MG4 some basic (I hope!) questions....

[the prisoner]

Hi - I'm just about to buy a new MG4 Long Range Trophy spec EV on a 0% PCP. I hope someone can help me out with a couple of questions:

1) I've never had a PCP. Just to confirm, at the end of the PCP if I decide to hand the car back (assuming no damage or extra mileage) I can walk away at no cost. But, considering I will have owned the car for 2 years at that point, I've effectively forked out the initial deposit (£10k) plus 2 years of payments (approx £5k) - so £15k in total for driving around in a new car for 2 years that I no longer own - is that correct?

If at the end of 2 years the car is worth more than the final/balloon payment (£17k) then I can either part ex it for a new car using that equity or simply pay off the balloon payment and sell the car privately to recover the equity ? Sorry if these are numpty questions.....

2) On the charging side - I'm thinking of moving supplier to Octopus for their intelligent tariff for low cost overnight charging. They offer the 7p / kWh rate where I am and I have a 2nd gen meter which I think will work. Is there anything I need to consider in relation to the EV charger ? Was looking at Ohme Pro after reading some posts here. And if I move to solar in the house with a battery, will the charger pull juice from that battery or am I better off with something else...?

Cheers

 

[SiW80]

Correct on item 1.

Assuming the car is good, I’m planing to keep it until the warranty has nearly run out.

Have already put the final payment into a high interest bank account which should add a couple of grand in interest.

Had to px an old car so have been able to move that on easily.

If it wasn’t 0% finance I maybe would have held off but covers what we need it for.

 

[DBedford]

Hi - I'm just about to buy a new MG4 Long Range Trophy spec EV on a 0% PCP. I hope someone can help me out with a couple of questions:

1) I've never had a PCP. Just to confirm, at the end of the PCP if I decide to hand the car back (assuming no damage or extra mileage) I can walk away at no cost. But, considering I will have owned the car for 2 years at that point, I've effectively forked out the initial deposit (£10k) plus 2 years of payments (approx £5k) - so £15k in total for driving around in a new car for 2 years that I no longer own - is that correct?

If at the end of 2 years the car is worth more than the final/balloon payment (£17k) then I can either part ex it for a new car using that equity or simply pay off the balloon payment and sell the car privately to recover the equity ? Sorry if these are numpty questions.....

2) On the charging side - I'm thinking of moving supplier to Octopus for their intelligent tariff for low cost overnight charging. They offer the 7p / kWh rate where I am and I have a 2nd gen meter which I think will work. Is there anything I need to consider in relation to the EV charger ? Was looking at Ohme Pro after reading some posts here. And if I move to solar in the house with a battery, will the charger pull juice from that battery or am I better off with something else...?

Cheers

Under PCP or any HP arrangement, you never own the car until the last payment has cleared.

 

[BrianC]

Correct on the car finance.

Have previously got quotes for solar and batteries. Monthly finance vs electricity cost will mean little savings even with gov grants.

I am still waiting for a trophy and have switched to OVO for their 10p overnight tariff. Don’t like look of the ohme tethered unit. Planning Indra smart pro which is solar compatible unlike ohme.

 

[MG Volcano]

I’m financing my Trophy exactly as you describe.
Will get a new one after the two years. I’m on 6,000 miles per year.

As needed, I charge on Octopus between 2am and 5 am at 17.97p per kwH.
We have solar though so we’re on their Flux import tariff.

 

[Ian Key]

2) On the charging side - I'm thinking of moving supplier to Octopus for their intelligent tariff for low cost overnight charging. They offer the 7p / kWh rate where I am and I have a 2nd gen meter which I think will work. Is there anything I need to consider in relation to the EV charger ? Was looking at Ohme Pro after reading some posts here. And if I move to solar in the house with a battery, will the charger pull juice from that battery or am I better off with something else...?

Before deciding on the charger make sure it is compatible with solar and a home battery

 

[Jto]

I would make sure the wall charger is compatible with as above solar and home battery and with octopus as well.
As to PCP given the car back at the end I think expensive driving better keeping the car and paying off or replace with new one.

