New owner

[Deleted member 13624]

(Anecdotally) you need to be doing 30+ mile single journeys before the energy lost through battery heating (even in winter) shows any benefit.

Ok fab I'll go turn this off hit a few 100% charges and see if range improves

 

[Deleted member 10041]

Ok fab I'll go turn this off hit a few 100% charges and see if range improves

It should noticeably improve just with switching that preheat function off

 

[Rolfe]

Any chance this will help to bring back my SoH or is that damage done?

I would try it and see. In any case, if you treat the battery right going forward, you'll probably halt any deterioration where it is. Also, if lack of balancing is the issue, then getting it properly balanced a few times should give you a true picture of the range.

I'm thinking now, your issues with range were of course what the car was reporting, not actually running out of charge at 150 miles or so. If we're right about the car not being balanced, the range guess could be way way out. This is a particular thing with the SR battery, that it really needs to be balanced to give you a correct estimate of range. It's perfectly possible the range will be fine once it's balanced and reporting it correctly.

 

[Deleted member 10041]

I would try it and see. In any case, if you treat the battery right going forward, you'll probably halt any deterioration where it is. Also, if lack of balancing is the issue, then getting it properly balanced a few times should give you a true picture of the range.

I'm thinking now, your issues with range were of course what the car was reporting, not actually running out of charge at 150 miles or so. If we're right about the car not being balanced, the range guess could be way way out. This is a particular thing with the SR battery, that it really needs to be balanced to give you a correct estimate of range. It's perfectly possible the range will be fine once it's balanced and reporting it correctly.

The pre heat function was killing SR:s during the winter there were cars struggling to get 120miles on a full charge. Then people realised they had come with the preheat function defaulted to on.

 

[Rolfe]

I remember being advised to turn off battery heating soon after I got the car. It was so early in my ownership that I didn't really notice how much difference it did or didn't make.

By the way, unless someone has been able to take the limiter off the car, I think you have an extra "ph" in there.

This thread has concentrated my mind very usefully. I've seen so many people banging on about how even the SR battery is better charged only to 80%, without thinking through the balancing issue.

Is the SR even capable of balancing at 80%? I've not seen any evidence of it doing that. Even if it is capable of doing it, is there any practical way to stop the charge at 80% without cutting power to the battery, which of course means it can't balance? Even if an owner is convinced by the "only go up to 80% most of the time even on the SR" argument, how do they practically achieve that? I've seen one or two people indicate they are running an SR battery on the 20%-80% schedule recommended for the LR, but they haven't explained what they're doing about balancing.

Accepting the possibility that there may indeed be some slight benefit even to the SR through not being charged to 100% every day (even though the people who seem to know what they're talking about say don't worry about it) is it possible that this is negated and indeed worse than negated by the battery not being given the chance to balance? We do know that the SR needs balancing more often than the LR, and that it will do it every single time it's taken to 100%, no matter how often that happens.

If any benefit of not always going up to 100% is more than wiped out by the downside of not balancing, that would certainly explain why MG has actively removed the capability from the app for the SR to stop at 80%, and owners are simply told to charge to 100% whenever they feel like it and not worry about it.

 

[Deleted member 13624]

Yeah it's been useful, thanks guys

One last point to get your thoughts on.

The garage did ofer to put me in a brand new MG4 Long Range for £5,000 more.

I paid 22k for my 2nd hand standard range with 8k miles.

The perks would be:
-- long range
-- brand new
-- healthy battery I could look after


Thr cons would be:
-- 5,000 cost
-- loose tinted windows (mine was one of the ones that came tinted)


Just keen to get your thoughts

 

[Susanna]

Personally, I wouldn’t worry about the battery issue. Once you have charged to 100% and let it balance several times (and then do this weekly), your range should increase. If the advertised range of the car meets your requirements, then I would say stick with it.

However, if you actually need the longer range frequently, and are willing to spend another £5000, then you should go for that.

