Red warning - Slow Charge this Vehicle

[Frank]

Closed, no, I just don't want ownership of my car (any car) to be stressful and I did state faulty software aside, and I feel empathy for those affected by the faulty BMS Software.

I have always serviced my cars myself where possible and I am FULLY aware of the workings of EV cars, like most people on this forum my first six months with my MG ZS was a massive learning curve and it became very apparent that the biggest problem with EVs was charging. Electricity is just another fuel like Petrol or Diesel and having a Home Charger is a 100% requirement to make ownership of said vehicle stress free.

The only problem I had with long trips was Charger Anxiety. On too many occasions I turned up at first and even second and third choice charger to find it either occupied (just, so long wait involved), broken or some **** in a ICE car blocking it. So I always start every day with a full charge.

All the best.

Frank

 

[JodyS21]

Guys/Gals,

I have been watching with interest the fixation and worry about charging rates, volts, amps, equalization and I wonder if you all took so much interest in how your ICE Cars worked, I bet you did not.

Faulty software aside, STOP worrying about how you charge your cars for God's sake. Do what I do, plug it in EVERY night no matter what the SOC. I have been doing this since I got into EV's and I have NEVER had ANY Problems with equalization or anything else for that matter so STOP over worrying yourself and USE your home charger and let The BMS do it's job.

I also would not have bought an EV if I could not have had a Home Charger and kudos to those who have done so whilst the Public Charging is sh*t. And one last thing, range, just plan your route and if you are constantly over reaching your range then I suggest an EV (or the one you bought did not meet your needs) was not for you at the moment.

So plug it in and stay stress free.

Regards

Frank

That's great that you've not had any problems with your car caused by your use for it & the faulty software, it's a shame that not everyone is in the same boat.
I am soon (when it's fitted), going to have to worry about charging, because I will have a 4hour period when I need to do my main charging otherwise it's going to cost me 3x as much.
Personally, requiring the car to do a 104mile journey 3days a week, due to the major battery related fault with the car, I have to worry about volts, amps, equalisations etc otherwise my wife may end up stuck at the side of the M1.
I didn't think I'd have to worry about any of this (like when I had an ICE car), as the EV car I bought was advertised with a 163mile range....

 

[Frank]

That's great that you've not had any problems with your car caused by your use for it & the faulty software, it's a shame that not everyone is in the same boat.
I am soon (when it's fitted), going to have to worry about charging, because I will have a 4hour period when I need to do my main charging otherwise it's going to cost me 3x as much.
Personally, requiring the car to do a 104mile journey 3days a week, due to the major battery related fault with the car, I have to worry about volts, amps, equalisations etc otherwise my wife may end up stuck at the side of the M1.
I didn't think I'd have to worry about any of this (like when I had an ICE car), as the EV car I bought was advertised with a 163mile range....

Sorry about the problems you are having with the BMS Software. I take it from your comments that you don't currently have a Home charger ?

Once you have had the Software problem resolved my advice is to keep the car plugged in when not in use (mainly overnight,or not, during the day as well if needed) and as for cost it will always be much cheaper than petrol or diesel.

Is the journey a round trip of 104 or 208? If 104 the car will /should easily do 104 any time of the year driving with care.

Hope you get it sorted soon as I would not like my Wife to be stranded on a Motorway.

Regards

That's great that you've not had any problems with your car caused by your use for it & the faulty software, it's a shame that not everyone is in the same boat.
I am soon (when it's fitted), going to have to worry about charging, because I will have a 4hour period when I need to do my main charging otherwise it's going to cost me 3x as much.
Personally, requiring the car to do a 104mile journey 3days a week, due to the major battery related fault with the car, I have to worry about volts, amps, equalisations etc otherwise my wife may end up stuck at the side of the M1.
I didn't think I'd have to worry about any of this (like when I had an ICE car), as the EV car I bought was advertised with a 163mile range....

