Recent BMS update

[RossN]

Man..if you bought any other product and it only did/produced half of what it said it did that product would be returned for a full refund. Would you want to buy a pint of milk...get a half pint. Buy a movie and it stopped half way through...not me !

 

[MG ZS EV WEST YORKSHIRE]

Money is next to nothing, the car only uses 300w whilst balancing. Hassle? Well i'd expect most are fast asleep whilst it happens overnight.

Hi Paulie, I completely agree. I added 22kw last night and left it to balance for 5.5 hours at 0.3kw

 

[Kithmo]

Man..if you bought any other product and it only did/produced half of what it said it did that product would be returned for a full refund. Would you want to buy a pint of milk...get a half pint. Buy a movie and it stopped half way through...not me !

That's the reason I'm in no rush to get any updates, I bought my ZS in July with the Comfort 2 applied and nothing since. When it goes in for it's first service in July this year I'm going to ask if I can forego any updates that are not safety related, I like mine as it is and if it ain't broke I don't fix it.
I'm looking at replacing my other car, a Prius with an MG5 sometime soon as SWMBO has her eyes on my ZS.

 

[guest]

.

 

[macd2401]

Buy a movie and it stopped half way through...not me !

For those of us forced to watch the Ghostbusters reboot last year...I'd have been quite happy for it to have stopped even before the halfway point.

 

[JodyS21]

This will cost owners quite a lot of money. I need my car most days for work and charge off peak (0030-0430). My charger works off an app, where my option is to either charge (starting as soon as you press the boost button), or it automatically charges off peak (and only off peak - it automatically switches off at 0430,- no option to start it at 0030 and allow it to continue until charged and balanced).
I drive every day, I am now going to have to start my charge when I get home fom work (15p/kWh as opposed to 5p/kWh) to allow it to charge from my daily commute, then to balance charge overnight.
Even if there was an option to start at 0030 and allow it to charge all night (without stopping at 0430), I need my car at 0700 most days, thus not allowing time for an off peak charge followed by a balancing charge.
So, yes RossN is absolutely spot on - my charge costs will triple, just for my daily commute mileage, then the cost of trickle charging also needs to be considered.

My battery is at 433v and I now only have a 70mile range, so this is likely to take months to repair. Months of having to charge at peak rates (every day) plus my balancing charge on top of that.
I simply can't stay up until midnight to manually start a charge.

Well done MG....

The MG Dealer really should keep the car and do all the necessary charge cycles to fix it and, in the meantime give you another car to use.

 

[JodyS21]

I'm still using Granny charger. Soc and estimated time on dash is just to take car to 100% . When the MG badge stops pulsing its reached 100%. Keep it connected and light will stay lit during balancing. Keep charger connected until badge light goes out completely. Can take hours to balance. Mine has been improving from 9 hours to about 5 after 7 full balance charges since new BMS update done on 1st February 2021.

Interestingly then, my new car which had only done 13m before having the 15/1 bms fix, would seem is hardly having to do any balancing at present.
Maybe that’s how it is normally/supposed to be.

 

[Cocijo]

It’s very frustrating if this is happening to you and I agree that everyone has different circumstances and requirements so it impacts in different ways and at different levels.
I am though, quite surprised at how many of those severely affected seemed to have accepted this and got on with balancing and trying to work around the issue - I’m not being critical - perhaps its the demographic involved, the low use at the moment or expectations of the brand but I’m surprised more haven’t just pushed back and said enough is enough I’m not prepared to change my lifestyle and incur more costs to accommodate an error that you have made. I’m sure other manufacturers with perhaps a different customer base might not get off so lightly. Outside of a lockdown and had we not been in a pandemic the pressure on MG might have been much greater.
Some seem to have been given a car to use while the dealer sorts out their car - others seem not and are just soldiering on. Such a shame that the experience of what is a very good car is now so tainted so badly for some.
As a minimum let’s hope MG learns from this and actively moves to improve future update processes and customer communication to prevent a reoccurrence.

 

[Trevor]

I'm in the same boat - expenses 2-3x greater. I've been doing a lot of daytime charging as there is a charger 200m from work, though some days I'm in too much pain to walk that distance. MG don't care, as visible in my other post BMS update - Response from MG.

 

[mystreet]

Reading all those that have the issue of 'bad' batteries, some folk have been given the 1st service FOC. Is that the way to go and speak to you dealer. If no joy with them, contact MG head office 020 3917 5821

 

[Lovemyev]

My car went in for it's first service and ended up being stranded there from Friday to Tuesday before they managed to get it up and running.
I never got my service for free, thats for sure !.

 

[a6taxipl]

Car purchased Nov 2020 with all updates.
Range and power is ok. Of course no regen if fully charged...Voltage as per photo 456 when fully charged. I am little concern about battery but can not risk faulty updates ATM. Should I avoid charging car till 100% even I need as much charge as possible every day?

