Range on display after full charge -Norm and Eco

[Sparky19]

Hi all
144 Norm and 159 Eco was displayed after a full charge, does this sound correct for this time of year?
O, our MgZs ev is at MG Exeter at the moment with a couple of small issues, it seems that any warranty work has to go through a system called 'Snow Reporting' (a great name for this time of year!)I've been informed that's communication between China and UK. They have had our car for two full days and seems like tomorrow as well. Waiting again from China!

 

[Nibloprice]

I have 178 shown on eco mode after an overnight granny charge to full. Unfortunately that doesn't mean thats what you get. If you are on a motorway expect that to drop to 150 or so. On city roads i think that would be possible, and even more.

 

[Sparky19]

Maybe charging on a 7kw system as we do technically could be the reason, I certainly would love to see 178, maybe I’ll try a Granny charge next.

 

[Frank]

Hi Sparky 19 and Everyone else,

First of all please don't think because your Guess oh Meter (nicknamed that for a very good reason) says 178,200,150 etc etc means you will get that range, you most probably WON'T. There are so many factors that effect the range that it is impossible to predict for every one and their car. The only range I concern myself with (and probably most of you as well if you are being truthful to yourself) is the range you will get on a long trip driving mainly on roads where you will most likely be driving between 60 and 70 with the odd burst maybe up to 97 if you are that way inclined. Anyway the best you will probably get is 120 in winter and maybe 140 in summer for these trips, and that's from full to empty driving very economically. These figures should be used to plan your charging stops and if you are going to use the 120 and 140 as a rule even then you may be dicing with "shit, about to run out of juice" feeling as you vehicle will be at nearly empty then and if there is a problem with the planned charger you might not have enough to get to the next one. I use 80 miles maximum as my planning figures just to allow for the unexpected charger problem*. Around town doing less than 100 a day (which is a hell of a lot of driving in a Town/City for a day (unless you are a Taxi Driver) I DON'T really care about the range or efficiency as I am plugging it in every night to charge up ready for the next day, so in summary, drive with gay abandon in City/Towns but on long trips if you want to maximise your range drive with a feather foot and keep the speed down (which I won't do on a Motorway, main reason why I use 80 miles on long trips and to avoid charger problems*). Anyway before this rant I meant to mention to those who "only" get 150-155 on their GOM range after a full charge (and it does NOT make any difference in indicated range no matter HOW or what lead you use to charge it) is to make sure your HVAC is OFF. I used to get the 150-55 range and wondered for months why everyone else got 170 -180 ish on their cars until one day whilst checking the range (in eco mode of course) I pressed the HVAC button and lo and behold it went up to 177 and that is roughly where it sits now with the odd + or - either side by 1 or 2 miles. I always thought that the HVAC was off if you were not either heating or cooling, how wrong was I, you need to use the big button to turn it off and for over 5 months I was doing it wrong. You guys showing only 150 ish, on a full charge, press the HVAC button and see what happens!!!!

Regards

Frank

* Charger, broken, occupied by ICE Car, occupied by a EV plonker using it as a car park, etc etc


PS For those new to the MG ZS EV this pillock here took a while to realise that the AC charging should NOT be used on long trips as it is too slow. I thought at one point if the AC charger could pump out 50Kwh then my car could take that, I didn't click until after many slow charges using AC as the DC was in use that the onboard charger of the MG would only take a max of 7Kwh. This is one point that the MG dealers should definitely mention to the new buyers, but you live and learn.

Frank

PPS For new guys the DC charging using the CCS (Combined Charging System) bypasses the cars on board charger. and puts DC directly into the battery pack and a lot of it, hence why cars with efficient battery cooling can accept higher charge rates as the batteries heat up a lot during DC charging.

 

[KasEV]

