MG4 EV (Long Range) - Bugs

[ROTS]

MG4 EV (Long Range) Bugs

Now 2 months and 1500 miles into ownership and whilst I'm fairly happy with the way the car drives, there are a couple of annoying bugs and a couple of more serious ones which makes me generally disappointed.

1. The Range! I know the weather has been cold but for a car advertised with a 300+ mile range, less than 100 from a full charge is very poor. Even when the weather was milder an 80% charge was only giving around 160 miles. I await warmer weather with interest.

2. The lane control system is over aggresive and too sensitive - stray even a few inches out of the centre of the lane and there is a very sharp corrective yank on the steering. I have taken to de-selecting the lane control before starting to drive. Unfortunately the system randomly re-engages and requires de-selecting again. There ought to be a way to permanently disconnect the lane control without the need to do so every time the system reboots (as I've been able to do with previous cars).

3. The charging door is temperamental; sometimes it won't close and sometimes it won't open. I'm currently awaiting a call back from the dealer (after 4 attempts to contact them) so that they can resolve this issue - otherwise it makes the car unusable.

4. There was only a domestic 3 pin plug charger provided making the car unusable for any long distance (over 100 miles given the current cold weather range). This makes the car "as sold" unfit for purpose. MG should provide both types of charger leads with the car (they did 4 years ago when I bought a ZS from the same dealer).

5. The software interface and the over-complicated steering wheel buttons are far from user-friendly or intuitive. The "screen" is way too small for easy touch screen use when the car is in motion.

General

The MG4 is one of the cheapest EV's available if you can pick up one of the many deals on offer. It is fun to drive but the back end can be twitchy when conditions are slippery, even under mild acceleration. But the quirky software interface and the very poor range in cold weather (5°C and below) will be a big disappointment for most and make it unusable as a "primary" car. Single point of failure issues - such as the stuck charging door - are down to poor design.

 

[Torryhun]

OMG, You have definitely bought the wrong car !!

 

[Ayoull]

The Range! I know the weather has been cold but for a car advertised with a 300+ mile range, less than 100 from a full charge is very poor. Even when the weather was milder an 80% charge was only giving around 160 miles. I await warmer weather with interest

There's something either wrong with your car or driving style.

Ive managed 140mi in my MG4 SE SR in -5C this week on the motorway doing around 65mph

And in December was averaging around 180mi a charge with a mixture of A roads and motorways.

In summer averaging 230mi on same journeys

 

[siteguru]

1. The car is not advertised with 300 miles of range ... the WLTP of your model is 281 miles. And the chances of achieving this is slim, as WLTP tests are conducted under ideal conditions.

 

[hharzel]

Do you have intelligent battery heating on? It is on by default and will destroy winter efficiency. I keep it on because it is always very cold here and I want to minimize battery deterioration. But at 5 degrees celsius and if taking a long drive (which I seldom do), I would not keep it on.

 

[pecker]

MG4 EV (Long Range) Bugs

Now 2 months and 1500 miles into ownership and whilst I'm fairly happy with the way the car drives, there are a couple of annoying bugs and a couple of more serious ones which makes me generally disappointed.

1. The Range! I know the weather has been cold but for a car advertised with a 300+ mile range, less than 100 from a full charge is very poor. Even when the weather was milder an 80% charge was only giving around 160 miles. I await warmer weather with interest.

2. The lane control system is over aggresive and too sensitive - stray even a few inches out of the centre of the lane and there is a very sharp corrective yank on the steering. I have taken to de-selecting the lane control before starting to drive. Unfortunately the system randomly re-engages and requires de-selecting again. There ought to be a way to permanently disconnect the lane control without the need to do so every time the systen reboots (as I've been able to do with previous cars).

3. The charging door is temperamental; sometimes it won't close and sometimes it won't open. I'm currently awaiting a call back from the dealer (after 4 attempts to contact them) so that they can resolve this issue - otherwise it makes the car unuseable.

4. There was only a domestic 3 pin plug charger provided making the car unuseable for any long distance (over 100 miles given the current cold weather range). This makes the car "as sold" unfit for purpose. MG should provide both types of charger leads with the car (they did 4 years ago when I bought a ZS from the same dealer).

5. The software interface and the over-complicated steering wheel buttons are far from user-friendly or intuitive. The "screen" is way too small for easy touch screen use when the car is in motion.

General

The MG4 is one of the cheapest EV's available if you can pick up one of the many deals on offer. It is fun to drive but the back end can be twitchy when conditions are slippery, even under mild acceleration. But the quirky software interface and the very poor range in cold weather (5C and below) will be a big disappointment for most and make it unuseable as a "primary" car. Single point of failure issues - such as the stuck charging door - are down to poor design.

