Rollercoaster road to new MG4

[pharrison84]

You can get chargers for a fraction of that.
Get yourself a used podpoint for under £200, then another £150 for installation.
An old podpoint is still perfectly fine for tariffs like Octopus go or Octopus Go Faster (cheap 4 hours at night)
Might not do Octopus intelligent tariff (6 hours cheap) but I don’t need that.
The used podpoints are often from people upgrading to fancier chargers that can do solar and stuff.
If you’ve no need for that, then don’t get the fancy charger

Only issue with this is the Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations that came in to force last year which mean electricians can only officially install expensive smart chargers now.

I was fortunate to have an electrician friend who would fit a 'dumb' charger, but many will not have that as an option.

I understand the reasons for the rule change, but they shouldn't have removed the grant as it's another expensive obstacle for EV ownership.

 

[Rolfe]

Just be careful - now the money is through the car belongs to the insurance company, so you might not actually now be insured to drive it.

This had nothing to do with the insurance company, it was the release of funds from an investment bond so that I could pay for the bulk of the purchase price not covered by the insurance settlement.

I still haven't seen the colour of the insurance company's money, but the dealer was happy to take part-payment for the car from my credit card, so I can get the car now and replace the credit card debt when the insurance company's money finally arrives.

Anyway, I'm home now after an hour burning rubber in the evening sunshine, with no mishaps. A mixture of A roads and single-track unclassified roads. I startled some sheep, managed to avoid turning a couple of lambs who should not have been out on that road into kebabs, and sent a pheasant scuttling for its life. I also slowed down to a crawl to pass the occasional person out walking a dog, because I wasn't really in a hurry. It was anti-social driving I suppose, but it was a lot of fun just this once, and it got the Golf's petrol gauge under the half-full mark, which was the object of the exercise.

 

[bowfer]

Only issue with this is the Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations that came in to force last year which mean electricians can only officially install expensive smart chargers now.

I was fortunate to have an electrician friend who would fit a 'dumb' charger, but many will not have that as an option.

I understand the reasons for the rule change, but they shouldn't have removed the grant as it's another expensive obstacle for EV ownership.

Podpoints are smart.
Even my one from 2016 is smart.
I just choose to let mine be dumb by not connecting it to the internet.

 

[Rolfe]

Home charging points are still a matter of confusion for me, and I can't really afford one right this minute anyway. I'm certain I can manage without one for a few months at least, and that will give me time to assess the best options. Keep the information coming!

 

[bowfer]

Home charging points are still a matter of confusion for me, and I can't really afford one right this minute anyway. I'm certain I can manage without one for a few months at least, and that will give me time to assess the best options. Keep the information coming!

Chargers aren’t complicated, they all just pump 7kwh (roughly) into your car on a normal domestic supply.
You don’t ‘need’ them to do anything more than that, everything else is bells and whistles.

Charge timing - can be set in the car or app
Reports - meh
Solar panel compatibility - you don’t have panels

Just as you wouldn’t buy a stereo too loud for your needs, no need to buy a charger too complex for your needs.

 

[Rolfe]

It's figuring out which (if any) of the bells and whistles I might actually want that's the trick, and so figuring out which one is best value for me.

I figured out the MG4 was the best value for me within hours of being told my Golf didn't have a future, and that's enough for one month. The charging point thing is sidelined for the moment!

 

[bowfer]

It's figuring out which (if any) of the bells and whistles I might actually want that's the trick, and so figuring out which one is best value for me.

I figured out the MG4 was the best value for me within hours of being told my Golf didn't have a future, and that's enough for one month. The charging point thing is sidelined for the moment!

I’ll be frank, granny chargers scare me.
Read too many stories of domestic sockets not coping with them.
I certainly wouldn’t leave one unattended, and I’d consider putting a smoke alarm beside the socket you intend to use.

 

[Rolfe]

Well, the sockets are in the garage and mounted on a breeze-block concrete wall. As I say, I have friends who went a year without getting a charging point installed.

 

[RichardC]

Well, the sockets are in the garage and mounted on a breeze-block concrete wall. As I say, I have friends who went a year without getting a charging point installed.

Friends of mine have had an MG5 since May 2021 and have used a granny charger since then. They swap over to an MG4 on Saturday and will still use a granny charger.

I had a Hypervolt charger installed in June 2021 and I was lucky enough to get the grant so it only cost £450. I rarely looked at the app and just plugged the car in and left it. I charged my new MG4 for the first time yesterday and I really liked the fact that I could use the MG app to check the charging status.

 

[Rolfe]

All this is great information as I don't need to hurry to get a charging point installed. I have a public charge point a short walk from my house, and kind neighbours with a charging point only a couple of houses away.

And anyway, I'd be a granny if I'd actually had any children...

 

[Collected]

This had nothing to do with the insurance company, it was the release of funds from an investment bond so that I could pay for the bulk of the purchase price not covered by the insurance settlement.