 

[m2mob]

Hi, the car itself (mg4) is not compatible with “intelligent octopus at the moment. So you would need to fit a compatible charger from octopus to use the “intelligent” tariff. Just going through this rigmarole myself!

 

[Red Car]

I have recently got an MG4 SE LR.
I have had it just over a month. I got an Ohme Pro home charger and spoke to Octopus. They were really helpful and quickly changed my Smart meter to a Smart meter 2.
I am now on Intelligent Octopus tariff which means that I charge my car overnight at 7.5p/kWh.
I have driven 750 miles for just over £9 . (Also all energy is at that rate overnight so I run the washing machine etc in the night.)

As regards finance we have PCP on 0% and as a previous poster said, I have put the final money in a high interest savings account.

My final advice is get your charger organised now - the car came in a week but there was a month’s wait to get the charger installed.

 

[jonginn]

For the charger, I went with the Myenergi Zappi. It talks to the solar and will pull from that if it's available. Octopus can install that for you.

As a bonus, using their API I can pull in all my house stats (grid, solar, car kWh) and put it into home assistant. The whole family of Myenergi products is excellent.

Currently I am on Octopus Go (9p kwh for 4 hours at night) but hopefully the Zappi will support Intelligent Octopus soon.

 

[kevinji]

Hi, the car itself (mg4) is not compatible with “intelligent octopus at the moment. So you would need to fit a compatible charger from octopus to use the “intelligent” tariff. Just going through this rigmarole myself!

Yes that’s my experience but I had already had my charger installed by podpoint who said their smart charger was compatible with octopus but when I switched to octopus they said it wasn’t. Such a scam because you have to go on octopus variable first before switching to their EV rates. They have now put me on their octopus go rate tariff which is about 9.7p per kWh from 00:30 to 04:30.

 

[Tangoed Man]

I have recently got an MG4 SE LR.
I have had it just over a month. I got an Ohme Pro home charger and spoke to Octopus. They were really helpful and quickly changed my Smart meter to a Smart meter 2.
I am now on Intelligent Octopus tariff which means that I charge my car overnight at 7.5p/kWh.
I have driven 750 miles for just over £9 . (Also all energy is at that rate overnight so I run the washing machine etc in the night.)

As regards finance we have PCP on 0% and as a previous poster said, I have put the final money in a high interest savings account.

My final advice is get your charger organised now - the car came in a week but there was a month’s wait to get the charger installed.

I think you will find that the 750 miles actually cost you about £15, not £9.

 

[MGCamb]

Yes that’s my experience but I had already had my charger installed by podpoint who said their smart charger was compatible with octopus but when I switched to octopus they said it wasn’t. Such a scam because you have to go on octopus variable first before switching to their EV rates. They have now put me on their octopus go rate tariff which is about 9.7p per kWh from 00:30 to 04:30.

EDF rate is 8p from 0100 to 0600 if you can move. EDF and MG recommended.

 

[SH58]

Hi, the car itself (mg4) is not compatible with “intelligent octopus at the moment. So you would need to fit a compatible charger from octopus to use the “intelligent” tariff. Just going through this rigmarole myself!

Just that. I have just got my standard range MG4, and it’s worth bearing in mind that the car and the charger don’t talk to each other.
Instead, you have to use the Ohme app, and tell it how much you want to charge the car by. It thinks that the car is at 0%.
So, for example, if my car is at 40%, and I want to get to 80%, then I would change my set up to add 40%, Ohme will then work out when, in the reduce rate window, to charge and complete the job by 05:30am.
If not adjusted, it will either undercharge, or worst, keep going until the car itself cuts off when fully charged.
A bit of a faff, but a small inconvenience to pay for very cheap ‘fuel’

 

[Red Car]

I think you will find that the 750 miles actually cost you about £15, not £9.

