Recent BMS update

[Lovemyev]

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.

Small usage, I see how that works just fine for you anyway !.

 

[Mike]

Last night I did yet another equalisation charge.
Same voltage, 449.25V, but the imbalance is now down to 20mV. The equalisation charge took 8 hours. It started at 89%, so that bit took under an hour!

the longer you can leave the equalisation the better. And my battery is probably almost as close to ‘normal’ as it’s going to get! Though I will try a few more equalisation charges.

 

[Lovemyev]

Last night I did yet another equalisation charge.
Same voltage, 449.25V, but the imbalance is now down to 20mV. The equalisation charge took 8 hours. It started at 89%, so that bit took under an hour!

the longer you can leave the equalisation the better. And my battery is probably almost as close to ‘normal’ as it’s going to get! Though I will try a few more equalisation charges.

Thanks @Mike .
Looks like your pack is getting somewhere you expect it to be now ?.
At 449.25 volts you are about on par to what others are seeing after 15 Jan BMS update.
Has the problem of premature low range warnings etc disappeared yet Mike ?.
A lot of owners on older "Buggy" BMS updates, complaining they get strange RED warnings to carry out a A/C charge every couple of days etc ?.

 

[Melissa Briggs]

Agree we need more information, hence why I’ve invited Miles from Chorley to comment if he can.

There is a page called Update Information on the MGEVOC website - www.mgevownersclub.co.uk - with information supplied by Miles Roberts. Sub page under the Your Questions Answered page.

 

[AV2EV]

The reduction in voltage is actually a really good move. Previously the fully charged voltage meant a cell voltage of 4.22v per cell. This is really unhealthy for longevity of this type of lithium cell chemistry. The new figure of 4.16v is much better. I just hope they aren't letting it drop too low to keep the range constant.

Had a lot of problems after the latest update - the range dropped about 100 km, constant warnings "Slow Charge the Vehicle", one cannot trust the numbers of remaining km at all. the other day it showed a "Low Charge" warning at 96 km... voltage is down to 428 and even 419 volts.

The car has been at the dealership for 10 days, I’m using their car - at least this is nice.

 

[Richie]

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)

We had a similar scenario changing suppliers, made a little more complicated as the tails needed to change as well.
As did #Lovemyev:
We looked to change from Bulb to Octopus Go, but Octopus could not fit a smart meter for weeks. Bulb could could do it in less than 10 days so we got Bulb to fit a smart meter then a week later we changed to Octopus then less than a week after (while they moved account details) we were on GO. Super no problems.

 

[Mike]

Had a lot of problems after the latest update - the range dropped about 100 km, constant warnings "Slow Charge the Vehicle", one cannot trust the numbers of remaining km at all. the other day it showed a "Low Charge" warning at 96 km... voltage is down to 428 and even 419 volts.

The car has been at the dealership for 10 days, I’m using their car - at least this is nice.

I’m guessing you aren’t referring to the mid January 2021 update, but the previous update, as the January update will eventually sort out your battery.

 

[Mike]

Thanks @Mike .
Looks like your pack is getting somewhere you expect it to be now ?.
At 449.25 volts you are about on par to what others are seeing after 15 Jan BMS update.
Has the problem of premature low range warnings etc disappeared yet Mike ?.
A lot of owners on older "Buggy" BMS updates, complaining they get strange RED warnings to carry out a A/C charge every couple of days etc ?.

I never had any premature warnings or slow charge now.
I guess I didn’t drive much between having the duff BMS and getting the updated one. Enough to go from 455V to 443V, but it’s now as high as I expect it to go. I might get the imbalance to get smaller, but other than that all is fine.

 

[Lovemyev]

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

Arh ..... But I know it well !.
A long time ago we had been saving very hard to purchase a new BMW 3 series.
First trip out to our local Tesco and somebody decided to run a trolly into the drivers door.
The car was only one week old and parked away from anybody else.
My wife returned home in floods of tears ?.
Some people just do not care or have any regard for other peoples property.
Keep a close eye open for them “White Van Drivers” .

 

[jamesie]

I feel your pain!

I deliberately park as far away from the supermarket entrance as I can with no other cars around and invariably have someone parked next to me when I go back to the car. Why?

 

[peter]

Last night I did yet another equalisation charge.
Same voltage, 449.25V, but the imbalance is now down to 20mV. The equalisation charge took 8 hours. It started at 89%, so that bit took under an hour!

the longer you can leave the equalisation the better. And my battery is probably almost as close to ‘normal’ as it’s going to get! Though I will try a few more equalisation charges.

