MG5 EV Poor Range

[Dean Smith]

Hi, I've done 1000 miles in my new MG5 EV and I love it, that said I'm coming from a clapped out 307. What I am annoyed at however, is the exaggeration over range. The EV range and my SatNav have very different opinions. It is no exaggeration to say that the MG range in miles is much closer to KM. I'm not a particularly fast driver, keeping to well within 10% of limits and not accelerating quickly at all. And even when in Eco mode with full KERS, it is shockingly bad. Tonight I had 142miles of range in ECO mode for a100 mile journey. Easy, right?! I got to where the range mileage and SatNav distance remaining were both 18 miles, and had to get a charge. And from my 1000 miles experience that is about the size of it. Range is closer to KM than miles. Disappointing but a lovely car. I bought it for the 200 mile range but it's closer to 150. Shame and I feel cheated. Plus the roofbars which I found out about after collecting the car :-(

Interested in others experiences.

 

[RossN]

Got to admit to loving it so far but my mileage is very small and I charge up most days so not really worked out the actual range yet. Seems better now the days are getting warmer and I know how it drives.

 

[Les burrows]

Hi, I've done 1000 miles in my new MG5 EV and I love it, that said I'm coming from a clapped out 307. What I am annoyed at however, is the exaggeration over range. The EV range and my SatNav have very different opinions. It is no exaggeration to say that the MG range in miles is much closer to KM. I'm not a particularly fast driver, keeping to well within 10% of limits and not accelerating quickly at all. And even when in Eco mode with full KERS, it is shockingly bad. Tonight I had 142miles of range in ECO mode for a100 mile journey. Easy, right?! I got to where the range mileage and SatNav distance remaining were both 18 miles, and had to get a charge. And from my 1000 miles experience that is about the size of it. Range is closer to KM than miles. Disappointing but a lovely car. I bought it for the 200 mile range but it's closer to 150. Shame and I feel cheated. Plus the roofbars which I found out about after collecting the car :-(

Interested in others experiences.

Hi Dead my name is Les I’m from Wigan I have just read your post and I can see your new to the forum , well I’m the guy who reported the roof rails issue to MG on the 6th November last year and I have been on at them ever since to sort the problem out about them being none load bearing,but when they introduced the car last autumn the brochures show the car with a bike on the roof and in the accessories pages show cross rails and cycle carriers that you could buy from your dealer which was all wrong

I ordered the MG5 on November 3rd and was told there was a handbook to read about the car, did I get a shock when I got to page 62 where it states the rails or decorative and must not be loaded I went back to the dealer who knew nothing about this I went to 3 other MG dealers same thing no idea what I was talking about in the brochures it said at that time the rails could carry 50kg.

Dean I won’t keep you any longer all I can tell you for now is today the rails are still the same non load bearing but MG are doing some testing on them so at some point they may modify them and you may get a recall to modify your car hopefully soon.
I along with the DVSA and the consumer association or still in pushing MG to get this matter sorted out if you would like to read more about this in the forum go to

MG5 Decorative Roof rails stating at number 1 in that thread and then I come in at number16 after I watched a pod cast on YouTube I knew nothing about this forum until I saw that podcast, there is lots to read on this subject so if you don’t mind can I ask you a few questions as you said in your post you only found out about the roof rails after collecting the car your answers could be helpful in our fight with MG to get the rails altered

1 Was you given a brochure showing on the front cover the car with a bike on the roof when you went to the dealers to look at it

2 When did you order the car and what was the wait before collecting it on dates if possible also from which dealership

3 Was you told that the rails could not be use and where only decorative

4 How did you come to fined out about the roof rails

Thank you for your time ho I forgot the range you are getting is some thing that concerns me also I never expected the car would travel 214/276 miles as advertised but I have learned quite a lot about EVs and I think none of them any make or model do what they advertise I work on what I have seen in lots of pictures on here and other sites plus videos on YouTube the main figure being
Miles per KH generally most so around 3-4 mpkh so the MG 5 has a 50kw battery but only around 47kw are usable so at 3 kw you would get about 141 and at 4 188 but I think you would be very lucky to get 4 consistently anyhow that’s how I work it out plus it very much depends on your driving and the weather.
Thanks les.

