New HS PHEV - My issues/questions

[PaulT]

Hi all, just found this forum so thought I’d share my thoughts on the car having had it for the last month.
So this car was available for me as a company car (without a test drive) as a replacement for my insignia. After watching reviews on you tube, seeing all the “bits” you get on the exclusive, having some days where I only travel around 50 miles and the BIK being lower than the previous car I decided to go for it.

The first thing I noticed was the regen braking. It’s taken a bit of getting used to having to accelerate going downhill but I’m slowly getting used to it.
Speaking of slow, is anyone having issues with the acceleration when using adaptive cruise control? I had it set for 70MPH and when traffic slowed to 40 it had no problems keeping me a safe distance from the car in front, however when speed picks up it seems very hesitant to close the gap, leaving you almost stranded and people looking to undertake you.

The Satnav - Motorway signs were telling me that it was closed in 2 junctions time yet the satnav was quite happy for me to head straight through it. I opened up google maps through CarPlay and it knew all about it and rerouted me so I’m thinking I’ve been spoilt by my tomtom unit previously as that was always very traffic aware, the built in unit seems very hit and miss.

The radio - It has favourites for 6 stations but when using the steering wheel controls it seems to take me through every DAB station rather than jumping between my presets. I can’t find any setting to change this so presume that’s how it is.
Going from satnav to change the radio station involves too much eyes off the road, pressing home key, touching radio, selecting station, home key again and then touching back to nav.

Also I found that I can’t get out of a phone call back to the nav until the call is ended. Any incoming call at the wrong time and you’ll miss your junction. Pressing home key did nothing to get me off the phone menu.

I’m aware that this is my first post and it’s mostly negative but everything else I’m happy with, the seats are comfortable and it drives well (600 miles so far). I’ve experienced a lag in gear change that I’ve seen others comment about but as long as you know about it then you can adjust for it.

It just seems that with a few software tweaks it would go from a good driving experience to a great one.
The things software can’t fix I’ll look to modify myself, such as the location of the USB sockets (going to try and run the wires under the centre console to under the arm rest) and the really dim lights for lane alerts (I didn’t think they were working to start with!)

Does anyone know if MG people read stuff on here or if they are looking to change software on the cars?
My old car had a Wi-fi connection and updated a couple of times over the last 3 years but can’t find an option for this one so guessing it would be a dealer visit if they did.

Do they have any plans to bring the MG app to this country? I didn’t realise it wasn’t available here and was hoping to see how much it was charged and maybe even turn on some heat in the winter months before going outside.

Final question from me (for now), did people get a type 2 fly lead with the car for use on public charging points or just the home charger?

Thanks all, Paul.

 

[Deleted member 3150]

I agree with all your points and as a company car I hope you have fuel included as bik because it’s not economical on long journeys. But neither was my Merc phev.
The app is not available because GDPR and volume of sales prohibited it. It’s coming now but on new models only and not sure when.
Infotainment system is partly how they make it so cheap, very few software licences and everything in the head unit reduces manufacturing costs. After a while i found I used Apple exclusively. Heater tweaking was my main gripe while driving.
Dealer network is patchy and inexperienced on serving knowledge -seems to rely on calling on MG central for anything but the basics. I guess time will cure this. Chorley dealership has a manager who is on this group and on the podcast panel.
There is no effective preheat even with app because in battery mode it switches on the engine to use heater from petrol engine. There is no electric heater only aircon so can’t heat via EV mode.
In dirty weather be mindful to clean all external cameras on windows and mirrors as they blur when wet and gritty. In the dark these aides are very restricted when dirty.
If you fit child seats with iso, protect the seat as the leather is not very elastic and marks become permanent.
Also folding down rear seats make sure the seat belt buckles lay in recess for same reason.
I did not get a type2 cable for free either and the one I did buy they have blamed for intermittent charging lock failure. I’ve proved to myself it’s the car but no further diagnosis will be accepted unless I pay for domestic supply check on my home charger pod. ( dealer cop out example when they escalated to MG central)
I have defended phev as brilliant company car and warned don’t buy privately expecting diesel mpg. I do many short journeys and own (happily) because we only need one car now and therefore 40 mpg only long trips is acceptable. It’s a good size, drives nice and £10k less than the BMW X1 I nearly got

 

[PaulT]

I can claim 12p per mile on petrol usage but nothing on electric usage.
I’m on a good tariff at home (11.57p per unit) so hoping between that and occasionally charging for free elsewhere I won’t be out of pocket.
If I went full EV then I can only claim 4p per mile as per HMRC so fast charging at a services would leave me well out of pocket and policy also doesn’t cover recovery for running out of charge so I knew I wanted to avoid that!

