MG4 EV - Maximising Cold Weather Range, applies to all electric vehicles
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- čas přidán 25. 08. 2024
- Aka "Help, why doesn't my new electric car go as far as advertised in the cold weather!"
This slightly longer video contains tips specific to the MG4 EV, but the same general principles apply to all electric vehicles. It's worth watching to the end to help maximise your battery range (or reduce cold induced range loss) in colder weather, particularly when the temperateure gets below zero.
Many people complain about losing a quarter or more of their range in cold weather, especially when doing short journeys. This video shows why, how you can improve it, and how it still happens in petrol and diesel cars, though with their longer range and all the waste heat they produce which can be used to heat the cabin, it is less noticeable.
I have heard that pre-heating the battery only makes sense when you are planning to make a stop for fast charging. Then 15-20 minutes before, you should activate the heating. By default when buying the MG4, battery pre-heating is activated. It did cost me a lot of kilowatts. Now I manage to drive the MG4 (SE Long Range) with 17-18 kWh/100 km in Winter (southern Bavaria, but the Winter is not very strong this time). I drive the car fully-dressed and I heat it only for getting the windows clear. 21 degrees Celsius is 16 degrees in real, that's one of the minor software bugs.
Interestingly, I did the same Heathrow airport run yesterday that I did last week, (see video posted on real life range etc) though in temperatures 6 degrees lower. This time I preheated the battery manually while finishing off the charge in the morning, and the car was significantly better on energy, averaging 3.8 miles per KWh, and having 5% more range an 12 more miles left when I got home, on the identical route.
I agree with ICE cars my fuel economy has dropped quite significantly in this cold spell. The only difference is when my fuel has all been used up a quick 2 minute stop & I’m back to full range and I can use the heater at my will. I’m getting a PHEV soon so no doubt these tips will come in handy as I’ll try and make the most of the battery.
I'm not trying to pretend that EVs can charge as quickly as fuelling an ICE car but 2 things to consider: 1. I timed filling my PHEV (40 litres) ignition off to back on again, pay at pump (so no queueing to pay) - 6 min 20 secs; it was an unusually slow pump but it takes longer than people think. 2. You don't necessarily have to charge to full; just enough for the journey. On the right charger an Ioniq 5 could get 75 miles in 5 mins. Most people stop for 15-20 mins every couple of hours on a motorway trip.
@@garyallsopp6369Good point - but note you added 500 miles range to your PHEV in 6 mins vs only 75miles range added to the Ionic in the same time (assuming you can find a fast charger that’s unoccupied and functioning). An ICE car effectively has infinite range whatever the weather. You can try to rationalise but there’s no getting away from EV Range Anxiety.
@@brickmissing8295thankfully fuel is so cheap and the price is stable……..
@@brickmissing8295 Rubbish. If you're using the EV for your commute and can charge at home or work, then effectively your range is almost infinite. You get home or to work, plug in and when you're ready to go you're fully charged.
I don’t think plugging the car in to preheat it is an option for those living in towns and cities. Good useful tips though! P.S. your voice is really amazing, should be on the radio
65% of UK homes have either got or have the potential to have off street parking. With many schemes in cities already in place to charge from lamp posts, the situation will only improve over time as we gear up for a mostly EV future.
I see both points of you guys! And especially that voice should be heard by many more on radio ^^
@@BurlSolomons we have lamp post chargers, only a fraction of those are really used due to either being obstructed, broken or people generally do not use them due to higher charging cost per kWh. Hopefully it will get better but UK gov has failed roll out good charging infrastructure across the UK.
Ken Bruce is retiring soon.. 😉
@@BurlSolomons I hear all the time from EV specialists that lamp post charging will be a great benefit to those who don't have off street parking but no one has yet said what happens in terraced streets like in the town where I live where there are many terraced streets that are always full of parked cars and only have about 10 or so lamp posts, would you ban people from just plain parking near a lamp post and if so where would you suggest they park their cars.
great tips
Glad you like them!
Would you mind making a video showing the Amazon Music app please 🙂
I would if I could get it to work in any meaningful way!
Great videos so keep up the good work. So to clarify if my car is at 100% as it's charged all night and I then turn on pre heating and battery heating it'll draw from the grid or the battery? Just not sure what takes priority.