The frozen flap is an issue for sure, my current ID.3 doesn’t have that issue so must be a design floor although these cars are sold in much colder climates than ours.

 

[Ian Key]

1. The car is not advertised with 300 miles of range ... the WLTP of your model is 281 miles. And the chances of achieving this is slim, as WLTP tests are conducted under ideal conditions.

Unless the OP means he has the extended range or conversly they might think they have the LR model but instead have the SR.

 

[it guy]

I was heading for a range of 190 miles in my xpower this week in mixed driving, with some -7°C temps thrown in there. I was really impressed with that actually. No2 on the list re LKA is obviously an NCAP problem at source, but do agree that a more simple way of disabling would be very helpful. Just being able to assign to a steering wheel button.

I find the steering wheel pretty good actually. Nice to hold, buttons are fine. Mine only has 300 miles on it so far and I can intuitively remember what they all do already, so it can't be that hard.

 

[Rolfe]

It would be helpful if the OP would clarify exactly which model of car he actually has.

 

[tsedge]

MG4 EV (Long Range) Bugs
The Range! I know the weather has been cold but for a car advertised with a 300+ mile range, less than 100 from a full charge is very poor. Even when the weather was milder an 80% charge was only giving around 160 miles. I await warmer weather with interest.

What are you getting in terms of miles/kWH?

It should be something like 2.5-3 in winter on long journeys, 3.5-4 in summer.

I'm guessing maybe you like to drive at high speeds (>80) on the motorway? Speed is a range killer with all EVs. Or perhaps you have a very heavy right foot?

Or is the area around you extremely hilly?

What driving mode do you use? There's a significant increase in range in ECO mode with energy saving on vs Sport mode.

Do you balance charge the battery to 100% at least once a month, as recommended?

If you drive gently and are no speed daemon and do long journeys, balance regularly and still are getting poor figures there could be something wrong with your car.

Mine is getting 200 miles in winter reliably and 250 in summer, but obviously not when I drive it hard in Sport mode on shorter journeys (which is most of the time).

 

[jiiikoo]

I can do ~230km of city driving (my consumption according to the GoM is +29.8kWh/100km) in -30C-20C in Finland. It has been below -15C ever since I got the car on the 30th of Jan. Going to highways where the speed is more constant, consumption drops to around 20-24kWh/100km. Naturally it’s not gonna be doing the same mileage as a petrol car with a huge tank and low consumption, but eh, I wouldn’t say the consumption is that bad in Finnish winter

 

[siteguru]

Unless the OP means he has the extended range or conversly they might think they have the LR model but instead have the SR.

Maybe. I'm only going by the model they've selected for Driving in their profile.

 

[Ganymede]

I was doing about 4 miles/kWh in the summer (= about 250 miles full range), more on short local journeys where I wasn't going very fast). At the moment, with the temperatures hovering around zero, I'm getting about 2.5 miles/kWh for shortish journeys, gradually improving to about 3 (or a bit less) on longer journeys (say 50 miles) during which I presume the battery heats up. So about 200 miles range in the winter, a drop of 20%, which seems fairly typical for EVs in the UK.

 

[Rolfe]

There's a misunderstanding somewhere. The SE LR is advertised as doing 281 miles, not "over 300". But even so, surely to God the OP should be getting a lot more than 100 miles from a full charge even in winter - especially in Kent!

I do not have the softest right foot and my idea of motorway driving is to set the ACC at 75 and let the car get on with it. I drove from central Scotland to Penrith a couple of days before Christmas, about 95 miles, and got to the charger with 20% charge and 28 miles still on the GOM. That was entirely motorway from Moffat on. And that was in an SR.

On the way back I got to Carlisle, 113 miles, before I charged, and again I had about 20% battery when I got there. (The first 60 miles was A roads, but motorway after that.)

I've never seen less than 145 miles at 100% on the GOM no matter how cold or how I've been driving. Admittedly a string of trips to the nearby village hall (three miles away) and back, in the evenings, in sub-zero temperatures, with pre-heating at both ends and the heater going full blast during the journey, has seen 9% of battery go for each trip, but even so the GOM is currently showing me 41 miles of range on 36% battery. But even that, pro rata, would be 113 miles full. On an SR that has been driven about as uneconomically as it's possible to drive it.

So if the OP is getting less than 100 miles to a charge from an LR, what the hell is he doing? Or there's something wrong with the car.

Also, the complaint about only getting a granny lead seems to rest on a misunderstanding. Most people don't need a type 2 lead very often. Charging on long journeys is done on DC chargers that have their own tethered connectors. Charging at home will be by wall box (maybe you need a separate type 2 for that but maybe you don't, depends on the box, but surely you sorted that out when you had it installed) or using the granny lead.

