New S5 Trophy member

[MGS5CJB]

Hello so pleased to join this forum. I am a car enthusiast and have been driving for over 50 years.
This is a big change for me having had all
kinds of vehicles over the years mopeds motorcycles 3 wheelers my Reliant Regal kept the rain off but it sadly died when I rolled it one Saturday morning. My first 4 wheel car was a mini clubman estate and I owned two Rover 75’s each of which had well over 150,000 miles on the clock when I sold them so I am well versed in some of the history surrounding MG Rover and how it came to be swallowed up by SAIC. The move to electric is a massive step for me particularly in view of the rapidly changing moves by Government and the direction of travel of the motor industry which I sense is about to gain some form of reprieve for ICE power trains. Having just retired I felt it time to try something new and join the EV world. I am 3
days in having purchased a Piccadilly Blue S5 Trophy
after trading in my faithful and much loved Citroen C5 Aircross which has been fabulous. So here I am an EV owner with much to learn about this brave world of of electric vehicles. Have so far done just
over 100 miles on the dealer provided charge and loved every minute of it. My first real run is going to be around New Year to make the over 200 + mile journey from Lincolnshire to Southampton which I
must say is causing some trepidation around charging as it will no doubt need feeding more than once along the way.

 

[MG Clive]

Welcome to MGEVs @Mgs5CJB, best of luck on your big adventure in the new year.

 

[MGS5CJB]

Thanks Clive

 

[Loveclose]

You'll smash it.
Can always call in for coffee en route to Southampton!!
It's a little daunting facing public charging for the first time, but it's a breeze if you plan properly.
Get a few apps downloaded - Zapmap, and Electroverse if you have anything to do with Octopus. The Tesla App is a good one - it will show the public Tesla chargers that are available to all types of EVs and are the cheapest chargers around.
Good luck with your first EV experience - for the record, I have the same wagon in Piccadilly Blue too!!

 

[MGS5CJB]

Thanks for the encouragement didn’t realise
Tesla chargers could be used by non Tesla drivers I have Zapmap and Electroverse apps but not used them yet. Am not with Octopus but understand Electroverse works without similar to Tesla. Will certainly look into the Tesla App.
Hope you are enjoying the s5

 

[Loveclose]

Thanks for the encouragement didn’t realise
Tesla chargers could be used by non Tesla drivers I have Zapmap and Electroverse apps but not used them yet. Am not with Octopus but understand Electroverse works without similar to Tesla. Will certainly look into the Tesla App.
Hope you are enjoying the s5

Certainly am - and you picked the right colour imvho!!!!!
The Tesla app works just fine - but you may not find that MG is included in the list of car manufacturers when you enter the car details. It used to be, but for some unknown reason, MG stopped appearing in the list. You'll need to enter your car make as 'other' and enter the details as prompted. I haven't used a Tesla charger since I bought my S5, but they worked aok with my MG4 after the MG brand disappeared from the app.
There are loads of Tesla charging stations around - if you find a Tesla charging station and it's not on your Tesla app, then it's not a public charger. The charging points shown on your Tesla app will all be public ones as you are not a Tesla owner.

 

[MGS5CJB]

Thanks for the info much appreciated.

I like the blue colour too it took a bit of finding as the S5 seems to be selling like hot cakes at the moment

 

[Loveclose]

Thanks for the info much appreciated.

I like the blue colour too it took a bit of finding as the S5 seems to be selling like hot cakes at the moment

No probs - do update the forum as to how the first long trip goes!

 

[salty]

To the forum. And congrats on your new motor. Enjoy.

 

[MGS5CJB]

Will do thanks

 

[Ian Key]

Welcome.

I suggest you do a test charge at your nearest fast charger before you need to. You don't need to put a lot in but just so you have an idea what to expect.

One tip is that if the car and charger seem to be having problems communicating take the weight off the charging plug for a few seconds. The top two pins are the ones that carry the information and can sometimes make a bad connection preventing the electronic handshake.

 

[MGS5CJB]

Thanks for the tip Ian and the welcome will give the test a try

 

[blohot]

My first real run is going to be around New Year to make the over 200 + mile journey from Lincolnshire to Southampton

I just completed my first long distance drive from Newcastle to Southampton and back. You can read my post about my plans before the journey

Thread 'Long motorway round trip in MG S5EV – practical charging strategy & costs'

Dec 13, 2025

Sharing my approach to planning a long motorway journey in an my MGS5 Trophy, (Newcastle to Southampton and back), in case it helps others thinking about similar trips.

Key assumption (important):
Based on real use, I’m seeing about 160 miles at 80%, which means a realistic ~200 miles at 100% in winter motorway driving. I planned everything around this figure, not WLTP.

