Range concerns on S5

[Loveclose]

Hi everyone.....

Had my S5 over a month and generally very pleased with it so far.

However, I am a little concerned over the range I'm getting.

I know it's the wrong time of year to be expecting big range numbers near to what the manufacturer claims, but this is worse than my previous MG4.

I did two 110 mile long trips in appalling weather, resulting in a reading of 2.8m/kwhr.

And just this week, my battery is at 50%, with a range prediction of 91 miles (with aircon on)

Is this par for the course with the S5, or has the poor 110 mile journey affected range prediction negatively. The 110 mile journeys were at night, with everything on - wipers, lights, the lot and loads of water on the road, wind, rain......etc!!!!!!!

Thoughts welcome - on the following....
Reset the trip following the poor motorway journeys.
Accept that this is the norm for winter
Go to the dealer and ask for the battery to be checked.....

 

[Rei]

Even in very bad weather with the aircon on, I've been seeing 3.8-3.9 mi/kWh.

The only other thing I can suggest is to run the battery right down to 5%, and then charge it up to 100%, and see if it recalibrates.

 

[Kenp1]

Sounds about the same as what I'm seeing in the MG4 in the last week, it seems to have gone down with the temperature. Journeys have mostly been motorway, which is always worse.

 

[Loveclose]

Even in very bad weather with the aircon on, I've been seeing 3.8-3.9 mi/kWh.

The only other thing I can suggest is to run the battery right down to 5%, and then charge it up to 100%, and see if it recalibrates.

Yep....no long journeys planned, so will run it right down and recharge to full.
Your 3.8/3.9....is that mixed or motorway driving??

 

[Rei]

Yep....no long journeys planned, so will run it right down and recharge to full.
Your 3.8/3.9....is that mixed or motorway driving??

Mixed but a fair bit of motorway. There are some roadworks around here so some of it is at 50.

One other thing you could try is pre-heating the battery before you set off.

 

[Loveclose]

Mixed but a fair bit of motorway. There are some roadworks around here so some of it is at 50.

One other thing you could try is pre-heating the battery before you set off.

I've never heated the battery either in the MG4 or this S5!!
Never quite grasped it...mainly as I charge through the Ohme App....
Pre-heating....is thus done through i-Smart, the car, or whilst charging?

 

[Rei]

I've never heated the battery either in the MG4 or this S5!!
Never quite grasped it...mainly as I charge through the Ohme App....
Pre-heating....is thus done through i-Smart, the car, or whilst charging?

In the app if you scroll down and click on the battery there is a toggle for "battery heating", but I've never tried it.

You numbers do look a bit low, even in the cold and wet at 70.

 

[Loveclose]

In the app if you scroll down and click on the battery there is a toggle for "battery heating", but I've never tried it.

You numbers do look a bit low, even in the cold and wet at 70.

This the i_Smart App?? - if so, does it need the charger attached, and would it work if the programme for charging is Ohme controlled? Cheers!

 

[Rei]

This the i_Smart App?? - if so, does it need the charger attached, and would it work if the programme for charging is Ohme controlled? Cheers!

It's that app. Sorry I don't know how it works or what it is compatible.

 

[tsedge]

A normal drop of range with EVs in winter is 25-30%. Certain journeys can be worse, especially if you are using the heater a lot and there's a strong head wind.

Be careful about comparing efficiency with other people, they often drive in different ways and/or have routes without hills, headwinds, lots of start/stop traffic etc... You may never achieve their figures. And occasionally they are rounding up / putting things in the best light.

It is important to regularly charge to 100% (at least monthly) to balance the battery, that can affect the predicted range.

What matters really is comparing with your own summer efficiency, since then it is apples to apples with the same driver. Now you won't have that data until next summer, but if you take your current winter range and add 30%, how far away is that from the quoted WLTP range? WLTP is ALWAYS optimistic, so don't expect to match that but getting 85% of it is normal in summer.

 

[tsedge]

This the i_Smart App?? - if so, does it need the charger attached, and would it work if the programme for charging is Ohme controlled? Cheers!

Yes it is the iSmart App.

It shouldn't care if the charger is attached or not and it isn't affected by the Ohme. It directly controls the car's functions.

Most people haven't had much range benefit pre-heating their batteries - though it is worth trying. Of course the pre-heat takes energy itself. Usually the pre-heating is used to enable faster en-route rapid charging for a long journey, e.g. if you expect to charge near the start of your journey.

If charging it is later in a long journey, the battery will probably have heated up anyway.

 

[Jazzyboy]

I am new to EVs and I am also getting these type of outputs but my research pointed me to expect it. Battery don't like the cold.

 

[LenEV2016]

180-190 miles is pretty normal for an mg4 trophy in cold weather like we are experiencing see no reason why the S5 would be much different

 

[tsedge]

180-190 miles is pretty normal for an mg4 trophy in cold weather like we are experiencing see no reason why the S5 would be much different

It is supposed to be significantly more efficient than the 4. Was one of the surprising things on launch.

 

[LenEV2016]

It is supposed to be significantly more efficient than the 4. Was one of the surprising things on launch.

I find that surprising also as the 4 is a pretty slippery shape and rides closer to the ground

 

[tsedge]

I find that surprising also as the 4 is a pretty slippery shape and rides. Loser to the ground

That's what was so surprising but the S5 is significantly lighter and a more efficient overall design, which shows that MG can focus on efficiency when they want to.

It doesn't break any records but it is promising for the future. The MGS6 is a lot bigger so again sacrifices efficiency for space, so that one doesn't seem to be anything special.

We are nearly 5 years on from the MG4's design, so they should be doing a lot better now.