Newbie question Gridserve charging

[mikeb]

I have yet to charge my MG 5 LR on a public network but will need to next week. I have established that the charger I will be using will be a Gridserve charger. On their instruction website page it notes to connect the car before starting the charging process - is this correct for the MG - I thought I had read something about starting the charging first. Also how do I monitor how much charge the car has taken - so I know when to stop at 80%. Thanks in advance.

 

[Prof1967]

Never used Gridserve but would advise to follow their instructions. Plug in charging cable. Tap your contacless card or RFID to authorise charge.

If its similar to the BP charge points it should have a display that shows you the state of charge. Alternatively press the start button on the MG and it will bring up this info.

 

[Petriix]

The reliable order seems to be plug in, lock the car (or wait for the car to lock the charging port - listen for the high pitched motor noise) then initiate the charge.

 

[Les burrows]

Hi newbie Mikeb, and welcome to the forum, I hope you are enjoying your 5 LR well mike the answers to your question is quite easy really not sure which Gridserve station you are intending to charge at but they are all petty much the same and are very good I have used them quite a few times now with my 5SR with out any problems at all.
So first off you don’t need any apps to use them just a debit/credit card, when you drive into the charger you plug the CCS cable into you car and then touch you card on the card reader and wait in a very short time less than a minute on the screen you will see it will tell you how much charge you have in the car see my first picture
As you can see it’s says may car had 45% and is starting the charge at 38kw on the left this is after 00:01 minute
Then after 5/6 minutes it is giving you 50kw see second photo which is the what the MG5 is suppose to be rated at but I have seen a little bit more from time to time this was taken at 9 minutes now up to 57%
Will continue below

 

[Les burrows]

Hi mikeb sorry about that you see the pictures have taken you all the space in my first reply
So in the third picture you can see it has dropped back to 35kw after 25 minutes and the car will now charge slower from this point now on the right of the picture you will see a red X pointing to a button on the right of the screen you can see these buttons in picture number 4 so just press that button to stop the charge now if you find you can’t pull the plug from the car at this point just use you key fob to unlock the car and then it will pull out place it back in the holder and away yo go it’s as easy as that now all these pictures where taken the other day at Gridserve at the Moto services near Rugby which is between junction 1 and 2 at the bottom of the M6 this place is fantastic with 12 chargers there and no hassle at all as your driving up to the chargers you will see either a green or a blue light on the top of them the blue light means that is in use so head for a green one
You can see I put 20.06 KWh in cost for this was £6:00 30p KW hope this will help you sorry it’s in too parts.
Les

 

[Neil Fellows]

Hi mikeb sorry about that you see the pictures have taken you all the space in my first reply
So in the third picture you can see it has dropped back to 35kw after 25 minutes and the car will now charge slower from this point now on the right of the picture you will see a red X pointing to a button on the right of the screen you can see these buttons in picture number 4 so just press that button to stop the charge now if you find you can’t pull the plug from the car at this point just use you key fob to unlock the car and then it will pull out place it back in the holder and away yo go it’s as easy as that now all these pictures where taken the other day at Gridserve at the Moto services near Rugby which is between junction 1 and 2 at the bottom of the M6 this place is fantastic with 12 chargers there and no hassle at all as your driving up to the chargers you will see either a green or a blue light on the top of them the blue light means that is in use so head for a green one
You can see I put 20.06 KWh in cost for this was £6:00 30p KW hope this will help you sorry it’s in too parts.
Les

Thank you Les for taking the time to post that detailed reply, this is very helpful!

 

[mikeb]

Hi mikeb sorry about that you see the pictures have taken you all the space in my first reply
So in the third picture you can see it has dropped back to 35kw after 25 minutes and the car will now charge slower from this point now on the right of the picture you will see a red X pointing to a button on the right of the screen you can see these buttons in picture number 4 so just press that button to stop the charge now if you find you can’t pull the plug from the car at this point just use you key fob to unlock the car and then it will pull out place it back in the holder and away yo go it’s as easy as that now all these pictures where taken the other day at Gridserve at the Moto services near Rugby which is between junction 1 and 2 at the bottom of the M6 this place is fantastic with 12 chargers there and no hassle at all as your driving up to the chargers you will see either a green or a blue light on the top of them the blue light means that is in use so head for a green one
You can see I put 20.06 KWh in cost for this was £6:00 30p KW hope this will help you sorry it’s in too parts.
Les

Hi Les I am loving the car! Thank you so much for such a detailed and helpful reply - it has really helped to clarify the process.