Just as a thought without prying into your personal circumstances many companies are very receptive to providing charging points for their staff. Companies can apply for workplace grants (which the Government is very keen to do, especially as they have just recently announced the monies being put aside to improve the EV Charging Infrastructure)

They are usually 7 kwh chargers ideal for topping up whilst working, ask about, it the worst reply is usually only no, and it will most likely be free.

Regards

Frank

 

[JodyS21]

Sorry about the problems you are having with the BMS Software. I take it from your comments that you don't currently have a Home charger ?

Once you have had the Software problem resolved my advice is to keep the car plugged in when not in use (mainly overnight,or not, during the day as well if needed) and as for cost it will always be much cheaper than petrol or diesel.

Is the journey a round trip of 104 or 208? If 104 the car will /should easily do 104 any time of the year driving with care.

Hope you get it sorted soon as I would not like my Wife to be stranded on a Motorway.

Regards

Just as a thought without prying into your personal circumstances many companies are very receptive to providing charging points for their staff. Companies can apply for workplace grants (which the Government is very keen to do, especially as they have just recently announced the monies being put aside to improve the EV Charging Infrastructure)

They are usually 7 kwh chargers ideal for topping up whilst working, ask about, it the worst reply is usually only no, and it will most likely be free.

Regards

Frank

Alas not - NHS, they said no chance of getting one fitted apparently!

104 mile round trip. Week before last, less that 0c, it wouldn't make it unless heating was off, had to use the other petrol guzzler car we have.

I made the justification for buying the EV on the basis of mileage costs at 5p pkWh for the 18-20,000miles a year. Waiting for them to fix our smart meter still at the moment...

I get what you're saying about leaving it plugged in. Although I can't really afford for the battery to get degraded much for the journey needed, constantly charging to 100% isn't good for the battery. I wish there was a bit bigger battery option available so that then I could just charge to 80% usually and safely get the distance needed.

 

[Frank]

Alas not - NHS, they said no chance of getting one fitted apparently!

104 mile round trip. Week before last, less that 0c, it wouldn't make it unless heating was off, had to use the other petrol guzzler car we have.

I made the justification for buying the EV on the basis of mileage costs at 5p pkWh for the 18-20,000miles a year. Waiting for them to fix our smart meter still at the moment...

I get what you're saying about leaving it plugged in. Although I can't really afford for the battery to get degraded much for the journey needed, constantly charging to 100% isn't good for the battery. I wish there was a bit bigger battery option available so that then I could just charge to 80% usually and safely get the distance needed.

You know that you can NEVER charge the battery to 100%. The car tells you it is but the BMS won't let it.

Over the last 18 months with plugging in my car every night I have never had any problems that others have had (mainly the 12V battery) besides the biggest threat to the battery life is Rapid DC Charging. I personally would only worry about the battery if I was keeping the car outside the warranty, which I won't so I prefer the convenience of having a full charge every morning and not haveing to worry about the unexpected long journey where a full charge is required.

Anyway everyone to their own.

All the best.

Frank

 

[Paul225]

Hi Guys, I'm not sure if this is tied to the ongoing BMS thread, but I have just had this warning flash up on the information panel in RED - Slow Charge this Vehicle.

I had 75 and then 70 miles range still showing on Normal on the 2 occasions it lit up.

Is it tied to the BMS issue, and I take it that a Type 2 home charge is a slow charge, for these purposes (as mentioned on last night's podcast?).

I had this on the dashboard after the car was 11 months old and gave it a slow charge overnight - not had that indicator any more but I do have a range problem and MG have asked the dealer to do some investigation work - battery has had all the latest software updates - will report back after 4th March

 

[JodyS21]

You know that you can NEVER charge the battery to 100%. The car tells you it is but the BMS won't let it.

Over the last 18 months with plugging in my car every night I have never had any problems that others have had (mainly the 12V battery) besides the biggest threat to the battery life is Rapid DC Charging. I personally would only worry about the battery if I was keeping the car outside the warranty, which I won't so I prefer the convenience of having a full charge every morning and not haveing to worry about the unexpected long journey where a full charge is required.

Anyway everyone to their own.

