MG4 Verdict after 5000 kilometres

[Eber]

Yeah, it's embarrassing. We have got our first BMW i3 in 2018 and it was a pleasure to park right in the very centre of Munich in an (then new) EV charging spot. They were always free. Well, they haven't built any new ones since. I can't remember parking in an EV spot for the last year, they are always occupied now.

Speaking of PV panels - we have a 13 kW installation on our roof with which we can charge the cars essentially for free (in the summer, to be fair). But - Germany was world market leader in solar panels not too long ago. Because of clumsiness and stupidity not any more. China is now. It's almost a monopoly. We have to import everything. It's really a sh*tshow.

 

[MadaboutDana]

That's sad. On the other hand, it's nice to hear you mention an i3 – my (IC-loving) brother has just swapped his BMW M-Series for a second-hand i3. And he loves it!

13 kW is excellent – we've gone for 11 kW, but I'm already wishing we'd opted for more. And yes, I thought Siemens was still world-leading in solar panels... but maybe they're all made in China, rather than in Germany (or, to be fair, one of Germany's Central European neighbours ;-)). Some odd choices by politicians – but then, they've always followed the money. Albeit not in a good way.

 

[Eber]

Been to Munich Airport today. The MG4 is advertised massively there. I wonder what the sales figures are by now.

 

[JuziWomble]

To be fair many "European" brands have their tyres produced in China. Strangely, my French Michelins are made in Germany. The Bridgestones on the BMW i3 are made in Poland.

At least my Bike tyres that are Continental are hand made in Germany ;-)

 

[Eber]

Usually I charge at home, but today I had to do an unexpected journey and I wasn't prepared. So I had to charge en route - for the first time.

I arrived with 11% SoC. I saw up to 140 kW charging power from the beginning which is really excellent. The car was charged to 60% in only 15 minutes. But I wanted to know how long 80% would take, so I stayed a little bit longer. In the end 80% SoC was achieved after only 25 minutes in total, charging almost 44 kWh in 25 minutes.

That is really very very good for a car of this class and price. 11% to 80% SoC in 25 minutes at around 8°C ambient temperature. Considering the (very hideous and) much more expensive Ora Cat can reach only 60 kW charging speed the MG4 is a rocket.

Next to me there was a no lesser vehicle. ;-)

 

[Eber]

Alright, hypermiling today. Was able to wring 400 km (250 miles) out of it. Just landed home with 1% SoC and a massive power restriction in the end. It was exciting.

Energy consumption was 14,8 kWh/100km which converts to 4.2 miles/kWh. Basically this is nice, but I'm not entirely happy. First, I was driving like Miss Daisy herself, feathering the pedal and avoiding motorways. Then, I was already doing 350 km (215 miles) in the winter. Now ambient temperatures are around 15°C and the battery should be near its feel-good temperature of 20 - 25°C. So I don't really see much more potential there.

Well, we'll see if I'll even make it into summer. If they can't fix the new oil leak, I won't be able to find out, since I'm not going to hold on to it then.

 

[Rolfe]

Good grief, you were living dangerously.

 

[Ian Key]

I'm sure I would have stopped for a quick charge of electricity and coffee well before that. In fact there is no thinking about it. I would have done.

 

[Eber]

I'm sure I would have stopped for a quick charge of electricity and coffee well before that. In fact there is no thinking about it. I would have done.

Of course, but I really really wanted to do 400.

 

[Rolfe]

250 miles is damn impressive.

 

[Eber]

My very good wife gave me this boy racer accelerometer for my birthday. This was just a quick test during my daily commute, but it seems the factory data is correct.

 

[Ian Key]

My very good wife gave me this boy racer accelerometer for my birthday. This was just a quick test during my daily commute, but it seems the factory data is correct.

I see the 100 - 200kph and the 0 - 200kph haven't got any times yet

 

[Eber]

I see the 100 - 200kph and the 0 - 200kph haven't got any times yet

I haven't found an adequate slope yet.

 

[Macadoodle]

Alright, hypermiling today. Was able to wring 400 km (250 miles) out of it. Just landed home with 1% SoC and a massive power restriction in the end. It was exciting.

Energy consumption was 14,8 kWh/100km which converts to 4.2 miles/kWh. Basically this is nice, but I'm not entirely happy. First, I was driving like Miss Daisy herself, feathering the pedal and avoiding motorways. Then, I was already doing 350 km (215 miles) in the winter. Now ambient temperatures are around 15°C and the battery should be near its feel-good temperature of 20 - 25°C. So I don't really see much more potential there.