 

[jonathanhoey]

Honestly I would ignore the stated range, at least while you’re getting to know the car. (This is less for the OP, who probably already has it sussed after 1000 miles, and more for other interested readers who may be new to the car).

Keep an eye on your miles per kilowatt-hour. Down once on the right-hand D-pad will change the driver’s display from Digital Speed to Current Journey, then you can see your trip average mi/kWh on the bottom right.

I’m seeing about 3.0 mi/kWh on my commute to/from work (about 20 miles, mostly four-lane motorway with a big 50mph section due to works). Had the car a couple of weeks now and it’s pretty consistent so far.

You’ve got a 50kWh battery (give or take - it’s a good enough round number) so 150 motorway miles is realistic, even if you turn the car on with a full charge and it says you’ve got 190 or whatever.

If I’m honest I’m a bit disappointed with the mileage after coming from three years in an i3 with a lifetime average of 3.7 mi/kWh. I guess the i3 is a good few hundred kilos lighter, for one thing.

The 5 is a really good car and still goes further than my old i3 did (on account of the i3 only having 30-odd kWh) so I’m not too sore about it. Just spoilt by how excellent the i3 is.

 

[Cocijo]

Don’t forget cold weather makes a big difference. You’ll see an improvement in warmer weather.

 

[Mark Holmes]

Don’t forget cold weather makes a big difference. You’ll see an improvement in warmer weather.

Oh yes you will and I can easily vouch for this with my figures now compared to last years with warmer temperatures, and let’s remember this affects all EV’s more some than others, saw a VW ID3 YouTube and the range reductions in cold temps was shocking....

 

[Stuart Wright]

Hi, I've done 1000 miles in my new MG5 EV and I love it, that said I'm coming from a clapped out 307. What I am annoyed at however, is the exaggeration over range. The EV range and my SatNav have very different opinions. It is no exaggeration to say that the MG range in miles is much closer to KM. I'm not a particularly fast driver, keeping to well within 10% of limits and not accelerating quickly at all. And even when in Eco mode with full KERS, it is shockingly bad. Tonight I had 142miles of range in ECO mode for a100 mile journey. Easy, right?! I got to where the range mileage and SatNav distance remaining were both 18 miles, and had to get a charge. And from my 1000 miles experience that is about the size of it. Range is closer to KM than miles. Disappointing but a lovely car. I bought it for the 200 mile range but it's closer to 150. Shame and I feel cheated. Plus the roofbars which I found out about after collecting the car :-(

Interested in others experiences.

Dean when you made your decision to buy the car, were you aware that the range quoted by manufacturers is WLTP (or EPA in the US or for a shrinking number of manufacturers, NEDC)? And that the real world range is almost always less than the ranges given on these standardised test cycles?
Typically real world range is something like 80-85% of WLTP.
It's really important that new buyers appreciate this. Did you?

Also the range given by your 'guessometer' is based on past efficiency. It learns how far it can go based on the external temperature, the changes in altitude along your journeys and your driving style. So you can expect it to get more accurate.

My experience is that using higher KERS will result in lower efficiency because you're more often slowing the car down to then have to accelerate again. Whereas lower KERS means you slow down less when lifting off the accelerator. What KERS setting are you using and have you got used to driving a car with KERS?

If you've driven to a destination which is 5000 feet higher than your starting location, you shouldn't be surprised that the car has to work more to get you there. Did you take this into account when planning your journey?

And if you were driving over 60mph then the efficiency will have been reduced quite a lot more as the wind resistance increases exponentially with speed. Were you driving over 60 for significant portions of your journey?

