Our "New to Us" Winnie

[T1 Terry]

T1,
Re the MG4 shutting down because of no driver in the car.
We found that a 4 litre cask of good red will trigger the seatbelt alarm in our Supercar.
Unfortunately the effectiveness wears off if you take too many “quality control” samples.




… and don’t spill any!

Brian (Homeless) has donated me the drum weight out of the front loader washing machine to experiment with, but a 20 ltr drum of water (or diesel for the diesel heater) would also work if the washing machine weight works ..... if I still need to use the jumper lead method to recharge the house battery, so the MG remains in the operating mode ..... might make an interesting trial for flat towing the MG at a later date .... probably a much later date

T1 Terry

[T1 Terry]

Maybe a good place for the washing machine... oops...it already has a home .
Bernie.

But maybe a spot for the diesel heater, not enough room for much else ..... maybe the Waeco as a freezer ...... that might be a better option .... are you going for Jon's "Ideas man" position

T1 Terry

[BernieQ2]

Doing an apprenticeship

[jon_d]

Excellent Bernie.

I'll be away in August for about 6 weeks, I hope. I'll need you to think of all the ideas then.

[Noggins]

Just a question, as I don't know much about EVs.
If the MG is going downhill with the right boot lifted, does it recharge the batteries?
And if so, would a flat tow with the ignition on and a weight in the pilot seat recharge the batteries when on the move, then could the recharging MG also recharge the House batteries ?
A simple wi-fi/ motion connection could be made to switch the MG ignition( for the want of a better word) on and off as desired when either moving or stopped.

????

Ron

[T1 Terry]

Just a question, as I don't know much about EVs.
If the MG is going downhill with the right boot lifted, does it recharge the batteries?
And if so, would a flat tow with the ignition on and a weight in the pilot seat recharge the batteries when on the move, then could the recharging MG also recharge the House batteries ?
A simple wi-fi/ motion connection could be made to switch the MG ignition( for the want of a better word) on and off as desired when either moving or stopped.

????

Ron

The short answers are:
Yes, it will hold the intellegent cruise control speed set

No, even if you had actuators for the throttle pedal and the brake pedal it has sensors in the "torque" link between the steering wheel and steering rack, and tests to see if someone is steering the car as well ....

The long answer

There is a few more bits the MG4 computer uses to test if there actually is a driver and they are still awake/alive when the vehicle is moving ...... the steering wheel load is monitored to ensure the driver is actually holding the steering wheel, it will do a slight turn to the right or left, only far enough to reach the edge of the lane and not actually cross a lane line, and beep at you because you drove onto a lane white line .... if it didn't feel you pull back against the steering wheel to indicate you were still in control, it drops into limp mode, puts the 4 way flashes on and makes its way to the side of the road and stops.

So, someone would actually need to be in the driver's seat and holding the steering wheel, not perfectly following the direction the wheels would naturally go when following the towing vehicle, that way the MG computer knows someone is actually in control of the car, either a suitable throttle position would need to be chosen to mimic driving at that speed ....
or
There is a way around that, the Traffic Jam Assist (TJA) function could be set along with a max speed of say 100km/h, and the computer would attempt to keep the required distance between to MG and the vehicle in front .... up to the max of the speed set, say the 100km/h mention previously.... any faster and it would apply regeneration braking and turn the EV motor into a generator ..... and also apply the brakes if it considered the regen wasn't having the desired effect.
This means, setting the Intelligent Cruise Control (ICC) to say 90km/h, and then towing it at 100km/h would recharge the battery, but it would also burn out the brakes because the ABS wouldn't allow the wheels to lock up and drag the wheels locked, destroying the tyres, but it has a very good set of brakes and a pump that can apply more force to the brake callipers, on any individual wheel, than a human could ... even in a panic stop .....

The drive is "fly by wire" the brakes are "stop by wire" and the steering is "turn by wire". The computer just uses the sensor inputs and determines the best application of each system, depending on the drive mode selected, snow, normal, sports and eco ... plus a custom settings choice that I'm yet to investigate ..... the snow mode is very handy on loose surface dirt road ..... or oil on water if it recently rain after a long dry spell .... it steadies the throttle application, reduces the acuteness of the steering and reduces the regen to avoid wheel slide .... for the money, it is an incredible vehicle to drive

T1 Terry

[Greynomad]

T1,
Re “steering by wire”:
If you apply constant pressure to the left does the car progressively tighten the radius of the turn, or do you have to rotate the steering wheel several times as in a “normal” car?

[T1 Terry]

T1,
Re “steering by wire”:
If you apply constant pressure to the left does the car progressively tighten the radius of the turn, or do you have to rotate the steering wheel several times as in a “normal” car?

As you turn the steering wheel, the torque sensor drivers the motor in the rack in that direction, so the steering shaft moves like it would if you were driving without the assistance. It is really twitchy in sport mode, more lay back in eco mode and some what lethargic in snow mode .... I guess that is what you'd want when the traction under the steer tyres is minimal, so you avoid under steer .... sports mode, it's like you just have to think you want to turn that way and it does, would have been great when I was younger, reflexes are getting a bit slower these days so I end up over correcting a lot ... it goes like a cut cat in sports mode but also eats a lot of battery capacity very quickly, so I avoid using unless it's to scare the sh*tte out of someone in the passenger seat that has been saying battery cars are no fun to drive While I'm scaring them, I tell them this is the poverty pack model, it's the MG4 XPower that really performs, 0 to 100km/h in 3.8 secs, 1/4 mile in 12 secs ...... the legendary Phase 3 GTHO Falcon did the 1/4 mile in 14.4 secs ..... the XPower would be too quick for me to keep my licence I think

T1 Terry

[T1 Terry]

I was reminded yet again today, carpentry is not one of my super powers

Took all day, till it was too dark to do any more, to cut down 3 shelves and a timber back board and assemble it to fill in the spot between the door and the inverter .... at least half the time involved getting the shelves up the right way and around the right way ....
My ability to visualise in my head how it should look and copy that hasn't worked since the motor vehicle accident .... seems those parts of the brain aren't linked any more ..... I had forgotten just how frustrating that was when I was fitting out Big Bus, to make a part to fit perfectly, only to discovered I'd made it mirror image

Another attempt tomorrow, but at least Margaret is pleased with the idea, it tidies up that area where the inverter is mounted and covers the lights so they don't shine in the otherwise dark front area of the Winnie .... directly opposite where Margaret often has to sleep on the lounge chair semi reclined,
so her foot doesn't give her hell ......

With this reconfiguration of the shelves and the box for the air fryer storage, where the 3rd captain's chair was, but removed before we bought it, allows me to walk around Margaret's feet while she has the chair reclined ..... so that's at least a win ....

T1 Terry

[Dot]

Pics please. Just had a thought. By now you could of got Rustic Inn (the first) all done and you would be on the road by now??