through conversion loss to heat, etc - I don't know.

 

[LittlePluggers]

That's really useful info - thanks for posting! Most of the information around the max charing speeds I've seen rate the ZS LR at 76kW (despite 100kW being on the official car information). 35.5kWh in just 30 minutes is great news! Best I've seen from my Leaf is 44kW - what a difference that'll mean

The fastned charging curve suggests it should do more in ideal conditions. https://support.fastned.nl/hc/en-gb/articles/360037129533-Charging-with-a-MG-ZS-EV-

 

[Oakers]

The fastned charging curve suggests it should do more in ideal conditions. https://support.fastned.nl/hc/en-gb/articles/360037129533-Charging-with-a-MG-ZS-EV-

Nice! I was quite happy with 76kW - so 90+ is a bonus. I'm quite surprised looking at that graph how long it sustained 90+ for as well, admittedly in ideal conditions one would suspect.

Just need some microchips now so they can ship the cars over here!

 

[Hotlush]

The fastned charging curve suggests it should do more in ideal conditions. https://support.fastned.nl/hc/en-gb/articles/360037129533-Charging-with-a-MG-ZS-EV-

Interesting when you compare with other Marques, they're always "up to" whereas MG seem to be that bit more honest and average it out?

 

[Oakers]

Forgot to say before - Battersea Blue is the colour I ordered. I didn't get a chance to see it in the flesh as my local dealer's Trophy was red - the blue looks great

 

[LittlePluggers]

Forgot to say before - Battersea Blue is the colour I ordered. I didn't get a chance to see it in the flesh as my local dealer's Trophy was red - the blue looks great

You won't be disappointed, it's a really nice blue.

 

[Lovemyev]

You won't be disappointed, it's a really nice blue.

Battersea Blue was our own personal colour choice also.
We where convinced we had chosen the right colour for us, when we paid a visit to our local dealer.
They did NOT have the face lift EV in at the time, but they did have a ICE in the showroom in Battersea Blue.
The interior trim is very close to the face lift EV also.
Miles said it was not his favourite colour choice when seeing pictures, but after seeing the car in the flesh, he charged his opinion !.

 

[Gadget Geek]

My test drive was in a blue Trophy Connect. Great colour. The family liked that colour best so that's what I ordered.

 

[Harry]

We've just done our first fairly long journey in the MG ZS LR. 245 mile roundtrip with an overnight. The efficiency was not amazing 2.8m/kWh but it we drove it like a normal car: 60-70mph, at night, temperatures 0-6c, family of 5 + dog + full boot.

For charging on the way back we visited the new BP pulse charging hub (150kW) at Gatwick airport. There are no facilities but we saw a few planes taking off which helped entertain the kids. We were fairly happy with the charging rates.

Peak 81.9kW
Average: 65.52kW.
Arrived at 10%
Departed: 61% (32 mins)
Temperature: 0c

We turned on the battery heater around 30% which drew an extra 7kW but we thought it would help get more heat into the battery pack

The charge rate was peaking before we ended it at 61% so it may go higher (based on fastned charging curve). Presuming the battery pack was warming up nicely at this point.

Overall pretty satisfied, looking forward to what it can do when the weather warms up.

Interesting - thanks for that - encouraging as I thought the maximum power input was 76kW. Or - was the 82 kW peak due to battery heating plus charging? (Trophy Connect on order.)

 

[LittlePluggers]

Interesting - thanks for that - encouraging as I thought the maximum power input was 76kW. Or - was the 82 kW peak due to battery heating plus charging? (Trophy Connect on order.)

Yes potentially. It would have been interesting to see if it would have kept going up, will also try turning the heater off and on to see the impact. I think someone said the heater uses 7kW.

 

[IanE]

What's it like with back-to-back rapid charges ?
I'm not an owner yet, but from what I've seen read, this is where some cars start to have problems.

 

[biffo]

Interesting - thanks for that - encouraging as I thought the maximum power input was 76kW. Or - was the 82 kW peak due to battery heating plus charging? (Trophy Connect on order.)

EV Database is listing 76kW, same as the pre-facelift model - but that graph in post #9 seems to show different

 

[biffo]

What's it like with back-to-back rapid charges ?
I'm not an owner yet, but from what I've seen read, this is where some cars start to have problems.

What problems are you reading about? Is this battery degradation and cells getting out of balance after lots of rapid DC charging? Or is this something else related to using DC after DC, etc?