MGZS EV charger won’t lock

C

cwilliams

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MG ZS EV
Posting because I’m so stressed out 😞 a few weeks ago I plugged my charger in same as always but it wouldn’t lock in place and therefore wouldn’t take a charge. I tried a different charger but no luck. Took it to a local dealer paid £250 for a diagnostic to be told the lock actuator needs replacing. They then told me they would need to speak to the technical department and that could take 1-2 days. 3 weeks later apparently they have still not heard back from them and I am still without a car. I have been trying to share my husbands car but it’s been a nightmare and I’m now paying for diesel as well as the finance on my MG. Really struggling especially with 3 young children to get around as well! 😞

Can anyone suggest any other options???
 
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cwilliams said:
Posting because I’m so stressed out 😞 a few weeks ago I plugged my charger in sane as always but it wouldn’t lock in place and therefore wouldn’t take a charge. I tried a different charger but no luck. Took it to a local dealer paid £250 for a diagnostic to be told the lock actuator needs replacing. They then told me they would need to speak to the technical department and that could take 1-2 days. 3 weeks later apparently they have still not heard back from them and I am still without a car. I have been trying to share my husbands car but it’s been a nightmare and I’m now paying for diesel as well as the finance on my MG. Really struggling especially with 3 young children to get around as well! 😞

Can anyone suggest any other options???
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At risk of asking the obvious, did you lock the car once you plugged the cable in? I'd been charging my wife's ZS for months with no issue and suddenly had the same problem as you - the cable wouldn't lock in place and so the car wouldn't charge.

Turns out I was forgetting to lock the car itself, which in turn locks the charge port. I've no idea why I'd suddenly forgotten to do so but clearly my brain had just given up. So worth checking.

The only other time it wouldn't lock in place, it turned out I'd accidentally pulled the cable out of the wall charger itself slightly. That meant no power was being delivered and the car itself wasn't locking the cable in place as it wasn't recognising anything as being plugged in. Worth just checking again.
 
Thank you yes I had checked those things 😞 I was locking the car and the dealership also had the same problem.
linkandnavi said:
At risk of asking the obvious, did you lock the car once you plugged the cable in? I'd been charging my wife's ZS for months with no issue and suddenly had the same problem as you - the cable wouldn't lock in place and so the car wouldn't charge.

Turns out I was forgetting to lock the car itself, which in turn locks the charge port. I've no idea why I'd suddenly forgotten to do so but clearly my brain had just given up. So worth checking.

The only other time it wouldn't lock in place, it turned out I'd accidentally pulled the cable out of the wall charger itself slightly. That meant no power was being delivered and the car itself wasn't locking the cable in place as it wasn't recognising anything as being plugged in. Worth just checking again.
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Thank you yes I was locking the car and the charger is tethered the dealership couldn’t get the actuator to work either do it doesn’t take a charge 😞
 
Why are you paying for what seems to be a warranty issue?
 
Same thing happened to me about 6 weeks after getting my ZS EV in June this year. You could hear the click-click-click of the cable lock trying to engage but failed. Tried granny charger, home wall charger and a fast DC charger with same result. I only had 20% charge remaining so took it back to the dealer. They did all the diagnostics and were told to replace the charging socket under warranty. They said parts had to come from China - 6 weeks. They gave me a loan car - an MG ZS petrol model, which was an interesting comparison. Luckily it was only 2 weeks before I had it back. Working fine since.
 
Just a thought. Inside the bonnet, backing on to where the socket is, there's a lever that you pull to manually release a locked plug. I wonder if that is stuck somehow. Might be worth fiddling with it a couple times.
 
Sell i
cwilliams said:
Posting because I’m so stressed out 😞 a few weeks ago I plugged my charger in same as always but it wouldn’t lock in place and therefore wouldn’t take a charge. I tried a different charger but no luck. Took it to a local dealer paid £250 for a diagnostic to be told the lock actuator needs replacing. They then told me they would need to speak to the technical department and that could take 1-2 days. 3 weeks later apparently they have still not heard back from them and I am still without a car. I have been trying to share my husbands car but it’s been a nightmare and I’m now paying for diesel as well as the finance on my MG. Really struggling especially with 3 young children to get around as well! 😞

Can anyone suggest any other options???
Click to expand...
Sell it - MG Service is terrible. Warranty also really flaky.
 