 

[mikeb]

It just occurred to me that having seen quite a lot of conflicting information does the 5 LR charge on a rapid charger with the car unlocked and if it does do I need to do anything to enable the car to unlock the charge cable?

 

[Bogrole]

Once charge is cancelled, you will be able to pull out the cable.

 

[Prof1967]

The MG5 SR charges on rapid when unlocked so don't see why the LR should be any different.

Once you have stopped the charge the cable should release

 

[Petriix]

Yes, the SR charges on any AC or DC charger while unlocked. I always make sure that the charger has locked in place before starting a rapid charge - sometimes I lock the doors to ensure this happens promptly.

The difference is that, on DC, you can then unlock the doors without interrupting the charge whereas, on AC, charging pauses when you unlock the doors (but will resume after a short while).

 

[mikeb]

Once again thank you to the group for such helpful replies - I am probably over thinking the whole thing. Probably a bit like the fist time I ever put petrol in my car but that was 40+ years ago

 

[Les burrows]

Once again thank you to the group for such helpful replies - I am probably over thinking the whole thing. Probably a bit like the fist time I ever put petrol in my car but that was 40+ years ago


Well mikeb you had a good few answers to your question now it’s time to go and try it for yourself, but if I could give you just one more tip have a look on the Zap-Map or Gridserve Apps find one that’s not to far from home to try it out before you do that long drive and remember if you do need more help I’m sure there will be other EV drivers around that can help you out Generally most EV owners are very helpful to one another but I’m sure you will be fine
Les

 

[Gomev]

Once again thank you to the group for such helpful replies - I am probably over thinking the whole thing. Probably a bit like the fist time I ever put petrol in my car but that was 40+ years ago


Well mikeb you had a good few answers to your question now it’s time to go and try it for yourself, but if I could give you just one more tip have a look on the Zap-Map or Gridserve Apps find one that’s not to far from home to try it out before you do that long drive and remember if you do need more help I’m sure there will be other EV drivers around that can help you out Generally most EV owners are very helpful to one another bu5 I’m sure you will be fine
Les

Good advice for everyone there @Les burrows try a rapid charge to familiarise yourself with the process, even though it is not difficult, before you need to do one out of necessity.

 

[biffo]

Must admit, I used local Rapid charger after owning the car a day or two - think I did about 3% just to make sure it worked and I knew how to connect/authenticate/etc before a planned long drive. Always easier to learn and make mistakes when not in a hurry

 

[AnonymouseDriva]

Must admit, I used local Rapid charger after owning the car a day or two - think I did about 3% just to make sure it worked and I knew how to connect/authenticate/etc before a planned long drive. Always easier to learn and make mistakes when not in a hurry

likewise (after seeing that advice on here).

I tend to be the same with all things like that. Same goes for satnav / carplay etc. Have a couple of goes when you don't need it so there's less hassle when you do.

 

[mikeb]

First long run in the 5 yesterday, round trip of about 290 miles with 2 charges at Exeter M5 services on the way to Oakhampton and again on the way back. Thank you again for the advice from the group. Charging was very straightforward with no issues but unfortunately the charging infrastructure let things down. Gridserve have three charging points, 2 with one CCS and one CHAdeMO connector and one with 2 CCS. The charging point with the 2 CCS connectors was not working and on both occasions the other chargers were in use - I was not in a great hurry but waiting to get connected was a bit of a pain. I was also surprised to find that the charging points will only charge one car at a time and not feed the two connectors simultaneously. On the plus side the EV drivers that I met were are really friendly group of people with a sense of camaraderie that reminded me of my MG Midget driving days many years ago! The 5 performed faultlessly and was a pleasure to drive although I still get confused with some of the warning symbols and it took a while for me to figure out the speed limit function.

 

[m4rmite]

There's 2 gridserve chargers at lancaster services, northbound, in service.
It's a quiet service station, it feels from the 1970's once inside, and no queues when i arrived.
There was 1tesla m3 when i left that was charging, it was on 76% and had only been there 15 mins max before i left, so might have been utilising a quiet charger to top up before getting to the lakes.

If it helps on any searches for gridserve chargers northward.