I'm surprised to hear equalisation is still taking 8 hours now you are almost back to normal. Dealer had told me once problem was fixed equalisation should be really quick. Also how do you measure the imbalance?

 

[Lovemyev]

This quote has been taken from the following link below.

News & Events

August 2023 - Summer surge as one new EV registered every 60 seconds. BEV now 16% of the market.

www.mgevownersclub.co.uk

News flash - New BMS update now available from dealers - once installed it will sort out the slow equalisation problem, and the artificial lowering of battery capacity.

Also - Some very interesting information about updates found here :-

Update information

The MG5 recall is for the earlier activation of brake lights using Kers 3. The other item is the confirmation of 35 kg limit on the roof bars which requires an extra page being glued into the...

www.mgevownersclub.co.uk

 

[Mike]

I'm surprised to hear equalisation is still taking 8 hours now you are almost back to normal. Dealer had told me once problem was fixed equalisation should be really quick. Also how do you measure the imbalance?

OVMS

 

[JodyS21]

This quote has been taken from the following link below.

News & Events

August 2023 - Summer surge as one new EV registered every 60 seconds. BEV now 16% of the market.

www.mgevownersclub.co.uk

News flash - New BMS update now available from dealers - once installed it will sort out the slow equalisation problem, and the artificial lowering of battery capacity.

Also - Some very interesting information about updates found here :-

Update information

The MG5 recall is for the earlier activation of brake lights using Kers 3. The other item is the confirmation of 35 kg limit on the roof bars which requires an extra page being glued into the...

www.mgevownersclub.co.uk

That is very useful information.

Update information

The MG5 recall is for the earlier activation of brake lights using Kers 3. The other item is the confirmation of 35 kg limit on the roof bars which requires an extra page being glued into the...

www.mgevownersclub.co.uk

helpful info here too:

Your questions answered

If you have just taken delivery of your shiny new MG, or are considering placing an order, you will have the same questions as hundreds of other people. So to save you time, we have put many of them...

www.mgevownersclub.co.uk

I didn't know this website existed.

 

[Lovemyev]

That is very useful information.

Update information

The MG5 recall is for the earlier activation of brake lights using Kers 3. The other item is the confirmation of 35 kg limit on the roof bars which requires an extra page being glued into the...

www.mgevownersclub.co.uk

helpful info here too:

Your questions answered

If you have just taken delivery of your shiny new MG, or are considering placing an order, you will have the same questions as hundreds of other people. So to save you time, we have put many of them...

www.mgevownersclub.co.uk

I didn't know this website existed.

You do now Jody !.
It was set up by James Coates of "James & Kate" fame on You Tube.
They produce some brilliant videos I think.
James is now gone into into EV service and repairs and travels a lot.
He was in Scotland last week I think.
Check out his channel, they had one of the first ZS EV's that entered the country back in 2019.
He bought it from Miles at the Chorley group.
They have a model 3 as well.

 

[rbpasapera]

That’s reassuring as some are now complaining of loss of power once they reach below 40%, which worries me even though I’m not a boy racer it’s still nice to expect the car to perform on an equal keel, particularly if pulling out of junctions or on to a busy roundabout..

Would like to confirm that mine isn't having issues with loss of power: two bars remaining on the meter and 374v, +80% of power.

 

[Cocijo]

That’s interesting. Whilst I haven’t completed a detailed look or taken the voltage readings - I’m running a 455v BMS by the way. I get 100% power for a few seconds boost at nearly all states of charge. For example I had a trip today and returning with the red battery light on I still got a brief 100% coming up the hill to home.

 

[Tim Green]

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?

 

[MG ZS EV WEST YORKSHIRE]

Just a bit curious as to why tweak the maximum voltage down to 450v from 455v to improve longevity of the battery pack? Do MG have doubts whether the usable life of the pack will extend throughout the warranty period? If so what happens to those that are still on the BMS version that charges to 455v max and may never be updated? Are they at risk of being warranty replacements say in years 5 or 6? That is sailing very close in specification terms and I would have thought a 10 year+ life expectancy for something that is warranted for 7 years to be more conservative.

Other EV car manufacturers don’t show voltage like we see on our MGs so I think we have more info than we need here. If the voltage has dropped on our MG but adjusted at the bottom end to keep the range the same then it really makes no difference at all. I think if you had the visibility we do on our MGs that other EVs don’t have you’d see Tesla and other manufacturers tweak voltages all the time in software updates.

 

[Trevor]

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?

My belief is that you have the buggy BMS. I too had an update which allowed unlocked charging, and then my battery capacity started deteriorating - quickly in my case as I am a high mileage user who charges often. I believe your battery will become unbalanced, and you should upgrade the BMS as soon as possible.