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Recommended MG5 long range home charger

Erin

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Hi, I'm very close to leasing the MG5 ev long range exclusive. Are there any particular home chargers that are or maybe are not compatible with their battery management system? I've been looking at Wallbox and Ohme. Thanks in advance,
 
Hi, I'm very close to leasing the MG5 ev long range exclusive. Are there any particular home chargers that are or maybe are not compatible with their battery management system? I've been looking at Wallbox and Ohme. Thanks in advance,
I've got a Hypervolt and it works fine - no issues with either immediate or timed overnight charging.

Doing it again, I'd maybe opt for the new GivEnergy charger as I'm planning on their hybrid inverter and battery set up. Hypervolt will work nicely with all this and solar, but having the one app & ecosystem is sometimes good.
 
The Zappi is a high quality British product. For a more cost effective British product also consider the offerings from Viridian.
 
Another thing to consider is whether you want tethered or untethered cable - you'll find staunch advocates of both here. There are pros and cons to both - choose what makes most sense to you. I opted for a 10m tethered cable, but untethered and a 10m type 2 cable would have worked just as well.

If you need solar integration - there are quite a few units now that support this. Quality of the software, phone application and updates might be important to you - maybe you're happy to set it up and leave it working. The available support and warranty could play a part in your decision - as is perhaps country of origin. A CT clamp and automatic throttling to protect main fuse is a worthwhile feature - not sure if all have this, maybe it's not an issue depending on how your house is configured.

Also, how the unit looks and it's cost will be a personal choice - everyone has their own criteria for choosing. Hopefully someone with either a Wallbox or Ohme will confirm compatibility soon - I don't remember anything specific about either being mentioned but try a forum search in case there have been.
 
I've got a Wallbox PulsarPlus and an MG5 LR. I'm on Octopus Go and have it scheduled to charge 00:30 to 04:30 each night. If the car doesn't need charging, I don't plug it in.
Originally the software was a buggy as ****, but they seem to have sorted most of that out in recent updates and it hasn't missed a beat in weeks. When installed I had difficulty connecting to my existing MESH wi-fi, so it currently connects using its own access point, I don't know whether that issue has been fixed yet, but I had great tech support from them whilst the problem was found.
I use both the Andoid app and online portal (from my PC) to control it. The Android app is annoying - it tries to connect using Bluetooth first, then reverts to web when that times out. If I am almost within range of Bluetooth it continues to re-try and fail until I turn Bluetooth off on the phone. When I am well away from the house the app works perfectly! The online portal is great (see attached), I can give the car a quick boost from my desk if I need to go out unexpectedly.
There's no live feedback in the app regarding SoC, which would be useful - I don't know if any of the other products do that, but a guestimate of 10% per hour means I usually know roughly what charge will be in the car when I go to it.
On the whole it has been a reliable product and I am not dissapointed with my choice.
 

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I've got a Wallbox PulsarPlus and an MG5 LR. I'm on Octopus Go and have it scheduled to charge 00:30 to 04:30 each night. If the car doesn't need charging, I don't plug it in.
Originally the software was a buggy as ****, but they seem to have sorted most of that out in recent updates and it hasn't missed a beat in weeks. When installed I had difficulty connecting to my existing MESH wi-fi, so it currently connects using its own access point, I don't know whether that issue has been fixed yet, but I had great tech support from them whilst the problem was found.
I use both the Andoid app and online portal (from my PC) to control it. The Android app is annoying - it tries to connect using Bluetooth first, then reverts to web when that times out. If I am almost within range of Bluetooth it continues to re-try and fail until I turn Bluetooth off on the phone. When I am well away from the house the app works perfectly! The online portal is great (see attached), I can give the car a quick boost from my desk if I need to go out unexpectedly.
There's no live feedback in the app regarding SoC, which would be useful - I don't know if any of the other products do that, but a guestimate of 10% per hour means I usually know roughly what charge will be in the car when I go to it.
On the whole it has been a reliable product and I am not dissapointed with my choice.
I queried Hypervolt about displaying SOC and they claim that the type 2 interface doesn't support this for the MG (not sure about any other manufacturer) - but the CCS interface must as Rapid chargers show it. So, I guess that none of the home chargers will show SOC.
 
I queried Hypervolt about displaying SOC and they claim that the type 2 interface doesn't support this for the MG (not sure about any other manufacturer) - but the CCS interface must as Rapid chargers show it. So, I guess that none of the home chargers will show SOC.
Interesting.
My understanding was that all the car/charger communication was done using the type 2 connector power pins using the HomePlug Green PHY communication standard. As the MG communicates sucessfully with commercial units, my assumption was that it was a component missing from (some or all) domestic ones. Their seem to be reports of Powerline adapters disabling some domestic chargers, so some may be using the the standard. Perhaps a poll asking "Does your home charger report SoC?" is in order!
 
