It's one of the most complete unrestored Fordson model F machines I've seen. Still has the carburettor, magneto and plug leads, and turns over with good compression. Probably wouldn't take a lot to make it run again. Made in Dagenham, England, somewhere around 1920.
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Depending on how well this video performs I might do some more EV videos in the future (although of course they'll all be looking at this same car, over and over and over) 😊
Seconded - great video. I think a lot of Australians are interested in the MG4 given the current prices of almost all other EVs here, and I for one can relate to this kind of testing! One question - how annoying is it to have the settings reset each drive, and does the lane keep assist ever try to intervene when it's not wanted (mine does, esp on narrow roads)?
I agree, I also don't like having the lane assist grab at the wheel like a panicky passenger. I'm getting pretty good at switching it off each time I enter the car (usually after it's twitched the wheel to remind me). I've recorded some more footage a few days ago, and I'll have a followup MG4 video in a couple of weeks.
On the contrary to what you say earlier not for ev hater, you did a wonderful effort to explaining everything about ev perfectly. Keep up the good work
NZ here, also MG4 51. Your range vs speed are spot on. Many great accessories on Aliexpress, most useful is Carlink A2A Android Auto wireless adaptor. Floor mats, sun shades, led interior lights, oem plug & play dashcam, oem wireless phone charger, and electric tail gate rams and latch.
I too have that car in that colour. I bought it in August 2023 though. I do find highway driving to be much better than expected, but I think that is because I'm inevitably slip streaming trucks. I have done a 330 km highway trip where the battery went from 100 to 3%. The V2L came really in handy a year ago, when we lost power for 8 days. I had to charge at a rapid charger only once, which is the only time I've done so. The V2L seems happy supplying a lot more than 2.2 kW, I have found. I enjoyed your video. 😊
It turns out that the orange ones are a lot more popular than I expected - I'd have gone with fluorescent green as my first choice, if it had been available. 😊
Hey, what a champ, thanks for price per 100km broken up that was the most useful information for ev’s i have ever seen. I think if companies did it like that easy they would sell a lot more EV cars .Good job 👍
If you grind down the bigger earth pin so it fits in a ten amp socket, you can cause some serious issues. The wire rating on a ten amp outlet is not designed to handle 15 amps. That's why they make the plug different. If you load 15 amps on a10 amp circuit, it will get hot, if you are lucky it will blow a fuse. If not you may either damage your 15 appliance, or cause a fire. Yes great idea to grind the earth!
A tip on the 15A extension cord - indeed your usual caravan one will only support up to about 13A safely for hours on end, but in my experience a proper industrial 15A cord with chunky gauge cores (approx $100) will support the full 15A indefinitely.
Just got my 51 yesterday ( 24th ), I've noticed that you can stop the charging by unlocking the car after you've locked. Not sure if you've written down or stated that the 51 and 64 are AC charge limited to 6.6kw and the 51 is DC limited to 88kw So far I'm enjoying it, Yeah, The factory granny charger is slow, Just wasn't expecting it to be 1 - 1.3kw an hour slow haha, But it does state on the unit itself that the input is 240v 8a so the output does workout about right
The DC charging dust cover on the MG4 has a little clip provided in the inside of the charge flap so you can hang it neatly when charging rather than let it dangle.
You can also get more range if you select "ECO" mode and let the car drive more optimally. Yes driving at lesser speed helps, but always be aware the elevation is also a killer for range. I have the LR77 which means I can get around 400-480 kms in normal mode or about upto 500 in ECO city driving.
I was intentionally running this first set of tests using "Normal" mode. For the next "range testing" video I'll do some "Economy mode" runs, and also do the standard run towing a 500kg trailer at 90km/h. (There needs to be another video, the Risotto really is that good).
Very nice! Orange seems to be quite a bit more popular than I expected, I've found myself trying to unlock the wrong orange MG4 in the carpark about 3 times so far...
Orange is a favourite too here in Melbourne. I've seen all colours except black. I did not want to pay the extra $700 😂, besides I'll be sharing the Mg4 as a second car with my wife and daughter who wanted white. Paid $30,990 d/a, no freebies but still a great bargain 😊 So far had no problems, did not even bother downloading the phone app which can cause a lot of grief. I don't even connect my phone. I only listen to AM talk back radio😅
I've had my Excite 51 for just over a year now so there's no need for me to watch another review, yet here I am on new year's Day, folding my washing and being thoroughly entertained. She's a ripper of an EV. Very much looking forward to making more use of her V2G functionality when bidirectional charging becomes available (and affordable).