Disappointed to hear about the lack of heat from EV, I guess I expected a bit too much from where my logic was at to the cost/ability of the car.
At least my buttocks should be able to get reasonably warm even if the rest of the car is still frozen.

No child seats are being installed but cheers for the heads up on that as I may have a few boxes to go on the back seats, I have a rubber backed blanket for that already from previous cars.

I’ve had a couple of issues charging at home with the locking in. Having plugged the car in I then lock it and while the mirrors are folding in the lock on the charge point has been making some crazy movements. I found that unlocking and locking the car again sorted it out.

What app have you found best for EV points? I’ve got Plug Share, Zap-Map & Pod Point but obviously a lot of points aren’t compatible with the HS (as I found out having registered with Ecotricity).

 

[Deleted member 3150]

As the HS only dose 32 miles on electric I only enter ev mode on short journeys or going through urban areas. The 2 hybrid modes are useful for saving battery on long journeys to save electric for going through towns and traffic jams. I always aim to reach home on zero electric miles left. I use zap map but never charge up away from home unless it’s a free charger. The electric charge apps are pointless because the HS has no fast charge. It’s not even 7kw, it’s only 3.5 kw and takes 4 hours so no point planning journeys with top ups.

 

[jem111111]

I have to agree with Electrickery , its no use planning to stop to top up as its so slow , unless you can top up at your destination for free, for the time you are there.
So I manually switch between EV mode and hybrid mode , when I go on longer trips than the ev range ( I did manage 36 miles recently on ev only). I also have a rough guess of the speeds I will be doing and when I will use EV mode and hybrid, to try to maximise the ev use and minimise the ICE use and get the best efficiency. I guess some will do it this way other will leave it in hybrid and let the car decide , there is no right or wrong , its each to their own.
So today went to Warwick castle , 56 miles return ,the speed ranged between 30mph to 60mph but I did not manually manage the ev the best so returned home with 6 miles showing.( not too bad really lol )
My figures were 97 mpg and 20 kwh/100 miles.
No a bad return for a big car.

 

[PaulT]

Yeah I think I’ll give up on trying to charge away from home. I managed 125 miles last week on one run and still had 51% left on the battery.

Then did 20 miles locally that used a further 25% as it was in traffic and the engine rarely started.

I had to divert on the way back which took the mileage up to 140 and made it within 10 miles of home before the battery read 0%

Not had chance to push the battery from 100-0 in a EV only run yet but regularly done 20 mile round trips so happy enough in that respect.
Just glad I know those routes so I don’t need the satnav!

 

[Henri8]

MG HS Plug-in Hybrid Software Update Wishlist Poll
More and more (future) owners are finding this medium to gather and give information about the pro's and con's of this very nice vehicle.
Several improvements to this product are, in my view, necessary and possible due to the software options available.
I will make a list of possible and enhancing updates for (possible) owners to vote for. (not in order of priority!) In due time we might have enough votes to present a serious request for MG to consider.
Most of these subjects have been covered in the different posts on this HS Phev Forum, so if not clear, please refer to those threads.
This is my first (and last ) poll on this site, so if it does not work well I will try to improve it or even cancel or limit the respons time.
If positive I will continue it until the end of this year as more owners will join the poll hopefully.
Reactions are welcome, if needed corrections made and additional wishlist items added.
Greetings from Holland
Henri

Hi Paul,
Welcome and please consider to cast your votes at the poll above.

 

[sky0000547]

The built-in satnav is not connected to anything live, it lives off a database so it wouldn’t provide any live traffic re-routing. Sometimes it does offer a re-route but that is purely based a historic info stored in the database within the satnav. If you use satnav a lot and do like to use TomTom then there is a TomTom iOS app available for your phone and that works with CarPlay. It does cost a subscription but it’s only like £12/year.

 

[PaulT]

What the hell’s the point in “historic” traffic!?!?
The M6 is always busy in patches, is it going to reroute me based on what usually happens round spaghetti junction!?
Basically you’ve just told me what I thought was a crap system is actually a lot worse.

Think I’ll stick with google maps for free, tomtom have had enough money from me over the years but thanks for the tip.

 

[VenumX]

The satnav in the HS reads traffic signs better than the screen behind the steering wheel ....

I tried turning that option off , but I keeps enabling itself....