You only need a type 2 lead out on a journey if you're going to use a public type 2/destination charger, which is probably the least frequent requirement for most people. You certainly don't need one to charge out on the road on a CCS charger. Has the OP not realised this?

 

[Pigeon]

Think ours does about 100 miles when its really cold...but "someone" likes to have the heated seats and steering wheel on plus the heating on max (yes I do me max....as in it can't be set any higher!).

We found that pre heating the battery (while still on charge) makes a big difference to range.

 

[SimonS]

MG4 EV (Long Range) Bugs

Now 2 months and 1500 miles into ownership and whilst I'm fairly happy with the way the car drives, there are a couple of annoying bugs and a couple of more serious ones which makes me generally disappointed.

1. The Range! I know the weather has been cold but for a car advertised with a 300+ mile range, less than 100 from a full charge is very poor. Even when the weather was milder an 80% charge was only giving around 160 miles. I await warmer weather with interest.

2. The lane control system is over aggresive and too sensitive - stray even a few inches out of the centre of the lane and there is a very sharp corrective yank on the steering. I have taken to de-selecting the lane control before starting to drive. Unfortunately the system randomly re-engages and requires de-selecting again. There ought to be a way to permanently disconnect the lane control without the need to do so every time the system reboots (as I've been able to do with previous cars).

3. The charging door is temperamental; sometimes it won't close and sometimes it won't open. I'm currently awaiting a call back from the dealer (after 4 attempts to contact them) so that they can resolve this issue - otherwise it makes the car unusable.

4. There was only a domestic 3 pin plug charger provided making the car unusable for any long distance (over 100 miles given the current cold weather range). This makes the car "as sold" unfit for purpose. MG should provide both types of charger leads with the car (they did 4 years ago when I bought a ZS from the same dealer).

5. The software interface and the over-complicated steering wheel buttons are far from user-friendly or intuitive. The "screen" is way too small for easy touch screen use when the car is in motion.

General

The MG4 is one of the cheapest EV's available if you can pick up one of the many deals on offer. It is fun to drive but the back end can be twitchy when conditions are slippery, even under mild acceleration. But the quirky software interface and the very poor range in cold weather (5°C and below) will be a big disappointment for most and make it unusable as a "primary" car. Single point of failure issues - such as the stuck charging door - are down to poor design.

To answer your points in order:

1. There a two versions of the MG4 'Long Range' the SE and the Trophy. The SE LR has a WLTP range of 281 miles. The Trophy is 270. Neither are advertised as '300+ mile range'. There is however the Extended range version which has a WLTP range of 323 miles. ev-database.org suggests an average real range of 225 miles for the LR and 265 for the ExR. If you are only getting less than 100miles then there is either a fault with your car or your driving style is more suited to a closed circuit than a public road.

2. I agree there are those who do not like the LKA while there are others that do. I have found that it works quite well on dual carriageways and motorways with legible painted lines. It does not do as well on poorly marked twisty A & B roads.
The issue with it 'randomly reengaging' is your failure to follow the instructions on P159 of the owners manual namely that your first action one entering the car must be to press the brake pedal. Until this is done and the car is then in READY mode any changes you make to the MG Pilot section will reset back to their default status when you do eventually press the brake pedal.
Regarding your inability to permanently disable LKA as you did on your previous car, blame the EU not MG. All cars built after a certain date (1/1/23 I think?) must have a LKA system that defaults to on each time the car is restarted.

3. A freezing flap is not unique to the MG4. Just about every car I have had in the past has done the same in the winter. Some warm water (or any warm yellow fluid that you might have handy) usually solves the issue.

4. The 'Granny charger' is really only meant for occasional use or emergencies. A type two cable is easy enough to source. Would you complain to BMW that they don't supply a Jerry can with their ICE cars?

5. From a personal point of view, I have no problem with the steering wheel buttons or the size of the screen. I do however think the screen buttons are too small and the 'Touch' system is not up to the standard of the screens on the vast majority of phones.

 

[siteguru]

The EU/NCAP change was effective from June '22 I believe. (My car was built in August '22 and follows the LKA always on method).

 

[ROTS]

It would be helpful if the OP would clarify exactly which model of car he actually has.

As shown in the title - MG4 Long Range

 

[Rolfe]

He has SE LR in his details but he says MG quote over 300 miles range and they don't, not for that model. 281 miles for the LR. (Only the Extended Range Trophy is quoted at more than 300 miles.) Then he says his actual GOM range is less than 100 miles, which is less than what you'd get on an SR even driven uneconomically in winter.

And he hasn't returned to explain any of these anomalies.

 

[siteguru]

That was the OP that replied before just you.

Still didn't clarify any of the queries though.