MG4 in Australia

[wattmatters]

She's excited, her first car after having been driving my old Golf for last couple of years.

It's first trip will be the 530 km drive from western Sydney back up to the mid north coast (we are ~25 minutes south of Coffs Harbour). A good test of the battery condition! Charge stops at Raymond Terrace and Thrumster.

 

[Phil]

She's excited, her first car after having been driving my old Golf for last couple of years.

It's first trip will be the 530 km drive from western Sydney back up to the mid north coast (we are ~25 minutes south of Coffs Harbour). A good test of the battery condition! Charge stops at Raymond Terrace and Thrumster.

Looking at our first really long trip from Yass to Brisbane via Dubbo, Tamworth etc and then back down the coast before going inland via Katoomba…I’m quite comfortable with the 400-430km range under most conditions so it will be interesting to see the car’s performance since I have moved to night before 100% charges now and recharging at 10-30%.

 

[Jamesrr]

Looking at our first really long trip from Yass to Brisbane via Dubbo, Tamworth etc and then back down the coast before going inland via Katoomba…I’m quite comfortable with the 400-430km range under most conditions so it will be interesting to see the car’s performance since I have moved to night before 100% charges now and recharging at 10-30%.

Hmmmmm...... You won't get 400-430 driving at 100-110 on those open country roads without serious amounts of tailgating.

You have the same "77" as me, yeah? I've done the trip from Sydney to Adelaide multiple times now and the most I ever plan on doing between charges is 300km, and even then I make sure I've either charged to 100% overnight or am at least @ 90% SoC.

For example Hay to Mildura I overnight at Hay and start at 100% arriving at 15% max. Mildura to Hay I charge to 90+% and get to Hay with around 3-4%.

Power usage on those country roads is way higher than on the Hume when you are typically in a nice convoy with the air already being broken up and the road surface much smoother.

Where are you planning on charging?

You won't get from Yass to Dubbo even starting from 100% unless you intend to put along at 80k's the whole way...

Also, highly recommend signing up for the Tesla "membership" to get 18c per kWh off. It's well worth the $10 for the month if going on a long trip and using the open Superchargers.

Indeed, I strongly recommend planning the route around them (and the multi-node Kempower based units typically run by Chargefox and Evie).

Avoid like the plague the old single node Tritium NRMA chargers.

 

[wattmatters]

Looking at our first really long trip from Yass to Brisbane via Dubbo, Tamworth etc and then back down the coast before going inland via Katoomba…I’m quite comfortable with the 400-430km range under most conditions so it will be interesting to see the car’s performance since I have moved to night before 100% charges now and recharging at 10-30%.

Just remember when DC fast charging you're not charging to 100%. 80-85% perhaps. More than that means there are heaps of chargers and you had a longish stop (e.g. a served lunch).

 

[Phil]

L

Hmmmmm...... You won't get 400-430 driving at 100-110 on those open country roads without serious amounts of tailgating.

You have the same "77" as me, yeah? I've done the trip from Sydney to Adelaide multiple times now and the most I ever plan on doing between charges is 300km, and even then I make sure I've either charged to 100% overnight or am at least @ 90% SoC.

For example Hay to Mildura I overnight at Hay and start at 100% arriving at 15% max. Mildura to Hay I charge to 90+% and get to Hay with around 3-4%.

Power usage on those country roads is way higher than on the Hume when you are typically in a nice convoy with the air already being broken up and the road surface much smoother.

Where are you planning on charging?

You won't get from Yass to Dubbo even starting from 100% unless you intend to put along at 80k's the whole way...

Also, highly recommend signing up for the Tesla "membership" to get 18c per kWh off. It's well worth the $10 for the month if going on a long trip and using the open Superchargers.

Indeed, I strongly recommend planning the route around them (and the multi-node Kempower based units typically run by Chargefox and Evie).

Avoid like the plague the old single node Tritium NRMA chargers.

ill let you know, but the roads I’m planning to use are not dissimilar to the ones I drive on day to day. I’m well set up for all the major chargers.
I’m pretty sure Dubbo at 337km is doable n 100%. I regularly do the run to Bathurst on 60% or a little less and chalked up 387km in a round trip to Wombeyan caves with 40km to spare even going the longer route back via Gouldburn. So we’ll see, I’ll be certain to post the results.

 

[Phil]

Just remember when DC fast charging you're not charging to 100%. 80-85% perhaps. More than that means there are heaps of chargers and you had a longish stop (e.g. a served lunch).

I will be stopping overnight at most charging places so 100% is doable in needed. We plan to get to Brisbane in a bit under a week.

 

[Jamesrr]

...
I’m pretty sure Dubbo at 337km is doable n 100%. I regularly do the run to Bathurst on 60% or a little less and chalked up 387km in a round trip to Wombeyan caves with 40km to spare even going the longer route back via Gouldburn. So we’ll see, I’ll be certain to post the results.

Yea, looking forward to hearing the results.
I misread the Yass to Dubbo distance! I saw 400ish shown on ABRP but checking on Google maps it's only 337!
Most strange ...

 

[wattmatters]

I will be stopping overnight at most charging places so 100% is doable in needed. We plan to get to Brisbane in a bit under a week.

Yeah, when not needing DC fast charging then filling up overnight is the thing to do, provided the destination charger can supply enough power.

 

[ozzz]

Thanks for the comprehensive response.