 

[Paulie68]

Hi, I've done 1000 miles in my new MG5 EV and I love it, that said I'm coming from a clapped out 307. What I am annoyed at however, is the exaggeration over range. The EV range and my SatNav have very different opinions. It is no exaggeration to say that the MG range in miles is much closer to KM. I'm not a particularly fast driver, keeping to well within 10% of limits and not accelerating quickly at all. And even when in Eco mode with full KERS, it is shockingly bad. Tonight I had 142miles of range in ECO mode for a100 mile journey. Easy, right?! I got to where the range mileage and SatNav distance remaining were both 18 miles, and had to get a charge. And from my 1000 miles experience that is about the size of it. Range is closer to KM than miles. Disappointing but a lovely car. I bought it for the 200 mile range but it's closer to 150. Shame and I feel cheated. Plus the roofbars which I found out about after collecting the car :-(

Interested in others experiences.

When you say within 10% of limits, do you mean above? So 77mph in a 70mph and so forth. If you're driving on motorways at around 70 to 80mph your range will be terrible. Keep it down to about 60 and you'll be back up at pretty much official figures.

 

[AdamMGEV]

When you say within 10% of limits, do you mean above? So 77mph in a 70mph and so forth. If you're driving on motorways at around 70 to 80mph your range will be terrible. Keep it down to about 60 and you'll be back up at pretty much official figures.

Personally I want to do 70mph on a motorway if safe to do so. Driving at 60 would be very frustrating with lorries and allsorts overtaking

 

[Richie]

Personally I want to do 70mph on a motorway if safe to do so. Driving at 60 would be very frustrating with lorries and allsorts overtaking

Your quite correct who wants to sit at 60 all day long (sorry you cant do all day long). If you get advised to stay at 60 and don't drive to high up and maybe you should stay at home if its cold why have the car?

 

[AdamMGEV]

If you buy a tesla long range that does say 360 miles or whatever it is, does it only do that if you drive 50mph? Or does it only do 280 if you drive at 70mph?

 

[macd2401]

Personally I want to do 70mph on a motorway if safe to do so. Driving at 60 would be very frustrating with lorries and allsorts overtaking

Lorries shouldn't be overtaking if you're doing 60. If you're being passed by lots of them, you ain't doing 60

 

[Dean Smith]

Hi Dead my name is Les I’m from Wigan I have just read your post and I can see your new to the forum , well I’m the guy who reported the roof rails issue to MG on the 6th November last year and I have been on at them ever since to sort the problem out about them being none load bearing,but when they introduced the car last autumn the brochures show the car with a bike on the roof and in the accessories pages show cross rails and cycle carriers that you could buy from your dealer which was all wrong

I ordered the MG5 on November 3rd and was told there was a handbook to read about the car, did I get a shock when I got to page 62 where it states the rails or decorative and must not be loaded I went back to the dealer who knew nothing about this I went to 3 other MG dealers same thing no idea what I was talking about in the brochures it said at that time the rails could carry 50kg.

Dean I won’t keep you any longer all I can tell you for now is today the rails are still the same non load bearing but MG are doing some testing on them so at some point they may modify them and you may get a recall to modify your car hopefully soon.
I along with the DVSA and the consumer association or still in pushing MG to get this matter sorted out if you would like to read more about this in the forum go to

MG5 Decorative Roof rails stating at number 1 in that thread and then I come in at number16 after I watched a pod cast on YouTube I knew nothing about this forum until I saw that podcast, there is lots to read on this subject so if you don’t mind can I ask you a few questions as you said in your post you only found out about the roof rails after collecting the car your answers could be helpful in our fight with MG to get the rails altered

1 Was you given a brochure showing on the front cover the car with a bike on the roof when you went to the dealers to look at it

2 When did you order the car and what was the wait before collecting it on dates if possible also from which dealership

3 Was you told that the rails could not be use and where only decorative

4 How did you come to fined out about the roof rails

Thank you for your time ho I forgot the range you are getting is some thing that concerns me also I never expected the car would travel 214/276 miles as advertised but I have learned quite a lot about EVs and I think none of them any make or model do what they advertise I work on what I have seen in lots of pictures on here and other sites plus videos on YouTube the main figure being
Miles per KH generally most so around 3-4 mpkh so the MG 5 has a 50kw battery but only around 47kw are usable so at 3 kw you would get about 141 and at 4 188 but I think you would be very lucky to get 4 consistently anyhow that’s how I work it out plus it very much depends on your driving and the weather.
Thanks les.

