MG4 powering other stuff (Vehicle to Load aka ‘V2L’)

[T1 Terry]

Our voltage over the last few days:

View attachment 34382

Have you contacted the energy supplier for an explanation as to why they can not supply the constant 230V AC that you contracted to purchase?
When we were still in Lake Illawarra, the fridgie put a 24 hr power supply and freezer temp recorder on for us after he fitted a new fridge motor. That recorded to wild voltage fluctuations and we submitted it to the energy supplier at the time .... they covered to bill for the fridge motor replacement and credited us for the account payment we had already made for that quarter ...... they must have lit a fire under someone, because three new pole transformers were installed over the next few mths on the main feeder lines ....

T1 Terry

 

[wattmatters]

Have you contacted the energy supplier for an explanation as to why they can not supply the constant 230vac you contracted to purchase?

A few times. I'm at the end of a rural power line. This is normal.

 

[wattmatters]

The MG4 V2L only supports 2.2kW at something like 218V AFAIR.

When using the basic V2L adapter here in Australia that's correct.

But you can get other V2L adapters which enable more power from the on board inverter, which is capable of up to ~ 7 kW.

 

[Everest]

But you can get other V2L adapters which enable more power from the on board inverter, which is capable of up to ~ 7 kW.

So I read... but I wonder if that could void the warranty as that is outside the specifications.

I assume the Chinese are told every time you discharge, by how much and for how long?

 

[ReintjeWA]

When using the basic V2L adapter here in Australia that's correct.

But you can get other V2L adapters which enable more power from the on board inverter, which is capable of up to ~ 7 kW.

Can I ask a very uniformed question? If the AC inverter is capable of ~7 kW, would that mean that if you had a DC connection the car could supply at the rate it can DC charge?

I think the Sigenergy battery is designed for V2G and comes with a DC connector instead of an AC connector. I know the car isn’t V2G officially, but if it could supply 7 kW that would go a long way towards powering a house I’d imagine.

 

[ReintjeWA]

So I read... but I wonder if that could void the warranty as that is outside the specifications.

I assume the Chinese are told every time you discharge, by how much and for how long?

I think the Chinese are told every time you joke about Winnie the Pooh or mention Tiananmen Square

 

[Everest]

if you had a DC connection the car could supply at the rate it can DC charge?

I suspect that would depend if the MG4 is equipped with the electronics for V2H/G which would support bi-directional DC. As MG have not said "V2G" ready, like VAG do, then probably unlikely.

 

[Everest]

if it could supply 7 kW that would go a long way to powering a house I’d imagine.

If your house usage is less than about 24kWh a day, then the existing V2L 2kW supply, via inverter's batteries could supply a house - using the inverter / battery to provide the extra peak-power demand. Like @wattmatters does.

 

[wattmatters]

Can I ask a very uniformed question? If the AC inverter is capable of ~7 kW, would that mean that if you had a DC connection the car could supply at the rate it can DC charge?

That will be up to the BMS.

I think the Sigenergy battery is designed for V2G and comes with a DC connector instead of an AC connector. I know the car isn’t V2G officially, but if it could supply 7 kW that would go a long way towards powering a house I’d imagine.

Sigenegy have DC EVSE capable of V2X, but in Australia at least the discharge capability is not as yet enabled. They have two models, 12.5 kW and 25 kW.

https://www.sigenergy.com/uploads/en_download/1719567702451650.pdf

Whether the car can participate in V2X is going to be up to MG.

So I read... but I wonder if that could void the warranty as that is outside the specifications.

Who can know? MG don't list the specifications for their V2L.

All we know is what happens when people connect different V2L adapters.

I'm not advocating it, just mentioning it.

I do think it would be a little more practical for many if a standard V2L adapter could supply ~3.5 kW and MG adjusted the output voltage up a little. Here it would need to be a 15 A socket (different to the standard 10 A sockets).

That said I'm more than happy with the 2.2 kW limit with the standard V2L adapter - as shown previously I use it to charge the home off-grid battery rather than power anything in the home directly.

 

[QLeo]

Using mine now to charge my 500AH battery bank as I'm completely off grid.

Been a game changer over these last two winters.

I use 10% per night.

Same here. I've used our little petrol generator a few times just to make sure it continues to run, in case, but otherwise the winter deficit has easily been made up by the car.

 

[Rolfe]

All I can say is that the eBay adapter plugged into my car boils a 3 kw electric kettle without turning a hair. Once I accidentally ran the inflator pump for my airbed at the same time as the kettle was on and again no hairs were turned.

Someone in the "Camping in the MG4" thread ran a VtL cable from the car into a tent and powered all sorts from it. Including a heater of some sort I believe.