Depends on the software version. Original cars up to Autumn 2023 will not preheat at all due to a software bug. Later cars or older ones updated at first service will try to use the mains to preheat before battery if connected to the wall box.
You could also scrape the ice off the windows while the cabin is warming up, instead of waiting for the heaters to do the work. The warm air from the heaters will quickly clear any mist/condensation when you get back in the car.
You also use less energy overall which is better for the planet... isn't that what an EV driver would have you believe anyway.
Bullshit 😂
I have so much solar on the house and battery storage it makes no difference. 10 minutes of heating uses very little power anyway.
I have chronic arthritis in both hands (maybe caused by excessive cold,as I worked in transport and scrapped many a coach window clear!) The cold is painful now,so the ability to have a screen clear itself is great,as is the heated steering wheel.
During the winter I use something else, before I am leaving with my car from the parking lot. As soon as I get home, I apply a solar panel on the outside part of the windshield, that keeps it nice and clean for the next morning. No need for any effort in the morning, especially because I need to go out as soon as possible before the road gets really crowded.
logic, nice tips.
pre-heating doesn't work with the car plugged in, unless it's actively charging
Yes we are all well aware of this, there are plenty of work arounds, like re starting your charge from 80% and then initiating preheating. There is also a software update in the pipeline to fix it.
Just a question is this software update over the air?
We are considering a MG vs Tesla ..
our VW clearly doesn’t update that often or great over the air ^^
@@steinmar2 In the car it implies you can do an OTA, but you can't (yet?) and it has to be done at a dealer unfortunately.
@@steinmar2 so it appears that major functions such as driving, car body etc will be dealer updates, done at service appointments or more often if required, but infotainment and navigation will be ota as far as anyone can work out.
No have rear wiper, It's problem?
The long rear light lip on the boot really keeps dirt off the rear window. But water drops do get trapped in an edy current there.
Traduction in Italy?
Great video! You need to make it clearer that pre-heating the cabin is different from pre-heating the battery. It's not clear to me that pre heating the battery makes any difference unless you are using a fast or rapid charger. Please explain the pros and cons of pre heating the battery. Thank you!
You really only need to preheat the battery if a) the battery is very cold (below 10°C) and b) you are going to rapid charge it and want the fastest possible charge speed. So a cold battery won't take the full 135 KW charge rate, more like 70 or 80, but a nice warm one will. It's really if you care more about charge speed during cold weather than charge cost.
@@BurlSolomons Hi Burl, I got my MG4 Trophy in November; I always charge at home but wanted to test out it's rapid charge capabilities. Went 200 yards from my house to the nearest rapid charger and didn't pre-heat the battery (so cold car & battery). Car was at 25% and it pulled 142kW pretty consistently until I unplugged at about 55%. Really impressed! At some point I'll see if I can get any higher by pre-heating the battery first.
How did you get one I’m on order until May for a trophy. And I ordered it a month back.
Ordered in October, delivered 21 Dec. Orders have increased since it started winning loads of awards, so naturally waiting time has increased.
@@BurlSolomons Ordered mine 23rd december and picked it up yesterday (Must admit I had prior knowledge the dealer was getting two cars 'last week december or early weeks january' though).
Well done, most people are waiting around 16 weeks now!
Ordered mine on Monday, dealer said wait times are going to get longer after 31 March, not sure if that was a sales tactic though.
What about the software bug that pre-heating and/or cabin heating won't work when plugged in but you have reached your charge state?
Well, a) hopefully that will be resolved soon, and b) for the meantime you could set to charge to your normal 80% limit, then when you get up, raise the limit to 90% and the car will start charging again. At this point you can activate preheating and only likely add 1 or 2% range so your battery will be safe, and your car will be warm.
@@BurlSolomons Good thinking!
Is this issue resolved yet?
Great video! Has the software bug been fixed? Best regards ;-)
Ev’s are not an option for 90% of the world.
No problem, those 90% can continue to walk and use bicycles, not our problem.
You mean 10%?
You know an ICE car has worse consumption when cold too right?
I just start my diesel car for 5 minutes it’s nice and warm then I drive away! 😂
Bullshit. No diesel engine is going to be warm after 5 minutes of idling.
@@georgesmith3391 😂