Unlocking the car with the FOB or door button also releases the charge port lock pin so you can remove the charge plug. If left plugged in it will eventually re-engage the locking pin and restart charging.
Great fun review, I would be interested in a follow up to living with the MG. I am looking for a replacement for my BMW i3, which is in the workshop, again!
Great video thanks. I pick up my new MG4 Excite 51 on Friday but still need to arrange a towbar. Where did you get yours? I want to make sure it can be easily removed and does not cause any clearance issues.
Good choice. I bought Essence level, and had the software updated pre-delivery. I also toned down the response of the nannies that stay toned down. Each drive I disable ELK, and enable one pedal driving and Android Auto. Generally it's been great. Driver profiles that retained all settings would make it better. Slightly bigger than my old CX3 inside and out. Much nicer to drive (and quicker).
I hope you have better luck with your EV than me. I bought my EV 9 years ago next March. It is a second / third car and hardly been used at 40 k miles, well looked after, not constantly left on the charger at 100% and not regularly rapid charged, yet the battery has degraded by 42%. I would certainly not buy another one. I live in the UK but my brother lives in Hillarys Perth.
Not much of a comparison, you are comparing 9 year old technology with the latest and greatest. The MG 51 has the LFP battery which Will outlast the car
My ecoflow delta 2 with a very good battery management system, is LFP and only guaranteed for 10 years. My other cars are a 20 year old Mazda MX5 and a 17 year old Mercedes E Class diesel, both working perfectly, the Mercedes still having a range of 650 miles at highway speeds and 51 mpg. One of my earliest cars was an MGB roadster in chartreusse. I sold it many decades ago. It is still on the road now 47 years after manufacture in 1977. reg. no RVN564R. take a look on line on gov uk vehicle tax checker. Do you honestly think that any battery will last that long ?
Having the cars always charged at 100% will kill the battery much faster than a few fast charges. I had a few EVs over the last 7 years (a Citroen C-zero (16kWh), a classic Hyundai Ioniq (28kWh), a MG ZS2 and now a MG4 64kWh). I sold the Ioniq at 160000km/7 years without any visible degradation of range and the C-zero at 60000km/10 years with 10% degradation. I didn't keep the ZS long enough to degrade the battery. I used fast charging on the Ioniq on the highway and charged most of the time at home at 80% in summer and 100% in winter (but drove it soon after the end of the charge to go to work). I never had a car with LFP battery yet and no problem if you take care of the battery. Which EV did you buy ? The Nissan Leaf did have many battery degradation problems as the battery cooling system was trash.
You don't need to go into the car to charge it. Unlock the doors plug in the cable lock the doors after about 15 seconds it will go green and start charging. When finished just press the door unlock wait a few seconds lights go blue unplug the cable lock the doors walk off,
@TightwadWorkshop plenty, 10/2 or current teaching quarter to 3. It's dangerous and bad for your shoulders. Would you hold your arms out like that in any other circumstance. The Answer is no, so why do it while driving. Have a nice Christmas mate.
I dunno, I'm looking at the footage again and it looks a lot more like "10 and 2" than "top of the wheel" to me (8:06 - 8:10). I'll agree with you on "bad posture", but I must admit that I'm doubtful about the "dangerous" part. My most recent driving instructor/assessor (November 2023, Heavy Rigid) didn't mention anything about it either, so I assumed I was doing OK...
@TightwadWorkshop The dangerous part which most don't recognise is that in the event of a skippy or something on the road, drivers slew the wheel, and if its high sided. which a lot of vehicles are in Australia today unfortunately will roll it. It happens. anywY Christmas 🎄 greetings to you.
This is an engagement comment for the algorithm. I don’t think we can buy little orange MG’s in the United States. But I would still like to see an update. Will the tires and battery last? I hope so.