Thanks for the reply, Les. I was never told about the roof bars, I pretty much ordered after looking at a couple of reviews. No test drives allowed etc. due to lockdown. No brochure given either. But such a big issue I'd expect a bit of professional integrity (surely duty bound if not morally) and to tell me about that. My brother told me after coming across something online, after I'd mentioned looking for some roof bars etc. I had seen pictures with bikes on the roof but not sure if they were from MG (unlikely, I'm sure they'd have pulled them by then). I'm sure the pressure being applied will force their hand at somepoint. One way or another. If it turns out they are not usable, they MUST be removed as someone somewhere will use them unknowingly and unsafely.

Re: battery range. Just disappointing. The whole industry and companies in general to be honest, so not just an MG issue. If a company offered a car and gave ironclad honest range etc. I'd buy one. I don't really have the care or time to check up and confirm the data; even if they offered a minimum to maximum range it would be something; but even the lowest figures I've seen are by now way achieveable with what I consider normal driving.

Some of these responses are quite funny though haha.

Hi Dead my name is Les I’m from Wigan I have just read your post and I can see your new to the forum , well I’m the guy who reported the roof rails issue to MG on the 6th November last year and I have been on at them ever since to sort the problem out about them being none load bearing,but when they introduced the car last autumn the brochures show the car with a bike on the roof and in the accessories pages show cross rails and cycle carriers that you could buy from your dealer which was all wrong

I ordered the MG5 on November 3rd and was told there was a handbook to read about the car, did I get a shock when I got to page 62 where it states the rails or decorative and must not be loaded I went back to the dealer who knew nothing about this I went to 3 other MG dealers same thing no idea what I was talking about in the brochures it said at that time the rails could carry 50kg.

Dean I won’t keep you any longer all I can tell you for now is today the rails are still the same non load bearing but MG are doing some testing on them so at some point they may modify them and you may get a recall to modify your car hopefully soon.
I along with the DVSA and the consumer association or still in pushing MG to get this matter sorted out if you would like to read more about this in the forum go to

MG5 Decorative Roof rails stating at number 1 in that thread and then I come in at number16 after I watched a pod cast on YouTube I knew nothing about this forum until I saw that podcast, there is lots to read on this subject so if you don’t mind can I ask you a few questions as you said in your post you only found out about the roof rails after collecting the car your answers could be helpful in our fight with MG to get the rails altered

1 Was you given a brochure showing on the front cover the car with a bike on the roof when you went to the dealers to look at it

2 When did you order the car and what was the wait before collecting it on dates if possible also from which dealership

3 Was you told that the rails could not be use and where only decorative

4 How did you come to fined out about the roof rails

Thank you for your time ho I forgot the range you are getting is some thing that concerns me also I never expected the car would travel 214/276 miles as advertised but I have learned quite a lot about EVs and I think none of them any make or model do what they advertise I work on what I have seen in lots of pictures on here and other sites plus videos on YouTube the main figure being
Miles per KH generally most so around 3-4 mpkh so the MG 5 has a 50kw battery but only around 47kw are usable so at 3 kw you would get about 141 and at 4 188 but I think you would be very lucky to get 4 consistently anyhow that’s how I work it out plus it very much depends on your driving and the weather.
Thanks les.

 

[Dean Smith]

Dean when you made your decision to buy the car, were you aware that the range quoted by manufacturers is WLTP (or EPA in the US or for a shrinking number of manufacturers, NEDC)? And that the real world range is almost always less than the ranges given on these standardised test cycles?
Typically real world range is something like 80-85% of WLTP.
It's really important that new buyers appreciate this. Did you?

Also the range given by your 'guessometer' is based on past efficiency. It learns how far it can go based on the external temperature, the changes in altitude along your journeys and your driving style. So you can expect it to get more accurate.

My experience is that using higher KERS will result in lower efficiency because you're more often slowing the car down to then have to accelerate again. Whereas lower KERS means you slow down less when lifting off the accelerator. What KERS setting are you using and have you got used to driving a car with KERS?