Charging approach:

• Start from home at 100%
• Use 1–2 well-placed ultra-rapid stops (IONITY) rather than lots of short charges
• Time charging with natural breaks (coffee /...

• blohot
• charging costs electric vehicle road trip ionity charging mg s5 ev mgs5 motorway range rapid charging winter driving
• Replies: 28
• Forum: MG MGS5 EV Forum

• 
• 

and my post on the real world data after my journey

Thread 'Long motorway round trip in MG S5EV – Update after completing the trip'

Dec 21, 2025

If you have not seen my earlier post on my charging plan, please do so first Long motorway round trip in MG S5EV – practical charging strategy & costs. This update is on the real world data based on my completed journey.

Update after completing the trip – what worked and what didn’t

I’ve now returned from my Newcastle ↔ Southampton trip and wanted to share how the charging plan worked out in practice.

Onward journey (Newcastle → Southampton)

• First stop was IONITY Sheffield at around 10:30 am. I charged 36 kWh at a cost of £15.50 (IONITY...

• blohot
• charging cost ev efficiency ionity charging long distance travel mg s5 ev mgs5 motorway driving real world range
• Replies: 24
• Forum: MG MGS5 EV Forum

• 
• 

Good luck with your trip.

 

[MGS5CJB]

Hello so pleased to join this forum. I am a car enthusiast and have been driving for over 50 years.
This is a big change for me having had all
kinds of vehicles over the years mopeds motorcycles 3 wheelers my Reliant Regal kept the rain off but it sadly died when I rolled it one Saturday morning. My first 4 wheel car was a mini clubman estate and I owned two Rover 75’s each of which had well over 150,000 miles on the clock when I sold them so I am well versed in some of the history surrounding MG Rover and how it came to be swallowed up by SAIC. The move to electric is a massive step for me particularly in view of the rapidly changing moves by Government and the direction of travel of the motor industry which I sense is about to gain some form of reprieve for ICE power trains. Having just retired I felt it time to try something new and join the EV world. I am 3
days in having purchased a Piccadilly Blue S5 Trophy
after trading in my faithful and much loved Citroen C5 Aircross which has been fabulous. So here I am an EV owner with much to learn about this brave world of of electric vehicles. Have so far done just
over 100 miles on the dealer provided charge and loved every minute of it. My first real run is going to be around New Year to make the over 200 + mile journey from Lincolnshire to Southampton which I
must say is causing some trepidation around charging as it will no doubt need feeding more than once along the way.

 

[MGS5CJB]

Thought I would update our first long range adventure. Well things started off fine with an overnight charge to 90% with the Granny charger.Then when I came to put the suitcases in the boot it just wouldn’t lock despite previously testing with the same but empty cases. After much cursing I eventually took the parcel shelf out and re stacked the cases and this worked. We then set off from Lincolnshire around 11 am. The car ran well and we decided to stop for a brunch break at the BP pulse station near Warwick we were down from 90% to around 42% and decided to make this a charge stop. Unfortunately charger not working. So we looked again on Zap app and it showed chargers available at the holiday inn/ McDonald’s which are next to each other just as you head into Warwick.No joy several charges but all in use and two waiting. We looked again and headed for Lidl by this time it’s was around 3 pm. We found a rapid charger that wasn’t in use and we’re all set to use via our Lidl plus app. We tried to get it to work several times following the process but it wouldn’t charge. Not only that but we could get the charger out of the cars charge point. So it’s Sunday and Lidl shuts at 4 pm and you get 90 mins free parking . In desperation I rang MG assistance explaining the position . They said the would have somebody with me within the our but their technical assistance team may ring in the meantime. Thought I would give it a go using my app instead of the wife’s and the car started charging. By this time we were frozen and got into the car which now let us in. We rang MG assist and they said it may be okay now but to ring if we had any further concerns. While waiting I check our accounts and noted that on one it showed 4 lots of £40 were pending and on the other one lot of £40. We contacted Lidl and expressed our concerns.They were quite reassuring and hopefully the pending amounts will not go through. We also broached the position re the parking as by now we were over 90 mins and there is the prospect of a 90 fine. On checking my account the £40 pre spend had changed to an actual of £21.40 for the 90% charge.
All was okay the car completed at 90% and we were on our way again just after 5 pm. We arrived at our hotel in Southampton at 7.15pm. This has been quite an experience into the world of EV’s. The car behaved well and I am begging to really like it but I hope things will get more straightforward for the future. We will be heading back next Saturday breaking our journey in the Cotswolds so fingers crossed for a more straightforward return trip.