Thank you, I appreciate your feeding of The Algorithm (Blessed be The Algorithm). We don't manufacture cars in Australia any more, so our leaders don't need to apply tarrifs to keep the local industry afloat any more. I'm expecting that a good chunk of my savings on brake pads and fuel will end up spent on tyres, the car is very heavy for its size.
The battery will outlive the car. The LiFePO4 cells in this model are good for 1,000,000+ km. A 10 year warranty here, in some markets (e.g. Thailand) they now have a lifetime warranty. Tyre wear is more a function of how you drive and won't be significantly different. The tyre pressure monitoring system is good at reminding you to keep tyre pressures up.
Personally I've have the mg4 51(with a roof top tent) for almost a year mostly around Sydney i get 370km, highways for trips get around 300km which isn't bad considering the roof top tent. Occasionally we do camping trips 2-3hr north, south or west with 1 charge at camp grounds or DC. During the xmas holidays we did a trip to Adelaide SA though Hay then back through 12 apostles, Jindabyne 4000km total. Absolutely don't mind the rest stops as i really need to either nap or toilet breaks with kid compared to my younger days where Sydney to Melbourne in 10+ hours stright😅
I don't think that the CCS2 charger plug specification will allow that, but I'm very much NOT an expert in the field. I think that the CHAdeMO standard allows that use case though: www.chademo.com/technology/v2g
I bought this one in October, when they were on sale for $31,000 (this is the bottom-of-the-range poverty package model). Adding the towbar and some floor mats and such brought it up to about $33,000.
We bought a charger for home. At $0.08 per KWh overnight it pays for itself quickly enough. 14000km and we have only used a high speed charger 3 times. It is worth doing, just to establish the account for future longer trips. The economics of a decent home charger is irrefutable.
Drive a Citroen C-zero and you will see that the MG4 has a nice interior. MG has updated the software and it is much better now. I bought mine in 2023 and MG has updated it during service. I don't have problem with the feel of the steering wheel (you should try the Dacia Spring and you will see what is really zero steering feel). LKS and ACS are average but work fine (they were a lot better on my Ioniq classic (28kWh). The boot is big enough. It is nice to have enough leg room in the back seat.
I can't imagine anyone watching this video would NOT want to ride on a playground tractor.
Would like to also see someone try and start it too.
It's one of the most complete unrestored Fordson model F machines I've seen. Still has the carburettor, magneto and plug leads, and turns over with good compression. Probably wouldn't take a lot to make it run again.
Made in Dagenham, England, somewhere around 1920.
I hope you do more EV stuff. First time watching one of your videos and totally sold on your presentation and wry humour.
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Depending on how well this video performs I might do some more EV videos in the future (although of course they'll all be looking at this same car, over and over and over) 😊
@@TightwadWorkshop Long live over and over
Seconded - great video.
I think a lot of Australians are interested in the MG4 given the current prices of almost all other EVs here, and I for one can relate to this kind of testing!
One question - how annoying is it to have the settings reset each drive, and does the lane keep assist ever try to intervene when it's not wanted (mine does, esp on narrow roads)?
I agree, I also don't like having the lane assist grab at the wheel like a panicky passenger. I'm getting pretty good at switching it off each time I enter the car (usually after it's twitched the wheel to remind me).
I've recorded some more footage a few days ago, and I'll have a followup MG4 video in a couple of weeks.
On the contrary to what you say earlier not for ev hater, you did a wonderful effort to explaining everything about ev perfectly. Keep up the good work
Glad you enjoyed it! 👍
Awesome, glad the algorithm pushed your clip to me.
Blessed be The Algorithm.
Thanks for the video. I have the MG4, now I want a tractor just like your local one.
NZ here, also MG4 51. Your range vs speed are spot on. Many great accessories on Aliexpress, most useful is Carlink A2A Android Auto wireless adaptor. Floor mats, sun shades, led interior lights, oem plug & play dashcam, oem wireless phone charger, and electric tail gate rams and latch.
I didn't think to take a look at AliExpress, thanks for the tip. 👍
Having owned an EV for nearly 5 years I found this video entertaining and informative, great work !