I still haven't seen the colour of the insurance company's money, but the dealer was happy to take part-payment for the car from my credit card, so I can get the car now and replace the credit card debt when the insurance company's money finally arrives.

Anyway, I'm home now after an hour burning rubber in the evening sunshine, with no mishaps. A mixture of A roads and single-track unclassified roads. I startled some sheep, managed to avoid turning a couple of lambs who should not have been out on that road into kebabs, and sent a pheasant scuttling for its life. I also slowed down to a crawl to pass the occasional person out walking a dog, because I wasn't really in a hurry. It was anti-social driving I suppose, but it was a lot of fun just this once, and it got the Golf's petrol gauge under the half-full mark, which was the object of the exercise.

Watch out in the EV, the pheasants don’t hear you coming

 

[Rolfe]

Tasty birds, pheasants... (I once arrived home in the GTi from an overnight election count with a dead mallard drake lodged in the radiator grille. I think I even have a photo of that.)

They certainly heard me this time, as I had the GTi in Sports mode and it was growling. I felt a bit guilty but whenever I encountered human life I slowed right down. I even got waves of acknowledgement!

 

[Ian Key]

Tasty birds, pheasants... (I once arrived home in the GTi from an overnight election count with a dead mallard drake lodged in the radiator grille. I think I even have a photo of that.)

They certainly heard me this time, as I had the GTi in Sports mode and it was growling. I felt a bit guilty but whenever I encountered human life I slowed right down. I even got waves of acknowledgement!

Were they telling you to slow down to two mph?

 

[WalkingBootWeather]

I once arrived home in the GTi from an overnight election count with a dead mallard drake lodged in the radiator grille.

Did you shout "Duck!" as you approached?

 

[Deleted member 9692]

Watch out in the EV, the pheasants don’t hear you coming

Even if they did they would still treat your approach with indifference

 

[Rolfe]

Did you shout "Duck!" as you approached?

It was quite sad really. It was early, misty dawn and I was tanking along a straight country road which appeared absolutely deserted. It was undulating, but there were no dips deep enough to hide a car. Unfortunately there was a dip deep enough to hide a couple of necking ducks. I just had this momentary vision of two big birds engaged in a courtship ritual, then bang!

It was quite obvious that whatever I'd hit was dead, no point in stopping to offer first aid or a lift to the local wildlife hospital, so I just carried on. It was very early in the morning and I'd had no sleep so I simply backed the car into the garage, went into the house and went to bed. It was only the next morning that I discovered the drake embedded in my radiator grille!

Goodness, I'd forgotten how smart the GTi looked when he was new!

 

[Rolfe]

Just saying...

Don't know what happened to cause the picture to disappear, but I've re-uploaded it.

 

[Jomarkh]

My tea has gone cold reading this
I would certainly replace the plug socket with a new one if you are going you use the granny EVSE for any length of time. I put a new waterproof socket outside for 3 months use until i got my Zappi EVSE. Now I use the socket for the lawn mower, don't know why I never fitted one earlier

 

[Retsiba]

Just saying...

That is one sharp looking ride. You know everytime I see this Holborn blue it grows on me more.

 

[Rolfe]

My tea has gone cold reading this
I would certainly replace the plug socket with a new one if you are going you use the granny EVSE for any length of time. I put a new waterproof socket outside for 3 months use until i got my Zappi EVSE. Now I use the socket for the lawn mower, don't know why I never fitted one earlier

I'll see how it goes. The only reason the MG4 is sitting on the drive charging is that the Golf is still in the garage. As the other side of the garage is full of bicycle, wheelie bins and God knows what else, they're not both going to be inside at once. And frankly I'd rather show off the new car outside and keep the battered Golf under wraps while it waits for the salvage truck.

What do you think is wrong with my 13A socket (that is inside the garage so you can't see it)?

The dealer just told me there was no problem just leaving the car plugged in all the time and that it would cut the power when it was fully charged. I asked him what about not charging it above 80% unless one is about to go on a long journey, but he said that MG told them they should just charge fully all the time.

When I got home I plugged the car in, and then some time later started to fiddle with the app. At this point it was already at 83% and still putting on charge. I discovered under charging management that it was set to charge to 80% though, and this was labelled "Health Mode", so I don't quite follow that. It happily let me change that to 100% but then labelled that "Long-trip Mode".

So the app seems to think that 80% is usual and that 100% is only if you are heading off the next day. I'm a bit hazy about whether it actually stopped charging when it was above 80% and Health Mode was set, though. If it did, and that's the recommended maximum charge for short trips, I suppose one can just leave it plugged in and it will always take itself up to 80% then stop?

It was under 80% when I arrived home but has now got itself to 89% with an estimated finish time of 23.15, which isn't bad really.

I can see this is going to be a bit of a learning curve, so all hints and tips welcome.