 

[Deleted member 13624]

Personally, I wouldn’t worry about the battery issue. Once you have charged to 100% and let it balance several times (and then do this weekly), your range should increase. If the advertised range of the car meets your requirements, then I would say stick with it.

However, if you actually need the longer range frequently, and are willing to spend another £5000, then you should go for that.

It's like an 80 mile difference right?

We don't need it frequently, but the idea was to keep this car for a long while (purchased out right)

We are known for the odd spontaneous long distance trip 2 or 3 times a year but nothing a pit stop on a fast charger wouldn't solve...

After learning what I've learnt I'm inclined to stick with what we have. Maybe one day swap out to a 2nd hand XPower

 

[Tight Git]

There have been a few new Trophy's appearing at around £28k recently so I think there may be a bit of wiggle room on the £5k to upgrade.

While I am happy with my SR if you could afford the extra I would be tempted if you think the extra 50ish miles would be of great benefit.

 

[Deleted member 13624]

When you charge it to100% how long does it still draw current for while it balances the battery?

There have been a few new Trophy's appearing at around £28k recently so I think there may be a bit of wiggle room on the £5k to upgrade.

While I am happy with my SR if you could afford the extra I would be tempted if you think the extra 50ish miles would be of great benefit.

This is my mindset, I don't think the garage would put me in a new trophy for 5k more, I've seen the "new car deals" there are some really good deals on a trophy but this is an MG Dealership, I don't think they have the same deals.

I'm also happy with what I have, it's one of those longevity things for me, this option is available now and not forever.

 

[Rolfe]

I'm with Susanna, although I'm biassed because I have an SR and I love it. The battery is a lot easier to look after than the LR battery, once you realise you really can just bring it up to 100% once or twice a week and that's it. Once you've let yours do that and balance a few times so your GOM is telling you something that approximates to the truth, see what your range is. If it's OK for you, I'd say keep the car. The battery has probably done all the degrading it's going to do for quite some time. The LFP batteries are notoriously a lot longer-lived than the NMC ones (though to be fair the NMC ones also have a decent life-span), and if the range is enough for you 90% of the time, I think the car will be easier to live with in the long term.

The other thing to bear in mind is the sheer amount of bitching going on here about the Trophy software. It has a lot more capability than the SE, but that means there's a lot more to go wrong. The SE software has its little quirks and annoyances, but to my mind it seems a lot more stable than the Trophy's. You get used to the work-rounds, and it works. My phone has never come unbound from my car. My radio has never stopped working or forgotten all the presets. Since there's no built-in satnav, that's one less thing to go wrong. (Just use your phone.)

If your usual daily mileage is less than the range of your SR (once you find out what that is), and you don't mind doing an extra stop or two when you decide to take off, I think it's a no-brainer.

 

[Deleted member 13624]

I'm with Susanna, although I'm biassed because I have an SR and I love it. The battery is a lot easier to look after than the LR battery, once you realise you really can just bring it up to 100% once or twice a week and that's it. Once you've let yours do that and balance a few times so your GOM is telling you something that approximates to the truth, see what your range is. If it's OK for you, I'd say keep the car. The battery has probably done all the degrading it's going to do for quite some time. The LFP batteries are notoriously a lot longer-lived than the NMC ones (though to be fair the NMC ones also have a decent life-span), and if the range is enough for you 90% of the time, I think the car will be easier to live with in the long term.

The other thing to bear in mind is the sheer amount of bitching going on here about the Trophy software. It has a lot more capability than the SE, but that means there's a lot more to go wrong. The SE software has its little quirks and annoyances, but to my mind it seems a lot more stable than the Trophy's. You get used to the work-rounds, and it works. My phone has never come unbound from my car. My radio has never stopped working or forgotten all the presets. Since there's no built-in satnav, that's one less thing to go wrong. (Just use your phone.)

If your usual daily mileage is less than the range of your SR (once you find out what that is), and you don't mind doing an extra stop or two when you decide to take off, I think it's a no-brainer.

All valid points, I did drive a Trophy for a couple of days and I agree, the software on mine (SR) is much more stable and easy to get on with.