I was under the impression that no AC 7kw EVSE can read SOC because, quite frankly, it is just a smart socket providing power.

The charger is in the vehicle, it is the charger that monitors the SOC and, in the case of other cars, manages/limits the SOC.

DC chargers can read the SOC because they are the charger, not just a power supply.

P.s. any Type 2 charger will work with your MG5. I use Sync EV and it worked perfectly last night with Octopus Go.
 
The standard IEC62196 which is the one relevant to a Type 2 AC connection has no facility for the EV to share SoC with the charge point. Where this is done it is via an API from the cars App to the smart controls on the charge point. Given that the current MG5 doesn't have an App then this doesn't happen on any AC charge point.
 
Aplologies to Erin for going slightly off topic with this, but it does make an interesting discussion and may assist in the choice of home charger.
The standard IEC62196 which is the one relevant to a Type 2 AC connection has no facility for the EV to share SoC with the charge point. Where this is done it is via an API from the cars App to the smart controls on the charge point. Given that the current MG5 doesn't have an App then this doesn't happen on any AC charge point.
Whilst BugEyed's statement holds true for a pure Type 2 to Type 2 connection where low-level communication takes place on the CP pin within the Type 2 connector, vehicles which are equipped with a CCS connector (like the MG5) will also attempt high-level communication using the PP pin also housed within the standard Type 2 connector, and this data will include SoC.
There should be no reason why a domestic wall charger cannot perform this communication but for the lack of HomePlug Green PHY communication hardware within the units. I think as consumers we are bing short-changed for the sake of a few quid's worth of hardware and some software development.

Looking at images of the Zappi and Ohme Home Pro devices, both have displays which seem to indicate reading of vehicle SoC. In a vehicle like the MG5 where there is no app, it would be useful to have the facility to set the maximum SoC from within the wallcharger app.
If I was purchasing a wall charger now I would certainly be looking closely at the capabilities of these two units before making any decision.
 
I am fortunate and have solar panels to assist my electric supply I use a Zappi 2 which is excellent. very easy to instal and easy to use. the last 2 weeks I have been running on 100% free power !!!
 
I think as consumers we are bing short-changed for the sake of a few quid's worth of hardware and some software development.

Agreed it's possible, but in practice the implementation of the standards (DIN SPEC 70121 and the various ISO/IEC 15118) has been done inconsistently. The result of this can be seen when a new car is released and some of the Rapids reject it, requiring updates to the car or the Rapid charger network. It would be a nightmare to maintain a large distributed network of home charge points up to date for every new model launch from every manufacturer, and instead it's far simpler to integrate the car's App via an API to the backend "smart" elements. But it would be far more elegant.

Looking at images of the Zappi and Ohme Home Pro devices, both have displays which seem to indicate reading of vehicle SoC.

Sadly this is via the relevant vehicle API only, and not via HLC.

I would certainly be looking closely at the capabilities of these two units before making any decision.

Hopefully someone will do it one day, but given the volatility of the regulations in the UK I'm not surprised that no-one has to date. Given the size of batteries, the buffers on them, and the short term ownership of new cars, the desirability of limiting SoC is less now than previously. Even my previous LEAF lost less than 20% of capacity being charged daily to 100% over 80,000 miles in 7 years and the loss of capacity wasn't an issue to the next owner. Because of the bigger battery on the LR I rarely bother to charge to 100% as my off-peak hours only add 40% and my normal days mileage uses less than 30%, so I only charge at all if under 50% at the end of the day or I know I'm going on a longer than normal trip.
 
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I have an Ohme, it works fine and lookswise it's unobtrusive. Although there's an app, it doesn't actually provide any useful info, and I don't use the scheduled charge option as I'm not on an electricity tariff that is cheaper at night.
Just plug it in, unplug it in the morning, job done.
 
Hi, I'm very close to leasing the MG5 ev long range exclusive. Are there any particular home chargers that are or maybe are not compatible with their battery management system? I've been looking at Wallbox and Ohme. Thanks in advance,
I've just had my MG5 and I have a wall box pulsar and it's brilliant
 
I have an EO MiniPro 2, on the Octopus 'Go' tariff - Set it up to start at 00:30 and finish at 04:30 whenever the SOC has dropped below 30%ish. The charger delivers almost 29kW in this four-hour period. If you more is needed, you could simply set the timer (using your EO app) to turn off later (at the 'higher/normal' tariff rate). I'm really satisfied with this setup and hope you manage to reach the right conclusion to suit your situation, too
 
I have the pod point EC charger is great also they have a lot chargers out there used one in Blackpool all good
 
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