NZ/Australia I smart App

[Thatphotoguy]

Have been told by my MG dealer that the MG Ismart app will not be available in NZ. Its not necessary I realise but it would be a nice to have considering they bang on about it in other countries. Is there anyone that knows if the app will be available in NZ... Or Australia?

 

[Coulomb]

Have been told by my MG dealer that the MG Ismart app will not be available in NZ.

That would be a shame. I wonder if the hardware would still be there (easier than pulling it out of the loom?), so that adventurous hackers tinkerers could set up their own servers and what not.

It seems unlikely. I imagine that all the manufacturers are very good at leaving things out that make the car cheaper to make. But presumably it could be bought as a spare part (for eye watering money, I imagine). In which case, OVMS starts looking good.

 

[charlie]

Unfortunate I don’t think that’ll happen.
The missing app and (for some reason) no vehicle to load (V2L) makes it less attractive than all the overseas reviews suggest. :|

 

[Coulomb]

and (for some reason) no vehicle to load (V2L)

Heh. I doubt that they provide a different inverter, so I'd expect the V2L to work just fine, as long as you make your own V2L adapter. See other threads about this. It turns out to be far cheaper (something like 1/10th the money) to make your own starting with an inexpensive Chinese made adapter for another vehicle. My guess is that they can't or won't justify the cost of making an MG branded V2L adapter with an Australian/New Zealand 10 A or 15 A power outlet.

Edit: this post has the link to the cheap Chinese adapter:

V2L - vehicle to load adapter / cable

I'll assume from for eloquent response you wish me to sell you one. €500 plus postage. Blimey! No thanks. (Was curious as to how much they retailed for.)

www.mgevs.com

Edit 2: since that post, we've settled on 470Ω (not 680Ω) as the ideal value (middle of the range of values that works).

 

[hmadsen]

I wonder if this is due to not being able to make a deal with a cell-supplier that supports data in NZ ?

 

[Thatphotoguy]

I wonder if this is due to not being able to make a deal with a cell-supplier that supports data in NZ ?

It's just Google though I would have thought. Of they have google carplay and apple functionality certainly the app capability is there

 

[hmadsen]

It's just Google though I would have thought. Of they have google carplay and apple functionality certainly the app capability is there

But Android auto and Google carplay are dependent on you connecting your android or apple device, and then it is essentially the phone that takes over the screen and everything is run off of the phone

 

[michaelgaunt]

I

I wonder if this is due to not being able to make a deal with a cell-supplier that supports data in NZ ?

they would have a worldwide deal rather than local ones.

 

[hmadsen]

I

they would have a worldwide deal rather than local ones.

Yes, but maybe the "worldwide" provider they use, do not cover NZ.

I dont expect them to have to go to different telco's in every country and make a deal, i would imagine they made a deal with, for example a specific telco in EU, and they would handle all of the cars, no matter what country they were sold to.

This also makes sense because only when you roam, are you usually able to use any telco's network in a country.

 

[michaelgaunt]

There are a number of providers who give coverage everywhere in the word for these small data bundles. They use their own and other networks, and the worldwide solutions certainly cover NZ and Australia.

tesla almost certainly does this and if will work in a country for a Tesla it can work in a country for any car company.

 

[Bryan Flanagan]

I suspect that we aren't getting the Internet connected version down here in New Zealand so there would be no WiFi unit in the car for the app on your cellphone to connect to, just as there is no WiFi unit in my current (Suzuki) for an app to connect to. This is quite different to your phone Bluetoothing to the entertainment system in a ZS EV or any other modern car. Personally I am quite happy not to have the car connecting to the Internet, that's an invitation to any script kiddy to hack in. I have already seen (unconfirmed to me) reports of Teslas and BMWs being hacked.

 

[michaelgaunt]

I suspect that we aren't getting the Internet connected version down here in New Zealand so there would be no WiFi unit in the car for the app on your cellphone to connect to, just as there is no WiFi unit in my current (Suzuki) for an app to connect to. This is quite different to your phone Bluetoothing to the entertainment system in a ZS EV or any other modern car. Personally I am quite happy not to have the car connecting to the Internet, that's an invitation to any script kiddy to hack in. I have already seen (unconfirmed to me) reports of Teslas and BMWs being hacked.

Given these cars have over the air software updates than there would have to be some connectivity . Could be just wifi which would be fine by me as that would also make the app work where we would want it the most...assuming the is an app of course.

 

[Bryan Flanagan]

Given these cars have over the air software updates than there would have to be some connectivity . Could be just wifi which would be fine by me as that would also make the app work where we would want it the most...assuming the is an app of course.

So my question then Michael is, do all of the new ZS EV get OTA updates, or do the non-Internet connected models need to go into the dealer for a USB-loaded update?

 

[Coulomb]

So my question then Michael is, do all of the new ZS EV get OTA updates, or do the non-Internet connected models need to go into the dealer for a USB-loaded update?

My understanding is that all the facelift models do OTA updates, and via cellular not Wifi [ edit: but see next post ], so unless all of New Zealand misses out on automatic updates, they will organise a deal with a local communications company.

It would be nice to know the details though.

 

[michaelgaunt]

My understanding is that all the facelift models do OTA updates, and via cellular not Wifi, so unless all of New Zealand misses out on automatic updates, they will organise a deal with a local communications company.

It would be nice to know the details though.

I’d have thought ota would be over wifi. Otherwise the mobile data plans would be prohibitive in any country. You tend to have very low volumes over mobile data as it’s expensive. MG will probably target maybe $2 per month data plan. So it would the kind of thing like remote lock or turning on heating where it is a tiny amount of data And probably similar to the ovsm plan.

Thats how Tesla manages it.

 

[zxspectrum]

The MG NZ website has i-Smart as one of the release features. I'd made the assumption that it was available based on that. Definitely some confusion around the state of the features NZ release.

 

[Thatphotoguy]

I've just downloaded it yesterday on Android but my partner couldn't find it on her iphone

 

[KiwiEV]

I installed the app last week on my OnePlus7TPro - haven't registered an account yet but it seems to work fine.

 

[KiwiEV]

So my question then Michael is, do all of the new ZS EV get OTA updates, or do the non-Internet connected models need to go into the dealer for a USB-loaded update?

OTA updates are limited to just the headunit software updates. Unlike a Tesla, there are no OTA updates for the BMS or other vehicle computers; only a dealer can update those.

Found elsewhere on this site: Software Update

 

[andyphev]

Have been told by my MG dealer that the MG Ismart app will not be available in NZ. Its not necessary I realise but it would be a nice to have considering they bang on about it in other countries. Is there anyone that knows if the app will be available in NZ... Or Australia?

There is a I smart app for Nz/aus it’s on App Store but I think it’s only for fully electric only