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

[greentangerine]

I think the Zappi is the safe option but I went for the OpenEVSE (to integrate with my Open Energy Monitor based system) which I can confirm works fine on timed charge both with my MG5 and the wife's ZE50 Zoe.

 

[bb1922]

@greentangerine

Indeed. The problem is, how do I now get things fixed?

Ideally I'd like to send the Rolec back and get a Zappi or any other charger that has been proven to work. But, how do you send a charger back that was partially grant funded?

 

[Nick W]

@greentangerine

Indeed. The problem is, how do I now get things fixed?

Ideally I'd like to send the Rolec back and get a Zappi or any other charger that has been proven to work. But, how do you send a charger back that was partially grant funded?

It's an OZEV grant requirement that the installer provides a 3 year warranty. If the charger won't deliver the functionality promised, it is faulty and I would press them to fix it, if necessary by changing the charger for a different unit (even if you have to pay the difference). The grant is only on the initial installation and they won't be interested in any repairs or upgrades.

 

[bb1922]

It's an OZEV grant requirement that the installer provides a 3 year warranty. If the charger won't deliver the functionality promised, it is faulty and I would press them to fix it, if necessary by changing the charger for a different unit (even if you have to pay the difference). The grant is only on the initial installation and they won't be interested in any repairs or upgrades.

Thanks @Nick W
That's useful to know.

I'll keep the forum posted.

 

[bb1922]

Update to my situation.

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 the MG 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.

Most other brands of charger can successfully wake the car reliably, whereas Rolec will, upon a request to ev.energy, work around this issue by keeping the car awake with a 6-amp charge. There is a technical reason for this, related to the way a control pilot signal is implemented to wake the car. Most other brands of charger can send a suitable control pilot signal which is compatible with the MG. Rolec are still working on a solution.

This does not necessarily mean the Rolec unit is unsuitable for the MG, and the unit is still well suited for non-smart charging (by turning off smart charging in the app, and just plugging the vehicle in to charge, as a regular non-smart charger), but you should consider your needs 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. They have also been very open and transparent in their communication, in admitting that they do not have a timeframe for this. They should be commended for this approach.

I hope this information is of some use.

 

[SimonomiS]

Update to my situation.

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 the MG 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.

Most other brands of charger can successfully wake the car reliably, whereas Rolec will, upon a request to ev.energy, work around this issue by keeping the car awake with a 6-amp charge. There is a technical reason for this, related to the way a control pilot signal is implemented to wake the car. Most other brands of charger can send a suitable control pilot signal which is compatible with the MG. Rolec are still working on a solution.

This does not necessarily mean the Rolec unit is unsuitable for the MG, and the unit is still well suited for non-smart charging (by turning off smart charging in the app, and just plugging the vehicle in to charge, as a regular non-smart charger), but you should consider your needs 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. They have also been very open and transparent in their communication, in admitting that they do not have a timeframe for this. They should be commended for this approach.

I hope this information is of some use.

Thanks for this post, much appreciated

 

[Petriix]

The MG EVs are definitely not following the charging standards exactly, requiring the CP line voltage to be dropped to 0 or -12v for more than 3 seconds before charging will resume (where the standard requires the car to respond to any change in voltage for an indefinite period). Some EVSE manufacturers have worked around this, but apparently not Rolec.

 

[bb1922]

@Petriix I couldn't agree more. It is a pity it doesn't work, as the fix is relatively easy.

It does seem to be the case that SAIC are implementing non-standard CP protocols. However, it is entirely SAIC's/MG's prerogative to implement a proprietary wake-up signal. There's nothing written down anywhere to say they can't do that, it just happens to not follow an industry-agreed standard.

Unfortunately, Rolec specifically advertise their units as being compatible with MG. They even include the MG logo on the list of vehicles that their chargers work with. Below is the screenshot.

Nowhere do Rolec state that the vehicle being charged has to conform to a specific communications standard. It just says that it works with MG. That implies Rolec have the ability to tweak the control pilot signal to wake the MG. Unfortunately, they haven't done that.

I suspect implementing the fix may be trickier for Rolec than for others charger brands, because Rolec outsource their smart functionality to ev.energy, which is a separate module within the Rolec unit. I'm speculating, and I may be wrong, that the ev.energy module doesn't have the level of hardware integration needed to be able to blip the control pilot signal to wake the car. Rolec most likely never envisioned this. In this case, the only fix would be either a hardware modification or a re-design.

Other brands of charger, with more comprehensive smart app integration, can probably send an over-the-air update to re-programme the control pilot protocol.

So, I can see it from Rolec's point-of-view. In which case, the only thing they have really done wrong is to advertise their charging units as MG compatible, when they're not.

That's not my battle.

For me, Rolec are doing the honourable thing, so I have no issue with them.

 

[ARealHuman]

Thanks for the posts, appreicate the update and hope you find something that works for you. At this time, I'm happy with my Rolec - I put it on to charge overnight to be ready for a particular time and it does that. I don't have off-peak energy yet and if the worse came to the worse I'd investigate fitting one of those units in the charger which can control that.

 

[bb1922]

Final update. Success at last!

The Ohme charger has been successfully installed for around 3 weeks now. And, it works flawlessly.

I've also had my smart meter installed (another long story, which involved me needing to take down and modify the kitchen cupboard to make space for the new meter, but it's all done now!) and switched over to Octopus Go. Once the new meter was installed, the switchover process was automatic and painless. It took a week between meter installation and the tariff cutting over.

Everything works perfectly together -- the MG, the Ohme charger and Octopus Go seem to integrate seemlessly. I've configured the Ohme to only take a charge during cheap rate for most of the time. It does this reliably and there has never been an instance where a charge has failed, nor has the car ever failed to wake up.

A couple of days a week, usually at weekends, I make sure the car goes to 100% and has its balance charge. The rest of the time, I charge to between 75 and 80% and this works fine for daily use.

FYI, Rolec did do the honourable thing and refund me. I was pleased about that.

 

[KeithG]

Thanks for the posts, appreicate the update and hope you find something that works for you. At this time, I'm happy with my Rolec - I put it on to charge overnight to be ready for a particular time and it does that. I don't have off-peak energy yet and if the worse came to the worse I'd investigate fitting one of those units in the charger which can control that.

Hi. I realise it’s been a while. I have a Rolec which I am hoping will start it’s Smart charge scheduled at 8.30pmm. I think I have to get out of the car, lift the charge port, lock car on door, then plug in cable and lock car with key fob. I didn’t have the bad BMS but had a new BMS update with my service on 2nd March. What procedure do you use? Cheers.

 

[ARealHuman]

Unlock car, lift charging port cover, remove bungs, insert charge gun, make sure app shows schedule charge. Car usually locks itself by now but I check the info pod to see if states it's charging (it is), then I leave it. It will also charge unlocked too. The app previously sometimes said complete at the start of the charge(!) but ev.energy advised it will still charge. For the last couple of charges I don't think the app said complete at the beginning of this process. Hope that helps and makes sense!

By the way - this is for my ZS.