Hi Folks,
I am a bit of a range fanatic so please forgive me if I keep writing about it.
@Sparky19 your question is not one that can be answered as each individual's range depends mainly on their driving style and driving conditions.
The range that your vehicle will display does not actually depend solely on the fullness of your battery which is an assumption a lot of folk make.
The other assumption is that the GOM range predicts exactly the distance one will be able to drive. That is also false.
All the range tells you is that if you drive in exactly the same manner as you did within the last 3 to 10 min before checking the range, then the expected distance you will travel is X or Y.
The way the range meter works this out is by computing your driving against your battery capacity as compare to a WLTP standard.
So depending on you driving style and driving conditions and battery capacity your range will be any figure x, y or z
When you start your EV today in the morning, and you last drove yesterday it will use yesterday's data to guess today's range. Since conditions yesterday are not exactly as today the range mete can never be 100% accurately.
A lot of Folk do not understand this range issue and it causes a lot of heartache as people struggle to achieve the excellent ranges others with good EV driving habits achieve when they have not acquire EV driving habits as yet.
If you are new to EVs, I will suggest you read up on how to drive EV's and gain some good habits such as one pedal driving, maximum regen use etc. Unfortunately max regen use does not just mean putting the mode on regen 3. Max regen is actually achieved by forward anticipatory single pedal driving etc. Also learn power management and journey planning.
The number you should look at is your miles per kWh.
If you are doing things right your m per kWh values will be high and your range will increase. If you are not cracking it right your m per kWh will be low and so will be you range.
My advice is to have in mind a mixed range of about 135 to 140 to start with then as you learn to drive and power manage your EV your numbers will improve. If not you will soon become frustrated when your range figures are low compared to others.
Official range figures are
WLTP Mixed cycle 163 miles and city 230 miles. In the summer temp effect will result in higher figures estimates 180 to 185 and 230 to 250.
Only few are ever able to achieve something close every single day. Best approach try to work out a driving style and power management that keeps your m per kWh at 3.4 and above.
If you get your m per kWh far over 4 then you are in super excellent state.

 

[KasEV]

@Frank, your comment about HVAC is an interesting one.
A friend has made same comment to me a while back but I could not get my head round it. We know HVAC 'off' increases range by upto 10miles in any setting.
I therefore find it strange that HVAC 'on' while charging will increase range.....

 

[Frank]

Hi KasEV,

Maybe my post was not as clear as I intended it. My point for Sparky was that when taking the range reading after a full charge is to make sure that the HVAC was off. In my car after a full charge for many months the range shown in Eco was always 150-154 this was because I never turned the HVAC off. Don't forget my statement that I thought the HVAC was off if it wasn't cooling or heating.

After a full charge put the car in eco mode and toggle the HVAC ON and OFF and the range will show 150+ with HVAC ON and 170+ with it OFF.

I don't know (because I haven't checked) if switching off ready to charge automatically puts HVAC off if you had it on as you switched off. However it doesn't matter as I know I NEVER had the HVAC off properly for months and it always charged ok.

For months I thought I had a duff battery pack because on checking my range after a full charge I never showed any more than 150+ and it used to worry me, I even spoke to MG head office, but before they answered I sussed out my problem.

Hope this is clearer, I was only trying to let Sparkey see a higher reading but we all know that doesn't mean you will get that range. He/She was assuming there was something wrong with the way the car was being charged, there wasn't.


Regards

Frank

 

[KasEV]

@Frank,
Thanks for explanation.
Yes. You are right. The highest readings are always with HVAC off plus eco mode so it makes sense to check by switching on and off is one is not sure.

 

[Sparky19]

Hi

Hi Folks,
I am a bit of a range fanatic so please forgive me if I keep writing about it.
@Sparky19 your question is not one that can be answered as each individual's range depends mainly on their driving style and driving conditions.
The range that your vehicle will display does not actually depend solely on the fullness of your battery which is an assumption a lot of folk make.
The other assumption is that the GOM range predicts exactly the distance one will be able to drive. That is also false.
All the range tells you is that if you drive in exactly the same manner as you did within the last 3 to 10 min before checking the range, then the expected distance you will travel is X or Y.
The way the range meter works this out is by computing your driving against your battery capacity as compare to a WLTP standard.
So depending on you driving style and driving conditions and battery capacity your range will be any figure x, y or z
When you start your EV today in the morning, and you last drove yesterday it will use yesterday's data to guess today's range. Since conditions yesterday are not exactly as today the range mete can never be 100% accurately.
A lot of Folk do not understand this range issue and it causes a lot of heartache as people struggle to achieve the excellent ranges others with good EV driving habits achieve when they have not acquire EV driving habits as yet.
If you are new to EVs, I will suggest you read up on how to drive EV's and gain some good habits such as one pedal driving, maximum regen use etc. Unfortunately max regen use does not just mean putting the mode on regen 3. Max regen is actually achieved by forward anticipatory single pedal driving etc. Also learn power management and journey planning.
The number you should look at is your miles per kWh.
If you are doing things right your m per kWh values will be high and your range will increase. If you are not cracking it right your m per kWh will be low and so will be you range.
My advice is to have in mind a mixed range of about 135 to 140 to start with then as you learn to drive and power manage your EV your numbers will improve. If not you will soon become frustrated when your range figures are low compared to others.
Official range figures are
WLTP Mixed cycle 163 miles and city 230 miles. In the summer temp effect will result in higher figures estimates 180 to 185 and 230 to 250.
Only few are ever able to achieve something close every single day. Best approach try to work out a driving style and power management that keeps your m per kWh at 3.4 and above.
If you get your m per kWh far over 4 then you are in super excellent state.