 

[JABO]

Mine has the latest update (2 weeks old, according to the dealer).
It reads the signs flawless (in the instrument cluster)

 

[jollypolly]

i had mine 2 weeks and been back and forth to the dearlship with engin fault showing on dash, had 4 new parts and still not ok , dealership is lost for what to do, so sending it to birmingham to see what they can do, not a happy bunny

 

[Tim]

i had mine 2 weeks and been back and forth to the dearlship with engin fault showing on dash, had 4 new parts and still not ok , dealership is lost for what to do, so sending it to birmingham to see what they can do, not a happy bunny

I needed a completely new electric motor for mine! Get the dealer to think about that. They should be talking to MG Technical by now if there have been 4 attempts. Also if it's brand new you are entitled to get your money back in full!

 

[jollypolly]

thanks for you infoe it has been with birmingham 2 weeks now. i think mg are also dealing with it so we will see what happen next

 

[Exdro]

I can claim 12p per mile on petrol usage but nothing on electric usage.
I’m on a good tariff at home (11.57p per unit) so hoping between that and occasionally charging for free elsewhere I won’t be out of pocket.
If I went full EV then I can only claim 4p per mile as per HMRC so fast charging at a services would leave me well out of pocket and policy also doesn’t cover recovery for running out of charge so I knew I wanted to avoid that!

Disappointed to hear about the lack of heat from EV, I guess I expected a bit too much from where my logic was at to the cost/ability of the car.
At least my buttocks should be able to get reasonably warm even if the rest of the car is still frozen.

No child seats are being installed but cheers for the heads up on that as I may have a few boxes to go on the back seats, I have a rubber backed blanket for that already from previous cars.

I’ve had a couple of issues charging at home with the locking in. Having plugged the car in I then lock it and while the mirrors are folding in the lock on the charge point has been making some crazy movements. I found that unlocking and locking the car again sorted it out.

What app have you found best for EV points? I’ve got Plug Share, Zap-Map & Pod Point but obviously a lot of points aren’t compatible with the HS (as I found out having registered with Ecotricity).

 

[Exdro]

Where can you get 12.57p per kWh?

 

[STOBBART]

I have had mine 8 days been back to dealership after 40 miles on clock enginemanigment came on spent 2 hrs there while they fixed the problem drove home it was alright next day out in car it came on again rang dealership up said waiting for a part from mg only got 300 miles on cloclk

 

[jollypolly]

I have had mine 8 days been back to dealership after 40 miles on clock enginemanigment came on spent 2 hrs there while they fixed the problem drove home it was alright next day out in car it came on again rang dealership up said waiting for a part from mg only got 300 miles on cloclk

i had the same prob it went back every month for 5 month and still couldnt sort it in the end they did me a like for like swop weith some cash paid for my tax and number plate change. good look

 

[JamieDaniels]

First off I'd like to say my 2023 HS PHEV is a good car and overall I like it! BUT... there are a few big problems, firstly the MG customer service, wow, what a joke!

I emailed them with a query about my car losing power in EV mode when changing gears (yes it has gears on the EV motor), the slow down really pulls the car back for a few seconds before pulling away, it caused a bit of a brown trouser moment when overtaking and I wanted to know if MG has a fix for this bad design flaw. The response from a chap at MG head office in the UK was that there is no problem with the car and I should be more careful when overtaking. Nice one Gary Smart, customer service coordinator!

I also asked why the late 2022 MG HS PHEV I'd test driven had 2 usb data ports at the front (which I need) and my new 2023 MG HS PHEV only has one! Now this is great! The MG HS I'd test driven didn't have DAB radio due to a chip shortage at the time of manufacture so instead of shipping out new cars without DAB radio (a few complaints I guess) they used one of the USB ports to power some cheap nasty DAB dongle which is hidden in the dash, I guess the USB was taken out to power and interact the infotainment system. This DAB dongle is nasty, it keeps freezing when playing, no facility to save stations, it doesn't have a good search system so good luck looking for any other station than the one you are listening to. It will also sometimes default to FM (which is even worse) when the car is turned on.

The thing that really get me about the whole DAB/ Infotainment system complaints is the fact they have just released a facelift version of the MG HS, same body just new lights, bumper and grill, plus an updated infotainment software with 2 usb ports back and a fully working DAB system, why can't they update and fix ours seeing as we were sold one with the spec showing a full functioning DAB system.

I reported these problems to my dear friend Gary Smart, who said there is no fixes for either, I mentioned people are complaining about these online on various forums, his response was MG don't listen to social media or forums.

If MG at least fixed the DAB system and sorted out the terrible customer service it would be for me a perfect car.




Overall when all is said and done, it is a solid, well built car, very luxurious feel to it and works well as I've never had any trouble so far. I just wish MG

 

[Wainw74]

Hi @JamieDaniels i jist posted a thread about this and yes fary smart is a BS