It’s strange one. The Mk1 used to have a lock-to-charge ‘feature’, until the latest Battery Management System software update came out and allowed you to charge with the car unlocked.
Other times I’ve heard this happening were due to wear and tear or dirt on the charging cable Itself.
Check the cable connector and give it a good wipe over with a cloth and try again.
Failing that, get the dealer to run in the BMS update that came out at about the same time as the comfort 2 update…
My only problem is with free PodPoint charging units, when I don’t charge to 100% - there’s no way to tell the charge point to stop if you're <100%, and no way on the Mk1 to stop it either, so can’t release the lock on the car’s port. I always end up popping the bonnet and pulling the manual release loop, which is just a PITA…
 
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Alb said:
Why are you paying for what seems to be a warranty issue?
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Read the terms of the warranty - it’s one of the flakiest out there. Many things are not covered. First visit I was charged for a software update - when I argued car was delivered with a software defect and it would not function without update then they waived the charge.
 
andymgzs said:
Read the terms of the warranty - it’s one of the flakiest out there. Many things are not covered. First visit I was charged for a software update - when I argued car was delivered with a software defect and it would not function without update then they waived the charge.
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It baffles me that anyone can try and charge for a software update. Equally baffling that they require service visits to carry out an update rather than doing it over the air.

My Tesla downloads and installs firmware updates overnight every couple of weeks but my wife's MG ZS is sat on whatever version it had when it rolled out of the factory. The infotainment system is so hopeless that I don't think any firmware update short of a wholesale rewrite would fix it anyway - Android Auto thankfully just smoothes itself over the top of it - but the idea that in 2023 you have to take a car into a dealership to update it's software is ridiculous. It's like having to take a mobile phone into Currys every time a security patch comes out...
 
Agreed - here are two characterisations of services - let you decide which manufacturer.

Book service on App. Mobile service proposed. Remote diagnostic indicates new ultrasonic sensor needed. Service agent calls morning of booked service, text when 45 minutes away. Turns up on time. Sonic sensor changed within 20 minutes. Auto billed £0.

Book service for front charge port not latching closed. Request drive in to diagnose. Sorry sir we’ll need your car for whole day (100 mile round trip). Turn up and some bloke meets me and walks me to service desk (great customer service but I know my way). Get loaner that I have to pay for. Collect car and then wait weeks for a replacement charge flap latch. Repeat process. Get charged for replacement.

345 days until MG lease ends.
 
My 23reg ZS LR can be charged even if charger cable is not locked. I could watch car is charging while I was sitting in car. I could pull out charging cable while charging.
 
Waterstoney said:
My 23reg ZS LR can be charged even if charger cable is not locked. I could watch car is charging while I was sitting in car. I could pull out charging cable while charging.
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I should take it to the dealer to sort that out because it is supposed to lock in place before charging starts.
 
evnick said:
Just a thought. Inside the bonnet, backing on to where the socket is, there's a lever that you pull to manually release a locked plug. I wonder if that is stuck somehow. Might be worth fiddling with it a couple times.
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Hi thank you yes I tried that but it didn't work

Lovemyev said:
Is it the original Gen1 model, or the later Gen2 ( facelift ) model ???.
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Hi it is the original Gen1 model

andymgzs said:
Sell i

Sell it - MG Service is terrible. Warranty also really flaky.
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Yes agreed service is awful they have contacted me to say they have heard back from technical and they will do the work on the 10th of January by which time I will have been without a car for 6 weeks!!!!! It will take a whole day because they have to drop the battery out as they have to run cable from front to back. All of this is apparently going to cost me £1500

Lovemyev said:
Is it the original Gen1 model, or the later Gen2 ( facelift ) model ???.
Click to expand...
It is the original Gen1 model

Update!

The technical department have now told them how to fix it it is going to cost me £1500 I wish I had never got this car
 
cwilliams said:
The technical department have now told them how to fix it it is going to cost me £1500 I wish I had never got this car
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I rushed my 9 months old gen2 ZS to dealer. They confirmed I had a faulty handle. They will order a replacement parts and fix it for me in a month.

My wife is the main user of that door. She was surprised that our new car needed replacement parts. It was never a problem for her after I told her about double pull. I learned the trick when I took a electric taxi ride.

Service rep mentioned that it was not a problem on car charging without locking the door.
 
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