Well, we'll see if I'll even make it into summer. If they can't fix the new oil leak, I won't be able to find out, since I'm not going to hold on to it then.

I'm seeing 4.2 with my SE out and about on 60 mph roads in 10 degree temps, so while good, I would have expected a tiny bit more from your run.
I wonder if the trophy's rear spoiler is accounting for this ?
I do also have the front air intake permanently blocked off with my version of the (non) active shutter, so I'm cheating a little there too

Respect for pulling her down to 1%, I don't have the cojones

 

[Lucky5]

Alright, hypermiling today. Was able to wring 400 km (250 miles) out of it. Just landed home with 1% SoC and a massive power restriction in the end. It was exciting.

Hi Eber, can I ask how the car behaved as the charge became low?

Soon after the please charge message at 21% I get restricted power and by 16% I am not able to do more than 100km/h which then drops further by 10% charge.

The car has just been in for some software updates that have cured scheduled charging not working but I am waiting to get to lower state of charge to see if it is more usable at low battery level

 

[Eber]

Hi Eber, can I ask how the car behaved as the charge became low?

Soon after the please charge message at 21% I get restricted power and by 16% I am not able to do more than 100km/h which then drops further by 10% charge.

It behaved completely normal until the yellow turtle showed up (around 4% SoC). Until then full power was available. After that only 25% which is really dangerously little in some situations (hills, merging, etc.).

Respect for pulling her down to 1%, I don't have the cojones

Me neither.

Today I beat the specs.

 

[Lucky5]

t behaved completely normal until the yellow turtle showed up (around 4% SoC). Until then full power was available. After that only 25% which is really dangerously little in some situations (hills, merging, etc.).

Many thanks for this, just tried mine post update down to 10% and it now seems completely normal as well. I had a couple of interesting moments having pulled to the outside lane to let large lorries join a dual carriageway only to find I didn’t have enough speed to get past them to pull back in and that as at 15%

It looks like all is fixed now though thank goodness

 

[Eber]

Today my car went to the dealership again to fix the following things:

• LKA update
• HVAC completely failing after charging
• wireless (phone) charging interrupting after < 1 minute
• creaking noises from the back since fixing the oil leak
• oil leak not really fixed
• rear window heater again at fault
• spray nozzles don't hit the windscreen

Interestingly, the service technician said that many of those problems are known to MG.

The spray nozzles seem to be an annoyance on every car, lots of customers complain and he admitted upfront that they might not be able to adjust them perfectly either.

The HVAC issue was solved for some customers with the update of a controller module. He would have applied it anyway.

So, I'm curious to see if they will get it right this time. And, reasoning from this, I can only recommend anyone to report any fault to their dealerships as MG seems to be aware of many of them. Solving them might still be a pipe dream, but we might eventually get there.

 

[Eber]

Got the car back today. LKA seems to have improved indeed. On my way home (30 km) there were only three interventions, two of which were still rather harsh. But it's way better than before, usually it would have pulled me in the ditch after 500 meters.

They have applied update EH-32 which should fix the HVAC issues. It still shows 87°C interior temperature in the iSmart app right now though. We will see.

They also say no oil leak, they just failed to clean the underfloor pan last time. Well, we'll see about that, too.

Very interesting bit about the difficulty of updates. When I picked up the car, the LKA update hadn't been applied. I noticed this after a very short drive and went back. They were very apologetic and said they are going to do it right now. I was asking how long it would take and they said it's only half an hour. In fact, I couldn't even finish my coffee and the car was ready again - with the LKA update obviously applied in about 15 minutes. So it doesn't seem to be THAT hard after all.

Finally, the spray nozzles still suck. I'm on my third set of (free) wipers now after 9000 km.

 

[tsedge]

Got the car back today. LKA seems to have improved indeed. On my way home (30 km) there were only three interventions, two of which were still rather harsh. But it's way better than before, usually it would have pulled me in the ditch after 500 meters.

They have applied update EH-32 which should fix the HVAC issues. It still shows 87°C interior temperature in the iSmart app right now though. We will see.

They also say no oil leak, they just failed to clean the underfloor pan last time. Well, we'll see about that, too.

Very interesting bit about the difficulty of updates. When I picked up the car, the LKA update hadn't been applied. I noticed this after a very short drive and went back. They were very apologetic and said they are going to do it right now. I was asking how long it would take and they said it's only half an hour. In fact, I couldn't even finish my coffee and the car was ready again - with the LKA update obviously applied in about 15 minutes. So it doesn't seem to be THAT hard after all.

Finally, the spray nozzles still suck. I'm on my third set of (free) wipers now after 9000 km.

Have you tried flushing the cache in the app and restarting it?