Recent BMS update

[Cocijo]

This sounds a lot like letting your 4 Year old play with your laptop

 

[Miles Roberts CG]

I presented my car for 1st service beginning Nov and declined comfort update as I wasn't going to spend £140 (or maybe he said £114?) upgrading a lease car. This was the only software I was told was available. After service I asked if any error messages were logged on car computer as I had had several instances where "MG pilot quit" on me. They don't actually check log during service, and I was told to return vehicle if I wanted it investigated. On way home the pilot quit and I turned back, left car running and instructed technician to connect up whilst error code active. After a while I was told technician is loading new software which improves MG pilot. I must also return in a couple of weeks to get the wiring harness changed under recall (but was told it was to the passenger mirror, so who knows what was really installed...). I noticed no difference in GUI, but do believe pilot worked better. I was also able to charge with doors unlocked. After wiring harness changed, I noticed that the range was permanently displayed on dash (but not outside temperature), so they obviously did another software update. Then my range started deteriorating and the car went back in Jan, getting the new BMS. I also told them I was unhappy with the previous software update as the headlights would now randomly flash (very short flash, almost strobing)- I could see myself getting into a road rage incident, or someone turning in front of me thinking I was giving them right of way, and wanted to be able to permanently turn off auto-lights. To do this I guess I got the comfort update, as I now had temperature display and the quieter bongs. So, there is a way to get comfort update for free, as it's not just for comfort, but addresses safety concerns too. Now I'm trying to recover battery - have already risen from 429V to 440V. Next job is to get compensation for electricity bill, as I'm equilising through my cheap midnight to 5pm slot, and charging at a high cost below that. Easily costing me 3x running costs, plus inconvenience of also having to charge away from home so as to be able to return. I do love the car, but MG reputation taking a big hit in my books.

The equalisation part of the charging only draws 300W (versus 7000W when charging to 100%), so you'd be best doing the bulk of your charging in the cheap section, then having it tick over at 0.3kW when the balancing is happening will cost much less, even at peak rate. Even if it's 10hours balancing, that's 3kWh, so less than the cost of 30mins at 7kW charge rate.

 

[Trevor]

Hi Miles. Thanks for your reply. The problem is the number of hours that is required to rebalance (repair) the battery, and make it a car fit for purpose. I've been told it could take up to 2 months. Well, over the past 3 weeks I've done over 20 full equalisation charges, and am only up to 440V. If I start my charge at midnight, it will take until 7 am to replenish yesterday's usage. If I leave for work at 8:30am, I cannot rebalance, unless I tie the car up all weekends for the next 10 years. The best I can do is charge near work during day (on 7kW) which does a full equalisation, then charge again overnight on granny charger (only needing to replenish one journey). Even then, if I only started at midnight, it would charge until 4am and only give 4 and half hours equilising, which will draw this nightmare out even longer.

 

[Mark Holmes]

Hi Miles. Thanks for your reply. The problem is the number of hours that is required to rebalance (repair) the battery, and make it a car fit for purpose. I've been told it could take up to 2 months. Well, over the past 3 weeks I've done over 20 full equalisation charges, and am only up to 440V. If I start my charge at midnight, it will take until 7 am to replenish yesterday's usage. If I leave for work at 8:30am, I cannot rebalance, unless I tie the car up all weekends for the next 10 years. The best I can do is charge near work during day (on 7kW) which does a full equalisation, then charge again overnight on granny charger (only needing to replenish one journey). Even then, if I only started at midnight, it would charge until 4am and only give 4 and half hours equilising, which will draw this nightmare out even longer.

Do you shop at Tesco’s they have free chargers in most...

 

[Trevor]

Do you shop at Tesco’s they have free chargers in most...

Yes, and I make use of them, but not really significant on a 30 min shop

 

[Mark Holmes]

Yes, and I make use of them, but not really significant on a 30 min shop

Make your shopping trip longer whilst equalising the battery...or take a flask with you and sit in the car..

 

[Trevor]

Make your shopping trip longer whilst equalising the battery...or take a flask with you and sit in the car..