When I added the extra 6.5kW solar to my current house (February 2024) I had to upgrade to a smart meter. The old 2kW system had been in for over 10 years. I was with Red Energy at the time on their EV plan & it took only about a week to get the meter installed & then only a couple of days to get everything switched over. Why the change is now much longer is a bit baffling.

Yes I am hoping the Labor government gets re-elected as well partly because of their support for renewable projects and battery subsidies. The new property has a heat pump hot water system but I am unsure of whether it is connected via controlled load. It doesn't really matter as I plan to change everything anyway.

Since I have been with Powershop (9 July 2024) I have only paid about $150.00 in total for electricity and most of the 25,000km on the MG4 has come from charging at home from solar and the 2 hours free power daily.

Hi I am also with Red on the EV plan and I have done 26,000 km and only spent 20 dollars on kWh away from home all my travel is local plus the local shops have free charging so for me it is absolutely awesome and being retired I only charge during the day from my solar but the gas hot water has to go that is the only power usage bill I get .
When I put diesel in my transporter $50 per fortnight tiz like painful and caveman like. Need a VW Buzz.

 

[Jamesrr]

... my solar but the gas hot water has to go that is the only power usage bill I get .

I can personally recommend a heat pump HWS. We recently fitted out our rear double garage into a self contained studio and I only had a 32A power budget.
The HWS only needs a standard GPO outlet and typically only draws a couple of amps.
You can simply program it to heat during the day too ...

 

[wattmatters]

I can personally recommend a heat pump HWS.

Yes but choose wisely, quality varies widely, as does cost. The STC incentives can only be claimed once.

 

[Corindikev]

I did a bit of research on Heat Pump HWS and settled on an Evo Heat 150. Cost 3.5k & I got 1k back in STCs. It was one of the most expensive but had the highest rating. It only consumes 450 watts in normal mode & generates 1.7 kW of heat.

It has an inbuilt timer which I have set so it only uses solar generated power. Has multiple modes including one when there are visitors, vacation mode, Hydro boost, intelligent mode & Eco mode which is what I use normally. It also has a WiFi control function. It is supposed to be for a 2-3 person household but it easily catered for 4 extras. I had planned to set the mode to cater for extra people but forgot and we still had ample hot water for 6 showers & other uses.

I have had it for 3 years now & it has a 6 year warranty. The purchase of the property we were planning to buy fell through due to some building problems & if when we do find another place the HWS is a standard electric, I'll be putting another one of these in. It will pay for itself within 2 years.

 

[T1 Terry]

Planning a trip to see friends and my daughter, in a round about run from Mannum SA to Wollongong, via Horsham, Echuca, Grenfell, Canberra then via Braidwood to Nowra and Wollongong .. 1687km according to Google, 4 maybe 5 charging spots at over night stops, that will be a good test for MG4 51. Longest leg is 387km between stops, but some of those are non powered free camps ..... lucky it will be on the trailer behind the motorhome for most of those km but it will be the back up power supply to top up the 7kWh of sodium ion cells in the motorhome if we need it

The hot water is 240VAC electric/gas/12V ... although never tried on 12V, but it recovers enough very hot water for each shower after 20 mins

T1 Terry

 

[Phil]

A

Yeah, when not needing DC fast charging then filling up overnight is the thing to do, provided the destination charger can supply enough power.

Always find room for the Granny

 

[wattmatters]

The purchase of the property we were planning to buy fell through due to some building problems & if when we do find another place the HWS is a standard electric, I'll be putting another one of these in. It will pay for itself within 2 years.

Bummer.

The place we moved into has solar thermal water heater, ground mount 400 litre tank with rooftop collectors. Electric boost on controlled load. Since we moved in it's used an average of 0.89 kWh/day for boosting costing 7.8 c/day

I'm hoping it lasts a few more years before it dies. Then it'll likely get replaced with a heat pump.

 

[wattmatters]

Always find room for the Granny

If the granny is only supplying 2.3 kW, it'll take an awful long time to recharge a depleted 77 kWh battery.

 

[siteguru]

Looking at our first really long trip from Yass to Brisbane via Dubbo, Tamworth etc and then back down the coast before going inland via Katoomba…I’m quite comfortable with the 400-430km range under most conditions so it will be interesting to see the car’s performance since I have moved to night before 100% charges now and recharging at 10-30%.

It was 1990 last time I was there, but I recall going coast to Katoomba was a bit of a climb.

 

[Phil]

If the granny is only supplying 2.3 kW, it'll take an awful long time to recharge a depleted 77 kWh battery.

Mostly I’d use it to get from 80-100

 

[Phil]

It was 1990 last time I was there, but I recall going coast to Katoomba was a bit of a climb.

Last time I drove from K-Town to Moss Vale I used 3% of the battery getting to Narellan , such was the regen

 

[T1 Terry]

Last time I drove from K-Town to Moss Vale I used 3% of the battery getting to Narellan , such was the regen

Can't wait to try it down Macquarie Pass, the run from Braidwood to Batemans Bay is near like driving off a cliff for the last section, not sure the regen would hold the mighty beast back down that one Certainly not silly enough to try it in the motorhome .... we will cut across through Nerriga to Nowra and up the coast that way .... the road from Nowra all the way through to the expressway that bypasses Albion Park Rail is really good now, a very pleasant drive on nice wide 4 lane road

T1 Terry