I'm glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for taking the time to comment! 🤠
I too have that car in that colour. I bought it in August 2023 though. I do find highway driving to be much better than expected, but I think that is because I'm inevitably slip streaming trucks. I have done a 330 km highway trip where the battery went from 100 to 3%. The V2L came really in handy a year ago, when we lost power for 8 days. I had to charge at a rapid charger only once, which is the only time I've done so. The V2L seems happy supplying a lot more than 2.2 kW, I have found. I enjoyed your video. 😊
It turns out that the orange ones are a lot more popular than I expected - I'd have gone with fluorescent green as my first choice, if it had been available. 😊
Hey, what a champ, thanks for price per 100km broken up that was the most useful information for ev’s i have ever seen. I think if companies did it like that easy they would sell a lot more EV cars .Good job 👍
Thank you, I'm glad you found it useful.
15a plugs DO fit into a standard socket, if you grind them down a bit, dont ask why or how I know.
If you grind down the bigger earth pin so it fits in a ten amp socket, you can cause some serious issues. The wire rating on a ten amp outlet is not designed to handle 15 amps. That's why they make the plug different. If you load 15 amps on a10 amp circuit, it will get hot, if you are lucky it will blow a fuse. If not you may either damage your 15 appliance, or cause a fire. Yes great idea to grind the earth!
@@dar3726 I know. which is why I have a proper caravan style cutout switch thingy attached to it. So, I'm way ahead of you there. way ahead.
A tip on the 15A extension cord - indeed your usual caravan one will only support up to about 13A safely for hours on end, but in my experience a proper industrial 15A cord with chunky gauge cores (approx $100) will support the full 15A indefinitely.
Just got my 51 yesterday ( 24th ), I've noticed that you can stop the charging by unlocking the car after you've locked.
Not sure if you've written down or stated that the 51 and 64 are AC charge limited to 6.6kw and the 51 is DC limited to 88kw
So far I'm enjoying it, Yeah, The factory granny charger is slow, Just wasn't expecting it to be 1 - 1.3kw an hour slow haha, But it does state on the unit itself that the input is 240v 8a so the output does workout about right
The DC charging dust cover on the MG4 has a little clip provided in the inside of the charge flap so you can hang it neatly when charging rather than let it dangle.
You can also get more range if you select "ECO" mode and let the car drive more optimally. Yes driving at lesser speed helps, but always be aware the elevation is also a killer for range.
I have the LR77 which means I can get around 400-480 kms in normal mode or about upto 500 in ECO city driving.
I was intentionally running this first set of tests using "Normal" mode. For the next "range testing" video I'll do some "Economy mode" runs, and also do the standard run towing a 500kg trailer at 90km/h.
(There needs to be another video, the Risotto really is that good).
Bought the 51 excite too. It's my first white car and my first EV. I too will keep my Mg4 for 10 yrs+. Looking forward to your next ev update 😊
Very nice! Orange seems to be quite a bit more popular than I expected, I've found myself trying to unlock the wrong orange MG4 in the carpark about 3 times so far...
Orange is a favourite too here in Melbourne. I've seen all colours except black. I did not want to pay the extra $700 😂, besides I'll be sharing the Mg4 as a second car with my wife and daughter who wanted white. Paid $30,990 d/a, no freebies but still a great bargain 😊
So far had no problems, did not even bother downloading the phone app which can cause a lot of grief. I don't even connect my phone. I only listen to AM talk back radio😅
The phone app was a bit finicky to get connected to the car, but it's useful for monitoring the battery while you're charging.
Good review. On my MG4 I can release the charge plug by unlocking the car
Good tip, thanks!
loving the video, good info, hilarious humor
Glad you enjoyed it! I'll have a new video on Saturday, and a follow-up to this one in a couple of weeks. 🙂
I've had my Excite 51 for just over a year now so there's no need for me to watch another review, yet here I am on new year's Day, folding my washing and being thoroughly entertained. She's a ripper of an EV. Very much looking forward to making more use of her V2G functionality when bidirectional charging becomes available (and affordable).
In that case you'll be happy to know that right now I'm back at the Lake George Winery DC charger recording footage for the follow-up video. 🙂
@@TightwadWorkshop Fantastic, I'll keep an eye out for your next upload.
That was really fun thank you
You're very welcome 😁
Thats fully sick mate!
Goes like stink, mate! (well, compared to a 1989 Econovan, at any rate)
Great work, mate.
I'm glad you liked it. I'll have a followup MG4 video in a couple of weeks.
