MG5 EV Exclusive in Westminster Silver order placed -- charger options?

[bb1922]

Yesterday I put an order in for an MG5 EV Exclusive in Westminster Silver. Hopefully should be January or February.

I've been researching charger options and there are so many different ones out there, it's a bit overwhelming. I definitely want a tethered option and definitely want a 7kW unit. I've researched Pod Point, Ohme and Zappi and they all seem like decent units to be honest. Is there much to choose from?

 

[Merlin]

There have been a couple of discussions on this on the Facebook group and also I asked this and got a couple of replies under a recent post here. Personally I'm thinking of going with ohme although I've not put my order in yet.

 

[ARealHuman]

I have the ZS and went for the Rolec tethered charger. I installed a longer cable, 10m over the original 5m which cost me extra. I don't have any complaints about the unit if that helps.

 

[jamesie]

Has anybody got any experience of EV Supermarket? I applied through the Ohme website for an Ohme charger and my details have been passed to EV Surpermarket.

 

[bb1922]

Edited 14.2.2021 to give the following update:

Following troubleshooting with ev.energy and Rolec, by mutual agreement, Rolec have kindly agreed to take the unit back for a full refund, as it does not meet my needs. The Rolec HomeSmart EV charge point will only smart charge with a workaround 6-amp keep-awake current, which can be enabled by requesting this functionality through ev.energy.

This limitation is not a fault of the car. It is also not related to issues faced by earlier MG ZS EV models which would not wake at all, which was fixed a while ago by an earlier BMS update.

This does not necessarily mean the Rolec unit is unsuitable for the MG, but you should consider your needs first and make your own assessment as to whether this unit meets them, before making a purchase.

Rolec are continuing to pursue a solution for this but have admitted there is no timeframe for this.

Original post left untouched:

I thought I would update this thread, as it may help others.

I researched various different options and I came to the following conclusions;

1. Anything that you buy, any brand, as long as it's 32 amp / 7ish kW, will do the same job;
2. Choose a type 2 unit, tethered or untethered, by personal preference -- I chose tethered;
3. The PodPoint offer, that you can get via the dealer, which has a small discount, only applies to standard installation. My installation is not standard, so the dealer discount doesn't apply;
4. If you want entry level, I found PodPoint or Rolec to be about the same. I understand PodPoint doesn't do scheduling, or if it does, it is broken? If so, this would mean a separate time clock if you wanted this option, as I understand MG doesn't have a scheduler in its onboard software;
5. If you want something more premium, that looks aesthetically pleasing, choose an Anderson. They are more expensive than other options but are very pleasing to the eye;
6. Ohme is a good option also, appears to have good app support for scheduling and integrating with electricity supplier tariffs;
7. Another installation option is to fit a commando socket and get an Ohme charger that plugs into that -- I researched this and whilst it can be done cheaper this way, in theory, in practice it's not eligible for the OLEV grant, so ended up more expensive, at least for my installation anyway.

I ended up choosing Rolec, via an independent installer. I am installing inside the garage so I'm not bothered about what it looks like. I understand Rolec had reliability issues which I'm hoping have since been resolved as they've had time to address them. I will report back when it is fitted and when I have the car.

Hope this helps others.

 

[Cocijo]

Very useful research - thank you. I use a podpoint 7kw home charger. I’ve approached podpoint about the lack of timed charging. They advised their revised app is ready for beta testing but no delivery timescale for the general public. So at the moment no timed charging. I’m surprised that they’re lagging behind other providers. We really should be able to just let the smart charger do the work to find the cheapest option (there is still so much wasted energy during off-peak hours with wind still producing but light demand) - Ohme has some of this functionality already available i believe. Thanks again for sharing your research.

 

[Villanbee]

Hi,
Got a Wallbox fitted yesterday.
I'm pleased with it. Good service from Bumblebee (who it's through) and they take care of all the paperwork. We only ordered it just before Christmas, so I was pleased with such a quick install date, bearing in mind the Christmas period and the current situation.
Have done a couple of timed charges through the app, which went well, although the car was already on 80% so didn't need charging for long.
Getting new smart meters fitted this week through Octopus, so should be good to move over to their Go tarrif soon.

 

[bb1922]

Hello again. I said I’d report back once I’ve had the car and charger installed.

The Rolec charger sort of works and sort of doesn’t.

If I plug the car in for a standard charge, all is fine and it will charge normally to 100% and shut down correctly.

If scheduling a smart charge, it doesn’t work. It will start an initial charge for an hour or so, then shut down and schedule the remainder of the charge at a sensible time to complete the charge when tariff or grid conditions are favourable. However, that scheduled charge does not happen. So, it would seem smart charge functionality is broken.

I understand from reading the forums that the ZS is the same but there is a workaround to get the charger to keep the car awake with a trickle charge. Is this what is needed for the 5 also?

Which device is wrong here? The car? Or the charger?

 

[greentangerine]

Hello again. I said I’d report back once I’ve had the car and charger installed.

The Rolec charger sort of works and sort of doesn’t.

If I plug the car in for a standard charge, all is fine and it will charge normally to 100% and shut down correctly.

If scheduling a smart charge, it doesn’t work. It will start an initial charge for an hour or so, then shut down and schedule the remainder of the charge at a sensible time to complete the charge when tariff or grid conditions are favourable. However, that scheduled charge does not happen. So, it would seem smart charge functionality is broken.

I understand from reading the forums that the ZS is the same but there is a workaround to get the charger to keep the car awake with a trickle charge. Is this what is needed for the 5 also?

Which device is wrong here? The car? Or the charger?