I don't think that's possible. The car needs to be below 90% SOC before charging, so you'd need an hour of charge before starting equalisation, then about 4 hours to complete equalisation. This would add 0.4V per occasion, so it would take 25 trips to obtain the 10V increase I need. You're welcome to go down this road, but it's not for me... I think there's a two hour limit anyway

 

[rbpasapera]

When I bought mine in July, with 6 miles on the odometer, the average m/kWh read 3.9 and the range fully charged was 163 on the GOM.
Am I right in thinking that means; 163/3.9 = 42 kWh capacity (approx) ?
Is that the way the GOM calculates the range, multiply the average m/kWh by 42, is is as simple as that ?

When fully charged mine showed 186 mi range in N mode, after resetting/erasing the accumulated total mileage GOM showed 163 mi range in N mode, so GOM doesn't calculate range that way.

 

[Kithmo]

When fully charged mine showed 186 mi range in N mode, after resetting/erasing the accumulated total mileage GOM showed 163 mi range in N mode, so GOM doesn't calculate range that way.

But what was your m/kWh before and after resetting ?
If it was 4.4 m/kWh before resetting then my theory still stands.

 

[rbpasapera]

But what was your m/kWh before and after resetting ?
If it was 4.4 m/kWh before resetting then my theory still stands.

I did some math and I totally agree with your theory.

 

[Mark Holmes]

I don't think that's possible. The car needs to be below 90% SOC before charging, so you'd need an hour of charge before starting equalisation, then about 4 hours to complete equalisation. This would add 0.4V per occasion, so it would take 25 trips to obtain the 10V increase I need. You're welcome to go down this road, but it's not for me... I think there's a two hour limit anyway

I’ve two near me one is 1.5 hours max and the other is 3 hours with a free 22KWh charger, shame ours can’t handle that...!!

 

[Cocijo]

Completely different subject but - Costa Rica has a great charging infrastructure hasn’t it? What’s the MG dealer network like?

 

[Lovemyev]

Do you shop at Tesco’s they have free chargers in most...

You maybe saving money by using the Tesco units, but in the long run it would be cheaper to charge at home !.
Saving a few quid on electric, but spending way too much dropping extra items in your trolley while trying to waste time in the shop !.
Electric bill will increase by £2 - but your weekly shopping bill has increased by £40 !!!!!!.
False economy in my book.

 

[Dodger]

You maybe saving money by using the Tesco units, but in the long run it would be cheaper to charge at home !.
Saving a few quid on electric, but spending way too much dropping extra items in your trolley while trying to waste time in the shop !.
Electric bill will increase by £2 - but your weekly shopping bill has increased by £40 !!!!!!.
False economy in my book.

And that sick feeling you get when you come back to the car and see the dent/scratch off a shopping trolley.

 

[AndyNWuk]

I am currently with Outfox the Market for energy but the contract is ending in March, so I opted to got for Octopus Energy but can't have the GO Tariff until a Smart Meter is fitted.

I spoke with Octopus today as they are taking over my supply for Electric and Gas on the 19th February and I asked them about the different GO Tariffs as quoted by other members i.e. 5p pKwh from 12:30am to 4:30am OR 5.5pKwh until 6:00am, but the guy only knew of one Tariff which was the first one which I found strange.

So for now I have to put up with the 12 months fixed Tariff from Octopus until they finally fit me a SMART Meter, THEN I can register my interest for the GO Tariff, goodness knows how long this will take but I know one thing, ALL energy suppliers have massively put but their prices during the last 12 months with more rises to come so they say on the news.

Andy (Blackpool)

 

[rbpasapera]

Completely different subject but - Costa Rica has a great charging infrastructure hasn’t it? What’s the MG dealer network like?

Yes it's great, +40 DC charging stations and a lot of AC charging stations, it's a small country so this infrastructure is good enough. There is just one MG dealer, 5 different locations for sales & service.

 

[Lovemyev]

And that sick feeling you get when you come back to the car and see the dent/scratch off a shopping trolley.