Unlocking the car with the FOB or door button also releases the charge port lock pin so you can remove the charge plug. If left plugged in it will eventually re-engage the locking pin and restart charging.
That's a good tip, thanks!
1:48 Did the woodchips scuff up the rear end? MG4 is great value; thanks.
Not that I noticed. 🙂
I'm not that fussy about keeping things "showroom fresh", this is a Work Car for me. 🙂
@@TightwadWorkshop Noted. Will watch more of your videos. Happy holidays!
Great fun review, I would be interested in a follow up to living with the MG. I am looking for a replacement for my BMW i3, which is in the workshop, again!
Better tune in next Saturday! 😁
Great video and well presented.
Thank you kindly!
Thanks ! Keep on
It also matches your beard Hamish.
Well yes, Hamish's beard used to be red, but I'm not Hamish. 🧔♂️
Great video thanks. I pick up my new MG4 Excite 51 on Friday but still need to arrange a towbar. Where did you get yours? I want to make sure it can be easily removed and does not cause any clearance issues.
I bought it as an option with the car, and had it fitted by the dealer. It cost $900
mgmotor.com.au/owners/accessories/mg-mg4/#DisplayAll
Good choice. I bought Essence level, and had the software updated pre-delivery. I also toned down the response of the nannies that stay toned down.
Each drive I disable ELK, and enable one pedal driving and Android Auto.
Generally it's been great. Driver profiles that retained all settings would make it better.
Slightly bigger than my old CX3 inside and out. Much nicer to drive (and quicker).
Yes, that standard "lane assist" setting reminds me a bit too much of a panicky passenger grabbing at the wheel.
Damn that could be a deal-breaker... Also sad that even the most basic non-safety-related settings aren't retained.
I'm on my first new car, so that makes you a new car expert to me
Fantastic video. Great info and I can see how much effort you've put into it. Well done. New Sub from me.
Thanks for subscribing, much appreciated!
I hope you have better luck with your EV than me. I bought my EV 9 years ago next March. It is a second / third car and hardly been used at 40 k miles, well looked after, not constantly left on the charger at 100% and not regularly rapid charged, yet the battery has degraded by 42%. I would certainly not buy another one.
I live in the UK but my brother lives in Hillarys Perth.
Not much of a comparison, you are comparing 9 year old technology with the latest and greatest. The MG 51 has the LFP battery which Will outlast the car
My ecoflow delta 2 with a very good battery management system, is LFP and only guaranteed for 10 years.
My other cars are a 20 year old Mazda MX5 and a 17 year old Mercedes E Class diesel, both working perfectly, the Mercedes still having a range of 650 miles at highway speeds and 51 mpg. One of my earliest cars was an MGB roadster in chartreusse. I sold it many decades ago. It is still on the road now 47 years after manufacture in 1977. reg. no RVN564R. take a look on line on gov uk vehicle tax checker. Do you honestly think that any battery will last that long ?
Having the cars always charged at 100% will kill the battery much faster than a few fast charges.
I had a few EVs over the last 7 years (a Citroen C-zero (16kWh), a classic Hyundai Ioniq (28kWh), a MG ZS2 and now a MG4 64kWh). I sold the Ioniq at 160000km/7 years without any visible degradation of range and the C-zero at 60000km/10 years with 10% degradation. I didn't keep the ZS long enough to degrade the battery.
I used fast charging on the Ioniq on the highway and charged most of the time at home at 80% in summer and 100% in winter (but drove it soon after the end of the charge to go to work).
I never had a car with LFP battery yet and no problem if you take care of the battery.
Which EV did you buy ? The Nissan Leaf did have many battery degradation problems as the battery cooling system was trash.
What about single sided 8" floppies?
The "Special Occasion" is the day that I locate a still-functioning 8" floppy drive to use that disk in.
You don't need to go into the car to charge it. Unlock the doors plug in the cable lock the doors after about 15 seconds it will go green and start charging. When finished just press the door unlock wait a few seconds lights go blue unplug the cable lock the doors walk off,
That's a good tip, thanks for sharing!
Huh? Mine didn't come with a tow bar kit, unless it's hidden somewhere?