I seem to be getting about 4.5 miles/kWH.
750/4.5 is 166 kWh. 166 x £0.07 is £11.66 and the dealer gave me the car fully charged which I suppose gave me 270 miles free.
(The other advantage of the Ohme app is that it tells you how much energy I have used each month and the cost - it says £9.22)
(I drive mostly in eco mode and haven’t used the AC or heater as the weather is good, so I expect it will be more later in the year).
Am I wrong?

 

[Deleted member 14300]

Mines on Motability so I'm only having mine three years as that's the deal. If it's ok, I'll prob have a second, though as an ex Volksy owner, any 200 mile plus leccy car for motability may sway me. Honesty wise, the car is built so well and goes well. You can't go wrong !

 

[Tangoed Man]

Z a

I seem to be getting about 4.5 miles/kWH.
750/4.5 is 166 kWh. 166 x £0.07 is £11.66 and the dealer gave me the car fully charged which I suppose gave me 270 miles free.
(The other advantage of the Ohme app is that it tells you how much energy I have used each month and the cost - it says £9.22)
(I drive mostly in eco mode and haven’t used the AC or heater as the weather is good, so I expect it will be more later in the year).
Am I wrong?

Yes, especially if you deduct the 270miles from the dealer. You will also not sustain 4.8m/kWh over a 12-month period.

 

[Red Car]

Z a

Yes, especially if you deduct the 270miles from the dealer. You will also not sustain 4.8m/kWh over a 12-month period.

OK, I stand corrected. I have driven 750 miles for just under £15 if I factor in free miles.

That is still an excellent price for the distance travelled, as it would have cost me well over £100 in my previous car.

I know that the efficiency will reduce in colder weather but I am still more than happy with the rate I have.

 

[Deleted member 10041]

I seem to be getting about 4.5 miles/kWH.
750/4.5 is 166 kWh. 166 x £0.07 is £11.66 and the dealer gave me the car fully charged which I suppose gave me 270 miles free.
(The other advantage of the Ohme app is that it tells you how much energy I have used each month and the cost - it says £9.22)
(I drive mostly in eco mode and haven’t used the AC or heater as the weather is good, so I expect it will be more later in the year).
Am I wrong?

People were getting about 185-195 miles from their Trophy's and LR' s and about 150ish miles from their SR's during the cold spells last winter.

 

[dcweather]

Hi - I'm just about to buy a new MG4 Long Range Trophy spec EV on a 0% PCP. I hope someone can help me out with a couple of questions:

1) I've never had a PCP. Just to confirm, at the end of the PCP if I decide to hand the car back (assuming no damage or extra mileage) I can walk away at no cost. But, considering I will have owned the car for 2 years at that point, I've effectively forked out the initial deposit (£10k) plus 2 years of payments (approx £5k) - so £15k in total for driving around in a new car for 2 years that I no longer own - is that correct?

If at the end of 2 years the car is worth more than the final/balloon payment (£17k) then I can either part ex it for a new car using that equity or simply pay off the balloon payment and sell the car privately to recover the equity ? Sorry if these are numpty questions.....

2) On the charging side - I'm thinking of moving supplier to Octopus for their intelligent tariff for low cost overnight charging. They offer the 7p / kWh rate where I am and I have a 2nd gen meter which I think will work. Is there anything I need to consider in relation to the EV charger ? Was looking at Ohme Pro after reading some posts here. And if I move to solar in the house with a battery, will the charger pull juice from that battery or am I better off with something else...?

Cheers

That is correct but why does that bother you? It would be the same or worse had you bought it outright. If you wanted to own it after two years you would have paid the full approx 30 grand in two years! That would most likely have been more expensive with HP or a bank loan with high interest rates currently. You have got it with presumably a bit of a discount plus interest free. Add in you get a two year test drive before you decide to buy and if not with any luck if you do sell it might be worth more than the baloon payment (they often are) and if not you don't lose out as you would have done if you'd have bought outright and it depreciated badly. PCP is a no brainer with 0% interest. You did the right thing.