Granted I've so far only charged my MG5 once since I collected it on Friday but it worked perfectly on a timed charge to match the Go tariff cheap period i.e. 00:30 to 04:30.

I plugged it in around 5pm on Sunday and it charged to 100% (from about 76%) when the OpenEVSE unit timer switched on the charge at 00:31 early Monday.

I had been worried about the ZS problems but so far seems to work.

 

[bb1922]

Granted I've so far only charged my MG5 once since I collected it on Friday but it worked perfectly on a timed charge to match the Go tariff cheap period i.e. 00:30 to 04:30.

I plugged it in around 5pm on Sunday and it charged to 100% (from about 76%) when the OpenEVSE unit timer switched on the charge at 00:31 early Monday.

I had been worried about the ZS problems but so far seems to work.

That’s good to hear. Your setup obviously works well. I don’t have an OpenEVSE timer unit. I just have a standard car with a Rolec smart charger.

To find out more, I contacted ev.energy, who manage the Rolec software. They responded very quickly and appear very clued up. They said this:


“There is a bug in the system which is causing charging to start right away. The fix for this will be live in the next couple of days.

This bug will cause your car will charge at the beginning of the session and then stop, with the intention of charging later in the evening to coincide with your off-peak period. However, your MG will fall asleep within 10 minutes of the first section of charging finishing, preventing your car from charging during your off-peak period as normal.

I've turned trickle charge back on for now and will update you once the bug has been fixed.”

I thought this may be of interest to others. I’ll charge again when I’ve done enough miles to warrant it and report back.

 

[Petriix]

My MG5 will restart charging after being left overnight. I don't know if the Zappi is doing something different to wake it up but it is definitely working fine for me. I suspect the car is not 100% in compliance with the standards, but I think the Rolec is at fault here.

 

[Evlife]

I have a 7kw Pod-Point charger but when battery is 100 % only have 119 miles on range is this normal.
was told should be 140 miles.

 

[Evlife]

Sorry forgot to say I have a MG ZS EV collected it 12 dec 2020.

 

[Mark Holmes]

I have a 7kw Pod-Point charger but when battery is 100 % only have 119 miles on range is this normal.
was told should be 140 miles.

No you may have the BMS software which was causing problems and had been updated, replaced and released this week. Get you car back to your dealer and ask for the new BMS update to be installed.

 

[Cocijo]

I have a 7kw Pod-Point charger but when battery is 100 % only have 119 miles on range is this normal.
was told should be 140 miles.

Yes and no! The range indicator is based on history as well as battery state of charge. If you’re driving hard in cold conditions using heater etc 119 fully charged may show. I can show 140 but have shown 120 when my conditions changed for a few weeks. In summer high 140’s. it’s always worth checking what your long range miles/kw hour is. A good check is to see if you show 455v when fully charged and equalised.

 

[bb1922]

So, just to update everyone. This worked perfectly overnight, as you can see from the screenshot. ev.energy turned on the trickle charging functionality, just as they promised they would do, and the charger scheduled the overnight charge according to grid conditions, just as it is supposed to do. Works very well.




Hopefully when they fix the bug, the trickle charging workaround won't be needed. In the meantime, at least I know I'm good to go when I eventually move to an overnight tariff.

All that remains now is for a smart meter install, so that I can go over to Octopus Go. I have a nasty feeling, with the pandemic, that that will not be soon. I have chased Octopus but there have not been appointments available. I must admit, if I were a meter installer, I would not like to go into a potentially infected house in the current climate, so I can't say I blame them.

 

[LouiseT]

So, just to update everyone. This worked perfectly overnight, as you can see from the screenshot. ev.energy turned on the trickle charging functionality, just as they promised they would do, and the charger scheduled the overnight charge according to grid conditions, just as it is supposed to do. Works very well.


View attachment 1156

Hopefully when they fix the bug, the trickle charging workaround won't be needed. In the meantime, at least I know I'm good to go when I eventually move to an overnight tariff.

All that remains now is for a smart meter install, so that I can go over to Octopus Go. I have a nasty feeling, with the pandemic, that that will not be soon. I have chased Octopus but there have not been appointments available. I must admit, if I were a meter installer, I would not like to go into a potentially infected house in the current climate, so I can't say I blame them.

Hey can you update us when/if you hear anything about this bug being fixed? I’ve just had rolec installed and unaware of smart charging problems until now. I’ve contacted ev.energy but they’ve not mentioned about a big being fixed. With research their method of the trickle charge has been going on for about a year. So I’m interested to know if a fix is actually around the corner or not

 

[bb1922]

That's interesting information that I didn't know. Yes, it will be interesting to know what develops. Until I switch over to a day/night tariff, I'm not too bothered, to be honest. Once it moves over, it will be nice to see this bug fixed by Rolec. If it's not, I guess that's a bridge I'll need to cross when we get there.

 

[bb1922]

@LouiseT

ev.energy have emailed me just now to say they have deployed new software which fixes the bug. They asked me if I'd like trickle charging turned off. I said yes. So, we'll see what happens. I'll post an update.

 

[bb1922]

@LouiseT

I've tested the updated Rolec software. Unfortunately, it's not good news.

With trickle charge mode turned off again, it simply doesn't work. When I plug in the car, just like before, it gives an initial charge for a random period of time, then shuts down and schedules an overnight charge. That overnight charge never works, as the car does not wake up.

They have offered to switch trickle charging back on, but I am tempted to refuse and to send the Rolec back. ev.energy have basically admitted that apart from enabling trickle charge mode, there is nothing further they can do. I will talk to my installer.

I hope this thread helps others, if only so they don't go down the Rolec route, without knowing the limitations this charger brings.