 

[MBCYB]

We have a home MicroGrid system which has a 16A Commando Socket input that we can program to pull any power level from any AC source, including EVs with V2L. Details in this post.

As others have suggested, there should be a separate thread for Vehicle to Load (V2L) or V2X V2G and V2H, as they're all related to the same solution.

 

[ReintjeWA]

If the honourable members will allow me to resurrect an old thread;

I received my electric UTV today, and was hopeful to charge it from my MG4 using the V2L. Both the supplied trickle charger, as well as the MG trickle charger came up with a fault indicating “ungrounded”. I think there has been chatter about this before but can’t find it. Is this something that can be overcome with a different V2L adapter, or do I have to look for a different solution?

I can’t charge it anywhere else yet as there is no power to the block yet (and won’t be for probably 6 months)

Also I’m using a genuine MG V2L adapter (money well spend…)

 

[siteguru]

V2L in the MG4 is expecting to be connected to a double-insulated appliance/device (think hairdryer, kettle, TV etc.) ... I've no idea what an "electric UTV" is so I can't comment regarding the "ungrounded" message, sorry.

 

[T1 Terry]

This is an Australian electrical wiring method reaction to something not powered from the grid through a Powerbox with an earth neutral link active .... it thinks the earth cable conductor connection is broken.
I've seen that response on a few chargers plugged into a V2L before. I think it is looking for a connection between the neutral cable and the earthing cable and an MG4 V2L supplies a floating supply, neither active cable is linked to the earthing cable or circuit, so they become line 1 and line 2.
A Victron Multiplus or Quattro have a sensing circuit that looks for the earth neutral link, and if it doesn't sense one, it closes a relay to form an earth neutral bond ......

I'm not going to put up on an open forum on how to work around this problem, I can get myself into enough trouble without actually asking for it but it does not involve putting an earthing stake in the ground ..... that just amplifies the problem

T1 Terry

 

[ReintjeWA]

V2L in the MG4 is expecting to be connected to a double-insulated appliance/device (think hairdryer, kettle, TV etc.) ... I've no idea what an "electric UTV" is so I can't comment regarding the "ungrounded" message, sorry.

its one of these things;

 

[ReintjeWA]

This is an Australian electrical wiring method reaction to something not powered from the grid through a Powerbox with an earth neutral link active .... it thinks the earth cable conductor connection is broken.
I've seen that response on a few chargers plugged into a V2L before. I think it is looking for a connection between the neutral cable and the earthing cable and an MG4 V2L supplies a floating supply, neither active cable is linked to the earthing cable or circuit, so they become line 1 and line 2.
A Victron Multiplus or Quattro have a sensing circuit that looks for the earth neutral link, and if it doesn't sense one, it closes a relay to form an earth neutral bond ......

I'm not going to put up on an open forum on how to work around this problem, I can get myself into enough trouble without actually asking for it but it does not involve putting an earthing stake in the ground ..... that just amplifies the problem

T1 Terry

sounds like I might have to find another way to get some power to the thing then, bummer

 

[Everest]

In the UK, you would effectively need to create a "TT" earthing arrangement - I suspect same down-under but you would need to check local regs. It will require N-E bonding at the source, a suitable earthing rod and then RCD protection of the supplied circuit. Suggest you use a sparky to set that up as will need to verify earth impedance value (Ze) and test that the RCD trips in the pre-requisite time under fault conditions.

 

[ReintjeWA]

In the UK, you would effectively need to create a "TT" earthing arrangement - I suspect same down-under but you would need to check local regs. It will require N-E bonding at the source, a suitable earthing stake and then RCD protection of the supplied circuit. Suggest you use a sparky to set that up as will need to verify earth impedance value (Ze) and test that the RCD trips in the pre-requisite time under fault conditions.

Thanks for the input. We’ll have a house and shed in about six months so I’m not going to set a bunch of stuff up. I’m thinking maybe I’ll just have to get one of those battery generators I think. Maybe with some of those fold out solar panels.

So basically any appliance that needs an earth won’t work with V2L? Why would the adapter accommodate an earth pin then? Or am I just displaying my ignorance now?

 

[Everest]

I’m thinking maybe I’ll just have to get one of those battery generators I think. Maybe with some of those fold out solar panels.

I would expect the output of that to be similar to the MG's V2L - i.e. floating earth. So I suspect you'll have the same issue.

So basically any appliance that needs an earth won’t work with V2L? Why would the adapter accommodate an earth pin then? Or am I just displaying my ignorance now?

No (to your question in bold). IMHO the "issue" or rather the "safety check" that is correctly being performed by the vehicle's charger is to make sure an earth exists before it will start charging - just as @T1 Terry pointed out above.

Hence you will need N-E bonding and an earth rod etc.