New S5 Owner checking in

[MG Clive]

There are obviously many people for whom granny charging won't work, but equally, there will be quite a few of us for whom it is perfectly adequate, and the most sensible choice.

Absolutely true, horses for courses.

All I am doing is trying to counter the view that everyone is better off with 7kW home charging. It ain't necessarily so.

But if if it wasn't for the purchase and installation cost, and the physical restrictions of some properties, a proper 7kw home charger is better in every way.

 

[TimothyN]

That does remind me of the old joke "…but apart from that, Mrs Lincoln, did you enjoy the play?"

Yes, I agree that if you put aside such mundane considerations as cost and practicalities, it is always the best choice!

 

[stevedee]

It does trouble me, that people living in short term lets (like my son) will/do have problems with EV ownership, especially in properties with no off-street parking. Even using a granny lead is not always possible if you can't get your car close enough to a suitable 13A socket.

A few years ago I seem to remember certain politicians & commentators painting a rosy picture of streets lined with low cost kerb-side chargers.

We can't expect a nationwide EV future without a meaningful programme of urban electrification.

There needs to be a targeted financial package to address these issues, if the gov are [still] interested in maximising EV use and minimising fossil fuelled vehicles.

 

[dx4100]

I think they are expecting companies like connectedKerb to take up the challenge.

I agree that it's probably going to need more money throwing at it at some point.

 

[EvTek23]

@stevedee, I agree, those who are unable to charge an ev at their property are at a disadvantage, and will probably not be swayed into ownership because of this problem.
@dx4100, look at the failed promise by BT to convert their disused cable distribution cabinets into ev charge points, they only ever converted one, and then pulled out siting it not to be an uneconomical business model.

Ev take up has not helped by standard rate VAT levied on commercial charge points, and the perception that there isn't anywhere to charge an ev, or huge queues when they get there.
There are so many other factors stacking up against ev ownership too, such as now paying VED for the first time, loosing congestion charge exemption in London, the introduction of a pay per mile scheme for ev's from 2028.

It was decided many years ago that this would be the transport strategy forward from 2030 to allow both manufactures and the public to change. All we've seen is watering down of the policy and lobbying, that has moved the date to 2035, and now Europe effectively cancelling its ev policy to perhaps 2040. It's almost as though no one cares anymore about the pollution that the introduction of ev's worldwide was trying to reduce. The only hope is the zero emissions mandate that is still in operation will be an incentive from the manufacturers, new ev's are being released at a pace now, so maybe the whole changeover will be lead by the availability only of ev's as new cars in the coming years.
So I applaud those like ourselves who are trying to move forward to the new motoring era with whatever they can do to make it work for themselves.

 

[Loveclose]

As far as I'm aware, a home charger for the S5 means either granny or 7kW charger.
I appreciate you feel it is tricky for your home situation to get a charger installed, but it's worth investigating, seriously. Considerably easier, quicker and very cheap to run the car.
Belated congrats on your S5 purchase - I've had mine since the end of October, and am looking forward to better range in the warmer months next year. Still acceptable though!

 

[derekmines]

As I'm off work for the Christmas period and have a decent length journey to do tomorrow I had to investigate the local public charging options earlier.

I signed up for Electroverse when I first got the car, their card arrived the other day so I chose a local charger from their app (rated at up to 150 kW) and headed over there with a book.

First impression didn't go well when the Electroverse card wouldn't work, the app was fine though and fairly soon I was charging.

Second impression also not so positive as the charging rate wouldn't go above 50 kW which meant I sat reading my book for quite some time as I was at 53% to begin.

Not quite as long as I was expecting though as the charging suddenly stopped at 85% and frankly by that stage I wanted my dinner so gave up and went home!

Compared with the <5 minutes to add 500 miles of range to my old Cayenne, the only positive really is that the cost was only £17

I suspect I'll need another public charge tomorrow so will see how that goes but on today's experience I think I'll be using one of my other cars for longer runs wherever possible.

 

[Bam Bam]

Second impression also not so positive as the charging rate wouldn't go above 50 kw/h

Was this because the charger was maxing out at 50kW or because the car was the limiting factor?

If the car, could it be because the battery was too cold? Or, that it was over 50% and so not giving full speed?

This is the charging curve reported in one source....

MG MGS5 EV Long Range charging curve & performance | EVKX.net

Below is the charging curve for MG MGS5 EV Long Range, illustrating the charging speed at various battery levels. Additionally, graphs for range and time provide comprehensive details on charging performance.

evkx.net

 

[derekmines]

I don't know to be honest, it's a huge charging station local to me, has 10 chargers on site and I was the only car there.... it was pretty cold outside though, so maybe the weather / car was the limiting factor.

 

[Geoff22]

Curiously, the BS says that EV rated mains sockets are marked EV on the BACK of the socket face plate. Obviously, you can’t read the mark once the socket is wired up and screwed into place.

However, EV sockets are only single sockets. So, if it’s a double socket, you don’t need to unscrew it to know that it’s not EV rated.

Finally, charging an electric car is different from running an oven. The oven element isn’t on continuously, as it switches off once the oven is at the required temperature, giving the socket a chance to cool down.