All the best.

Frank

Yes indeed the latest bms reduces the top amount of charge that can be stored. I guess one cannot really say 100% too as who knows what 100% actually is - 100% of the rated battery cell spec or is 100% when the battery goes bang lol.
It is well known that the ideal conditions to maintain optimum battery life are to keep it within 20-80% charge. No where near possible for me, need the range.

(Actually I was reading about the Mars lander over the last couple days, interestingly they have been carefully maintaining certain SoC % of the little helicopters battery!)

Given the great time duration of the warranty, from a high mileages perspective it's a damn shame it comes with 80k miles rather than 100k miles warranty. We're expecting to be out of warranty within 4 years & are planning on keeping the car for a lot longer than that.
Although to be honest I guess if we lost anywhere near the 70% warranty capacity we'd be screwed anyway for what we want the car for.

In hindsight, knowing what I know now (I thought I'd done enough research beforehand!), I reckon we really needed to have bought an EV with 285mile range. That'd allow for 200miles after loosing 30% battery degradation and, then when in sub zero temps would be able to safely and realistically use it everyday for up to 120mile journeys.
Although saying that, we then wouldn't have been able to afford a suitable EV with that range, so would've bought an ICE car!!

If only for working closer to home.......

 

[AV2EV]

Hi Guys, I'm not sure if this is tied to the ongoing BMS thread, but I have just had this warning flash up on the information panel in RED - Slow Charge this Vehicle.

I had 75 and then 70 miles range still showing on Normal on the 2 occasions it lit up.

Is it tied to the BMS issue, and I take it that a Type 2 home charge is a slow charge, for these purposes (as mentioned on last night's podcast?).

Avoid the December BMS update. Had a lot of problems after the BMS update in early December - the range dropped about 100 km - the real range now is about 140 km only. Every day I get multiple warnings "Slow Charge the Vehicle" although I have slow charged the vehicle almost every night. One cannot trust the numbers of remaining km at all. One has to divide it by 2 to get the realistic range after the update. The other day it showed a "Low Charge" warning at 96 km... Moreover, the voltage is down to 428 and even 419 volts. Something stinks here.
The car has been at the dealership for more than 20 days, I’m using their car - at least this is nice. They are struggling to get it back to normal.
I'm not the only one - met a guy with similar problems from another city - his car is in the MG garage for two weeks already.
Yesterday they called me from the MG garage Jerusalem and said that my car will soon be ready - the truth is, however, as I was told that there are other clients lining up with exactly the same problem and they need their demo car back...

 

[Dave S]

@AV2EV
Yes, my symptoms exactly. I had the BMS update installed in November.
The worst indication of the Red Warning to recharge was after a full charge and 6 hours balancing - the light came on as I left my drive!!!

 

[Gomev]

@AV2EV
Yes, my symptoms exactly. I had the BMS update installed in November.
The worst indication of the Red Warning to recharge was after a full charge and 6 hours balancing - the light came on as I left my drive!!!

That's because I believe, part of the buggy software was that it didn't do any balancing despite it letting you think it was. Therefore battery condition just got worse and worse.

 

[AV2EV]

@AV2EV
Yes, my symptoms exactly. I had the BMS update installed in November.
The worst indication of the Red Warning to recharge was after a full charge and 6 hours balancing - the light came on as I left my drive!!!

The car was at the dealership for more than 20 days, and they did the daily charge/empty cycles - only after 21 days the car was back to normal.
I'm not the only one - met a guy with similar problems from another city - his car is in the MG garage for two weeks already.

 

[IanJ]

Hello, my ZSEV is 9 months and only done 1600 miles but I am getting the "Please Slow Charge Vehicle" warning even though i have done 2 equalisation charges this week (left on charge until MG symbol lights went out) and battery still only shows 435v. Any suggestions?

 

[mystreet]

Hello, my ZSEV is 9 months and only done 1600 miles but I am getting the "Please Slow Charge Vehicle" warning even though i have done 2 equalisation charges this week (left on charge until MG symbol lights went out) and battery still only shows 435v. Any suggestions?