If you've driven to a destination which is 5000 feet higher than your starting location, you shouldn't be surprised that the car has to work more to get you there. Did you take this into account when planning your journey?

And if you were driving over 60mph then the efficiency will have been reduced quite a lot more as the wind resistance increases exponentially with speed. Were you driving over 60 for significant portions of your journey?

Sturart, thank you for your reply.

I didn't fully appreciate this. I think it's more important that companies state that 80-85% is to be expected in the real world if that is the case. Integrity etc.

I figured out the KERS thing isn't so straightforward. I'm sure it's useful when around town but certainly not worthwhile when at higher speeds for the reasons you mention. I've played around and been switching between 1-3 but quickly realised I should leave it on 1 when on dual-carriageway / motorway, epsecially right now when there's little traffic.

I've not seen anything about how driving at below 60mph is what the ranges are based on. An empty motorway at night doesn't really suit 60mph driving. I don't typically go over 75mph when in such conditions but to answer your question, I am rarely travelling below 60mph on motorways - quite dangerous in my view as I might fall asleep.

Really appreciate the reply and advice, thanks.

 

[Dean Smith]

When you say within 10% of limits, do you mean above? So 77mph in a 70mph and so forth. If you're driving on motorways at around 70 to 80mph your range will be terrible. Keep it down to about 60 and you'll be back up at pretty much official figures.

Thanks, Paulie. I don't think I could keep to 60mph without falling asleep so seems like I'll have to get a good book for the charging sessions! I wish I'd read more before committing to the buy but range aside, I'm very happy so far. I just wish there were more charging stations that didn't require you to get yet another App. So far, Swarco and InstaVolt I'm happy with. Ecotricity all seem to be broken or REALLY low KW.

 

[Mark Holmes]

Sturart, thank you for your reply.

I didn't fully appreciate this. I think it's more important that companies state that 80-85% is to be expected in the real world if that is the case. Integrity etc.

I figured out the KERS thing isn't so straightforward. I'm sure it's useful when around town but certainly not worthwhile when at higher speeds for the reasons you mention. I've played around and been switching between 1-3 but quickly realised I should leave it on 1 when on dual-carriageway / motorway, epsecially right now when there's little traffic.

I've not seen anything about how driving at below 60mph is what the ranges are based on. An empty motorway at night doesn't really suit 60mph driving. I don't typically go over 75mph when in such conditions but to answer your question, I am rarely travelling below 60mph on motorways - quite dangerous in my view as I might fall asleep.

Really appreciate the reply and advice, thanks.

I agree with you point about speed, it was only last year that I found out that MPG on ICE cars are always completed in tests of speeds of 65 MPH, why not 70 MPH which is our true motorway limit....

 

[Mark Holmes]

Thanks, Paulie. I don't think I could keep to 60mph without falling asleep so seems like I'll have to get a good book for the charging sessions! I wish I'd read more before committing to the buy but range aside, I'm very happy so far. I just wish there were more charging stations that didn't require you to get yet another App. So far, Swarco and InstaVolt I'm happy with. Ecotricity all seem to be broken or REALLY low KW.

Don’t forget to use the Tesco’s free chargers that are being installed up and down the country and also look out for Pod-Point too.

 

[AdamMGEV]

Lorries shouldn't be overtaking if you're doing 60. If you're being passed by lots of them, you ain't doing 60

Well they do drive over 60 don't they, it's only certain weight and size lorries that can't, articulated etc. Buses, lorries etc can still go at 70.

 

[Paulie68]

Personally I want to do 70mph on a motorway if safe to do so. Driving at 60 would be very frustrating with lorries and allsorts overtaking

That's fine, of course, but EV range will reduce significantly as a result. This is one of the biggest gripes of changing from ICE to EV. Its a shame manufacturers don't give a range figure for cold weather, high speed motorway use, that way people would have more realistic expectations.

 

[Paulie68]

If you buy a tesla long range that does say 360 miles or whatever it is, does it only do that if you drive 50mph? Or does it only do 280 if you drive at 70mph?

Yes pretty much!