 

[Mark Holmes]

View attachment 1590Car purchased Nov 2020 with all updates.
Range and power is ok. Of course no regen if fully charged...Voltage as per photo 456 when fully charged. I am little concern about battery but can not risk faulty updates ATM. Should I avoid charging car till 100% even I need as much charge as possible every day?

The new update will lower the bottom and higher voltage rates, plus side will mean the Regen should kick in earlier..

 

[Mike]

A few points:
I have sat in the car with the radio on whilst it charged on a rapid charger with doors unlocked, and I have not had a recent BMS update.......
My car is a year old, 5500 miles, and I did have the first BMS update which allows the external temp display etc. t the first annual service last week, I instructed no new BMS update as I am quite happy with how the car performs.
However, I would be interested to know if any
members think there are advantages to having a recent update?

Yes
1. Protects the battery long term
2. Improved regen and more at 100%
3. Faster rapid charging speeds at higher SoC
4. Rapid charges for longer past 82%. I was pulling 35.4kW at 87% when I left the car for a few minutes. It took 30 mins from 42%-87%. It took 16 minutes extra from 87% to 95%.

Not all correct with what you're saying either WalkingBootWeather.... Rapid charging (DC) could not always be done with doors unlocked. At ecotricity I could connect up and get in car, lock doors and start charge from App, but there were a few occasions when I roamed the neighbourhood as I needed to lock the car before pressing the start button on the charger. Unlocked DC charging is great as you can now sit in car with heater on whilst charging (I'm assuming this is safe to do?).

Also, there is a separate update to comfort 2 that puts outside temperature on the display. I received this when having the wiring harness changed. It did not change the bongs.

The car should not need to locked when rapid charging, but for done odd reason a few cars seem to need it. Maybe not updated correctly?

Contacted the dealer and asked them to check and they have assured me that the car has no recalls according to MG.

They are right. Only service actions.

Just to confirm, the Jan 2021 BMS update does not automatically give you charging on AC whilst unlocked, mine is updated and all working as expected, lower terminal voltage etc. but still needs to be locked to AC charge.

because the dealer didn’t do their job properly.

The mg zs EV stops balancing after about 10 or so hours but as the voltage nears 447-449v the balance charge takes a lot less than 10 hours

Mine was still taking 10 hours after reaching 449V.

 

[Lovemyev]

Mine was still taking 10 hours after reaching 449V.

Hi Mike.
These LONG balance times are causing real problems for some people who need their cars on a day to day basis.
Like man EV owners, they have a EV friendly tariff.
But if the charge / balance process is taking SO long, it is hard to work around it without incurring extra cost to the owner.
I guess the question is, how long will it be before the car returns ( if ever ) to balancing the pack in about 1 hour, as they did before the "Buggy" update took effect.

 

[JodyS21]

View attachment 1590Car purchased Nov 2020 with all updates.
Range and power is ok. Of course no regen if fully charged...Voltage as per photo 456 when fully charged. I am little concern about battery but can not risk faulty updates ATM. Should I avoid charging car till 100% even I need as much charge as possible every day?

Best thing would be to ask your dealer to check if your VIN is on the list of cars that should be contacted to have the 15/1 jan fix as soon as possible (that MG has supplied to all the dealers).

Definitive list of updates

This is a timeline of pertinent (mainly software) update packages to the ZS EV - that we are aware of. You can use this to try to ascertain what you have or not on your car. Please provide updates / corrections / comments as appropriate. I will keep this post edited and updated as necessary...

www.mgevs.com

If your car had the 24th Oct update applied then you should get the fix as soon as reasonably possible, otherwise the more you cycle the battery the worse state the battery will get in and then the longer it'll take to "repair itself"

 

[AbuG]

If your at 456V I wouldnt bother YET with the January BMS update... Wait a few months to see their isn't any as yet unrecognised side effect.
However, If your voltage starts to drop then can consider updating earlier.

 

[Jeps]

Hi Mike.
These LONG balance times are causing real problems for some people who need their cars on a day to day basis.
Like man EV owners, they have a EV friendly tariff.
But if the charge / balance process is taking SO long, it is hard to work around it without incurring extra cost to the owner.
I guess the question is, how long will it be before the car returns ( if ever ) to balancing the pack in about 1 hour, as they did before the "Buggy" update took effect.

In England how are you paying there? By the hour or how much you put in the battery?? The balancing can't cost that much if it is what you put into the battery.

 

[Mark Holmes]

In England how are you paying there? By the hour or how much you put in the battery?? The balancing can't cost that much if it is what you put into the battery.

By the KWh, not by time thanks god.

 

[AV2EV]

When did you have your BMS updated, was it prior to Jan 21?

Yes, the update was done in early December and then the range started dropping dramatically. The car is in the MG garage in Jerusalem for more than two weeks of servicing already. Happy only about this that they gave me their demo car to use. I met a guy yesterday who was in exactly the same situation - car in for the servicing already more than 14 days, and he is also using the demo car of Beersheva MG. Looks like the last BMS update was made in Wuhan...