Your battery is way out. Depending upon your BMS software version it should be 450/455v. Get back to you dealer inform then that you have the buggy BMS software and it needs to be upgraded to the latest. You could also press them to give you a loan vehicle whilst they balance the battery.

Search on here for BMS, lots about it

 

[Lovemyev]

Your battery is way out. Depending upon your BMS software version it should be 450/455v. Get back to you dealer inform then that you have the buggy BMS software and it needs to be upgraded to the latest. You could also press them to give you a loan vehicle whilst they balance the battery.

Search on here for BMS, lots about it

Great advice - Sounds like another example of “Buggy” software.
Get it booked in ASAP.
You will be getting the latest BMS update release 15th Jan 2020.
Ask them to apply the much smaller head unit update, while it is in.
MG service bulletin SA 0020.
After they have upgraded the BMS the pack will need to be rebalanced to get your range back.
They CAN do it for you, but you will need a loan car for a while.
There must be still a number of low user cars still running around with the “Buggy” software, that need corrective action.

 

[Edoc16]

You can plug it in when its almost full so it will have longer to equalise .it may mean going to Tescos on consecutive days

That's my plan Adi6phil, I rapid charged the car yesterday and plan to plug in my home charger tonight via Octopus to balance the battery I think balancing a low level battery from a 7kwh charger will take ages !
If I'm wrong in this method I'm sure some of you tech minded members will hopefully tell me off...

 

[Lovemyev]

That's my plan Adi6phil, I rapid charged the car yesterday and plan to plug in my home charger tonight via Octopus to balance the battery I think balancing a low level battery from a 7kwh charger will take ages !
If I'm wrong in this method I'm sure some of you tech minded members will hopefully tell me off...

Can I ask if your car has been affected by the “Buggy” software ?.
Are you having problem with range and low voltage readings after a full charge and balance ?.
If so, has the car now received the latest BMS update ?.
I only ask because of how you now likely to charge on D/C first, then finish on A/C to balance, that’s all.

 

[Edoc16]

Can I ask if your car has been affected by the “Buggy” software ?.
Are you having problem with range and low voltage readings after a full charge and balance ?.
If so, has the car now received the latest BMS update ?.
I only ask because of how you now likely to charge on D/C first, then finish on A/C to balance, that’s all.

No buggy problems - I tend to balance once a month but.. still could do with a bit more miles from my charges will check the voltage post balance and refer, also car is due its first service next month where I'm told it will get 2 updates ?

 

[JodyS21]

That's my plan Adi6phil, I rapid charged the car yesterday and plan to plug in my home charger tonight via Octopus to balance the battery I think balancing a low level battery from a 7kwh charger will take ages !
If I'm wrong in this method I'm sure some of you tech minded members will hopefully tell me off...

Balancing will take the same amount of time on any AC charger (be it the granny or a 7kw). The amount of time it takes totally depends on how out of balance the cells are, could be 1/2hour, could be 10 hours (it'll only balance for 10hours max at a time).

It will start the balance process once it has fully charged the car however long that takes - dependant on AC charger output power and the State of Charge when it is plugged in. It must be something like <95% SoC when it is plugged in otherwise we're told it will not do a balance.

FYI, I think you're asking this, it doesn't take that long to charge the car on a 7kW charger, from completely empty it's only 6 hours.

 

[JodyS21]

Great advice - Sounds like another example of “Buggy” software.
Get it booked in ASAP.
You will be getting the latest BMS update release 15th Jan 2020.
Ask them to apply the much smaller head unit update, while it is in.
MG service bulletin SA 0020.

Don't forget there's the newer BMS than the 15th Jan 2021 version, that's the one you'd get.

 

[Lovemyev]

Don't forget there's the newer BMS than the 15th Jan 2021 version, that's the one you'd get.

Hi @JodyS21.
Do we know what the difference is between the Jan 15th 2020 update and the latter released version and why the 15th Jan update was altered again ?.
Thanks !.