Hi Kas
A very interesting read and thank you.
A learning curve I will enjoy to improve that m per KWH.

 

[Sparky19]

Hi KasEV,

Maybe my post was not as clear as I intended it. My point for Sparky was that when taking the range reading after a full charge is to make sure that the HVAC was off. In my car after a full charge for many months the range shown in Eco was always 150-154 this was because I never turned the HVAC off. Don't forget my statement that I thought the HVAC was off if it wasn't cooling or heating.

After a full charge put the car in eco mode and toggle the HVAC ON and OFF and the range will show 150+ with HVAC ON and 170+ with it OFF.

I don't know (because I haven't checked) if switching off ready to charge automatically puts HVAC off if you had it on as you switched off. However it doesn't matter as I know I NEVER had the HVAC off properly for months and it always charged ok.

For months I thought I had a duff battery pack because on checking my range after a full charge I never showed any more than 150+ and it used to worry me, I even spoke to MG head office, but before they answered I sussed out my problem.

Hope this is clearer, I was only trying to let Sparkey see a higher reading but we all know that doesn't mean you will get that range. He/She was assuming there was something wrong with the way the car was being charged, there wasn't.


Regards

Frank

Hi Frank
Thanks for that info, and with the HVAC turned off you still get the fresh air if required. Snap, I asked MG Exeter to run diagnostics on batteries all okay! It’s a great car!

 

[KasEV]

@Sparky19,
Enjoy your car. I am sure you will soon be posting data that will make you the envy of the "range seekers".

 

[ARvanHAS]

Well at least that would explain why it is there. Couldn't think off one reason why you'd want to turn HVAC completely off or why it would have this function at all.

 

[Simon S]

I understand that switching to Eco mode increases the predicted range on the GOM. But if you drive in the same style on the same roads, at the same temperature etc., does Eco actually make any difference? My theory is that it doesn't, it only makes it harder to accelerate hard (I find its best use is to avoid skidding when wet or icey). If it does make a difference, why did MG make it difficult to use (always having to change modes when starting up)? (That may be one for the philosophers, rather than the drivers!)

 

[Frank]

I understand that switching to Eco mode increases the predicted range on the GOM. But if you drive in the same style on the same roads, at the same temperature etc., does Eco actually make any difference? My theory is that it doesn't, it only makes it harder to accelerate hard (I find its best use is to avoid skidding when wet or icey). If it does make a difference, why did MG make it difficult to use (always having to change modes when starting up)? (That may be one for the philosophers, rather than the drivers!)

Hi Simon,

As far as driving is concerned, yes I agree, even in sport mode, a light foot on the throttle and reduced speed (I suppose once up to a speed in cruise control, for example 50mph the car will still most likely draw the same current no matter what mode you are in, I could be wrong) makes all the difference. The only consideration I would make is that unlike Normal and Sport mode the A/C works at FULL efficiency whereas in Eco the A/C and I think even the heating goes into Eco mode as well in that it will draw less current but whether that makes much difference on the range, I don't know.

Regards

Frank

 

[KasEV]

@Simon S, @Frank and Folks,
Hi. Simon S your question is very interesting not because it has a complex answer but rather because I am told by my EV boffins that it indicates you are consciously making an effort to develop good EV driving skills even if it is causing you some irritation at the moment.
The Boffins advise..... don't worry keep at it and you will get better.
Now to the answer.
YES Eco mode makes a difference to your energy consumption across all you energy demand circuits with the non essential ones suffering the most.
So if you drive the same route in the same conditions with the same drive style eco will mean less energy consumption and normal be you normal expected consumption for your conditions and driving style. Sports mode will see your energy consumption increase.
The eco driving issue my dear friend is not in principle solely about range as the seekers will have you believe. It is about keeping cash in your pocket. Each time you drive eco for any journey no matter how short you save a few pence. That is the issue not range for the sake of range.
Also note eco driving means more than putting the car in eco mode.
One can actually be in eco mode and drive so badly that they will use more energy than someone doing the same distance in the same conditions in normal mode with efficient EV driving.
For eco mode to bring you the decrease in spending/cost for charging your car please continue your effort and cultivate efficient eco EV driving skills.