You are absolutely spot on there @Dodger .
There is two brand new Pod Point units at my local store, they have been up and running for about two weeks now.
Guess where they are situated, right next to the trolley park !.
The only thing I would say in their favour is, they have taken away six normal spaces and turned them into 4 EV charging bays.
Spaces and signs are clearly marked for EV charging only, but would have been nice to see the boxes marked out in green paint.

 

[Kithmo]

You maybe saving money by using the Tesco units, but in the long run it would be cheaper to charge at home !.
Saving a few quid on electric, but spending way too much dropping extra items in your trolley while trying to waste time in the shop !.
Electric bill will increase by £2 - but your weekly shopping bill has increased by £40 !!!!!!.
False economy in my book.

Not at the moment in Rotherham, due to covid the machines that you register your parking with are out of use, so there's no minimum spend to get a ticket for the machine, in fact you don't even have to spend anything. As long as you don' stay more than 3 hours maximum then it's all free.
When they were in action I was usually going to spend more than the £5 minimum anyway a couple of times a week in the summer. When we weren't in lock down I would also go and have some breakfast, usually I would be parked for 1.5-2 hours giving me 33-44 miles of range from a 6 mile round trip, getting the shopping I was going for anyway.
2 hours @ 14.9p/kWh at home would have cost me just over £2.
Because only I do about 50 miles a week, I hardly had to charge at home in the Summer, a couple of trips to Tesco covered my weekly mileage and more.

 

[Dodger]

I am currently with Outfox the Market for energy but the contract is ending in March, so I opted to got for Octopus Energy but can't have the GO Tariff until a Smart Meter is fitted.

I spoke with Octopus today as they are taking over my supply for Electric and Gas on the 19th February and I asked them about the different GO Tariffs as quoted by other members i.e. 5p pKwh from 12:30am to 4:30am OR 5.5pKwh until 6:00am, but the guy only knew of one Tariff which was the first one which I found strange.

So for now I have to put up with the 12 months fixed Tariff from Octopus until they finally fit me a SMART Meter, THEN I can register my interest for the GO Tariff, goodness knows how long this will take but I know one thing, ALL energy suppliers have massively put but their prices during the last 12 months with more rises to come so they say on the news.

Andy (Blackpool)

I was with OTM changed to Neo Energy. Cheapest i could find.

 

[Lovemyev]

I am currently with Outfox the Market for energy but the contract is ending in March, so I opted to got for Octopus Energy but can't have the GO Tariff until a Smart Meter is fitted.

I spoke with Octopus today as they are taking over my supply for Electric and Gas on the 19th February and I asked them about the different GO Tariffs as quoted by other members i.e. 5p pKwh from 12:30am to 4:30am OR 5.5pKwh until 6:00am, but the guy only knew of one Tariff which was the first one which I found strange.

So for now I have to put up with the 12 months fixed Tariff from Octopus until they finally fit me a SMART Meter, THEN I can register my interest for the GO Tariff, goodness knows how long this will take but I know one thing, ALL energy suppliers have massively put but their prices during the last 12 months with more rises to come so they say on the news.

Andy (Blackpool)

Hi Andy - It's to late for you now, but what I did was to get my original supplier to switch the meters before the end of my contract.
When the new SMES 2 meters are installed, it gives you much more freedom to switch.
Octopus are very popular and therefore getting your smart meters installed CAN be a bit of a wait.
It suits them not to be in TOO much of a hurry because of the increased rate of the temp tariff.
My supplier had been asking me to install smart meters for ages, but I kept pushing them back.
So, as soon as they received my request, they where in like a flash !.
From the point of pushing the button, to the point of the meters being fitted was less than ten days.
If you have been with your old energy supplier for a while and you need a smart meter installed to take advantage of a cheaper "Off Peak / EV" rate with somebody else like Octopus, then get your old energy company to switch your meters.
It is likely to be quicker.
M&S energy, which is sold in all the big stores, is also Octopus Energy.
No wonder they have a long wait list.