 

[Archev]

Thought I would update our first long range adventure. Well things started off fine with an overnight charge to 90% with the Granny charger.Then when I came to put the suitcases in the boot it just wouldn’t lock despite previously testing with the same but empty cases. After much cursing I eventually took the parcel shelf out and re stacked the cases and this worked. We then set off from Lincolnshire around 11 am. The car ran well and we decided to stop for a brunch break at the BP pulse station near Warwick we were down from 90% to around 42% and decided to make this a charge stop. Unfortunately charger not working. So we looked again on Zap app and it showed chargers available at the holiday inn/ McDonald’s which are next to each other just as you head into Warwick.No joy several charges but all in use and two waiting. We looked again and headed for Lidl by this time it’s was around 3 pm. We found a rapid charger that wasn’t in use and we’re all set to use via our Lidl plus app. We tried to get it to work several times following the process but it wouldn’t charge. Not only that but we could get the charger out of the cars charge point. So it’s Sunday and Lidl shuts at 4 pm and you get 90 mins free parking . In desperation I rang MG assistance explaining the position . They said the would have somebody with me within the our but their technical assistance team may ring in the meantime. Thought I would give it a go using my app instead of the wife’s and the car started charging. By this time we were frozen and got into the car which now let us in. We rang MG assist and they said it may be okay now but to ring if we had any further concerns. While waiting I check our accounts and noted that on one it showed 4 lots of £40 were pending and on the other one lot of £40. We contacted Lidl and expressed our concerns.They were quite reassuring and hopefully the pending amounts will not go through. We also broached the position re the parking as by now we were over 90 mins and there is the prospect of a 90 fine. On checking my account the £40 pre spend had changed to an actual of £21.40 for the 90% charge.
All was okay the car completed at 90% and we were on our way again just after 5 pm. We arrived at our hotel in Southampton at 7.15pm. This has been quite an experience into the world of EV’s. The car behaved well and I am begging to really like it but I hope things will get more straightforward for the future. We will be heading back next Saturday breaking our journey in the Cotswolds so fingers crossed for a more straightforward return trip.

A baptism of fire. We’ve all been there for our first forays into ev travel. I promise it gets easier as we learn to think electric and plan ahead a bit.

 

[Ian Key]

We tried to get it to work several times following the process but it wouldn’t charge. Not only that but we could get the charger out of the cars charge point.

As I've mentioned before if the charger doesn't charge take the weight off the cable so the top two pins of the plug make good contact with the car's charging port. They carry the data needed for the car and charger to do their electronic handshake. Once this has happened you can let go, it only takes a few seconds.

While waiting I check our accounts and noted that on one it showed 4 lots of £40 were pending and on the other one lot of £40.

It's worth getting an Electroverse card and linking a debit/credit card to it. You don't get the £40 pre authorisation charge and you don't have to be an Octopus customer to use one.

Octopus Electroverse

 

[blohot]

Unfortunately charger not working.

I was glad that I used the Ionity network because the app clearly shows when each charger was last used. For instance, it would say that x charger was last used 30 mins ago and then you can rest assured that it would work. I only ever had to wait for around 5 mins once in the 5 times I used the network which is not bad at all.

 

[stevedee]

I'm really sorry that your first long trip was so tricky.
We are half way through our first ( 500 mile ) long trip from Bognor to Frodsham.
We left home with 98% and needed our first loo + coffee break between Oxford & Birmingham. The single Gridserv charger at the services was free, so after connecting the cable & swiping my credit card, we had coffee. Returned to car & we were already back up to 80%. It couldn't have been easier, but it was 89p/kW. If we could have held out for another 20 mins we could have charged for 49p at (I think) Cherwell.
So its going well, we just need a bit more bladder control so we can reach cheaper chargers.
Oh, our car is also Piccadilly Blue.

 

[MGS5CJB]

Fingers Crossed

As I've mentioned before if the charger doesn't charge take the weight off the cable so the top two pins of the plug make good contact with the car's charging port. They carry the data needed for the car and charger to do their electronic handshake. Once this has happened you can let go, it only takes a few seconds.


It's worth getting an Electroverse card and linking a debit/credit card to it. You don't get the £40 pre authorisation charge and you don't have to be an Octopus customer to use one.

Octopus Electroverse

Thanks Ian did try taking weight off the cable and do have an Electroverse card but Lidl also linked to two individual debit cards linked and it took the 4 pre payments. I am sure it will be sorted and it is hopefully a one off the main thing is we here. Not the worst Southampton run we’ve had on the way back one year a Shell forecourt attendendant filled our M Class Diesel Merc with Petrol ! 5 hours later the AA were still draining the twin saddle tanks . She’ll eventually paid out compensation after a long process. Joys of Motoring