The towbar is an option, not a standard inclusion. It costs an extra $900.
mgmotor.com.au/owners/accessories/mg-mg4/#DisplayAll
apart from driving with your hands at the top of the steering wheel, interesting
Ok, I'll bite. What's the problem with my steering wheel grip?
@TightwadWorkshop plenty, 10/2 or current teaching quarter to 3. It's dangerous and bad for your shoulders. Would you hold your arms out like that in any other circumstance. The Answer is no, so why do it while driving. Have a nice Christmas mate.
I dunno, I'm looking at the footage again and it looks a lot more like "10 and 2" than "top of the wheel" to me (8:06 - 8:10). I'll agree with you on "bad posture", but I must admit that I'm doubtful about the "dangerous" part. My most recent driving instructor/assessor (November 2023, Heavy Rigid) didn't mention anything about it either, so I assumed I was doing OK...
@TightwadWorkshop The dangerous part which most don't recognise is that in the event of a skippy or something on the road, drivers slew the wheel, and if its high sided. which a lot of vehicles are in Australia today unfortunately will roll it. It happens. anywY Christmas 🎄 greetings to you.
This is an engagement comment for the algorithm. I don’t think we can buy little orange MG’s in the United States. But I would still like to see an update. Will the tires and battery last? I hope so.
Thank you, I appreciate your feeding of The Algorithm (Blessed be The Algorithm).
We don't manufacture cars in Australia any more, so our leaders don't need to apply tarrifs to keep the local industry afloat any more. I'm expecting that a good chunk of my savings on brake pads and fuel will end up spent on tyres, the car is very heavy for its size.
The battery will outlive the car. The LiFePO4 cells in this model are good for 1,000,000+ km. A 10 year warranty here, in some markets (e.g. Thailand) they now have a lifetime warranty. Tyre wear is more a function of how you drive and won't be significantly different. The tyre pressure monitoring system is good at reminding you to keep tyre pressures up.
Personally I've have the mg4 51(with a roof top tent) for almost a year mostly around Sydney i get 370km, highways for trips get around 300km which isn't bad considering the roof top tent. Occasionally we do camping trips 2-3hr north, south or west with 1 charge at camp grounds or DC. During the xmas holidays we did a trip to Adelaide SA though Hay then back through 12 apostles, Jindabyne 4000km total. Absolutely don't mind the rest stops as i really need to either nap or toilet breaks with kid compared to my younger days where Sydney to Melbourne in 10+ hours stright😅
Sounds like you're getting great use out of it!
Its a pity the MG only provides a 240V outlet frm the charging port. I'd like to connect it to charge while using 240V from the car....instant UPS.
I don't think that the CCS2 charger plug specification will allow that, but I'm very much NOT an expert in the field.
I think that the CHAdeMO standard allows that use case though:
www.chademo.com/technology/v2g
@@TightwadWorkshop Some EV's have 240V power outlets independent of the charging port.
nice tractor .
I know, right? Who doesn't like tractors?
2004 , time for the 20 year review
There's always something, isn't there? I'll go fix that now.
What is the price difference between that car and a petrol and a diesel car?
I bought this one in October, when they were on sale for $31,000 (this is the bottom-of-the-range poverty package model). Adding the towbar and some floor mats and such brought it up to about $33,000.
We bought a charger for home. At $0.08 per KWh overnight it pays for itself quickly enough. 14000km and we have only used a high speed charger 3 times. It is worth doing, just to establish the account for future longer trips. The economics of a decent home charger is irrefutable.
$0.08 per kWh is a fantastic electricity price - what company is offering that one?
Salut my Friend super car Subscribe Subscribe ❤❤❤
Thank you, much appreciated. 🙂
lane keep assist is borderline dangerous.
zero steering feel
numerous collision detection warnings.
slow & buggy software.
boot is small.
everything is horrible & cheap plastic
Drive a Citroen C-zero and you will see that the MG4 has a nice interior.
MG has updated the software and it is much better now. I bought mine in 2023 and MG has updated it during service.
I don't have problem with the feel of the steering wheel (you should try the Dacia Spring and you will see what is really zero steering feel). LKS and ACS are average but work fine (they were a lot better on my Ioniq classic (28kWh).
The boot is big enough. It is nice to have enough leg room in the back seat.
Sounds like your MG4 needs some updates ?