Just picked up my MG4 — dealer only put a Type 2-to-Type 2 cable in the boot, no granny charger. Is that actually normal?
Three months of research and I finally picked up my MG4 last weekend! First car I've ever bought brand new, so I was pretty excited. But delivery day threw me a bit of a curveball — I assumed a granny charger would just be in the boot along with everything else, like a spare tyre kind of thing. Popped the boot and there's a Type 2-to-Type 2 cable, the owner's manual, and that's it.
Rang the dealership Monday to check if I'd missed something in the walkthrough and the salesperson wasn't sure, said he'd "check with the workshop" and I still haven't heard back three days later.
Is this actually standard now, or did I get shortchanged somewhere? And if it is normal, what do people actually do — is the Type 2 cable enough to get by on public AC chargers around here, or do I need to go buy a granny charger too before I can charge from home at all?
Filed under: Type 2 Cables & Portable EVSE
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17 answers
17 ANSWERS
@trent_b87July 24, 2026
Don't treat whatever's in the boot as a 'free portable charger' without checking it first, that's the bit that catches people out. Seen a few mystery-brand units with the plug moulded on badly, no RCM tick anywhere, no rated amperage on the housing itself. If you end up buying your own, budget for something properly certified rather than the cheapest listing you find.
Is there a specific marking or brand I should be looking for so I don't end up with one of the dodgy ones you're describing?
Look for the RCM tick and a proper AS/NZS 3112 plug moulded on, not glued or crimped on separately afterward. If the box or the unit itself doesn't list an amp rating anywhere, skip it regardless of price.
Does it matter if it's rated the same 10A as whatever the dealer would've given me, or should I actually be looking at something like the MSI EzGo people mention in the portable charger threads?
Car negotiates the rate down to whatever it can take regardless, so buy for the GPO circuit you'll actually be plugging into, not the car's spec sheet. A 10A certified unit is plenty if that's what the outlet and circuit can safely carry.
@bazza_wJuly 26, 2026
Same story with a lot of the sub-$40k Chinese brands this year, MG's not unusual here. Difference between dealers is what they'll actually organise if you push — some will source a granny charger through parts if you ask specifically, rather than asking 'aftersales' in general and getting nowhere.
@gregolasJuly 24, 2026
Went through the exact same thing with mine, cable only, no granny charger in the boot. Ended up just buying one off the shelf at Autobarn the same week. Wasn't the cheapest option going but I could see it in person and ask questions instead of guessing off a listing.
@just_lurking22July 24, 2026
Mine did the same, no charger either.
@bennyboy21July 24, 2026
Wouldn't bother chasing the dealer for it honestly. Mine tried for two weeks to get parts to sort a charger, gave up, just bought my own and got on with it.
@fi_macJuly 24, 2026
Worth pricing the public AC charging against a granny charger before deciding it's urgent. Went a few weeks cable-only using the chargers near the servo in town and it wasn't as inconvenient as I expected, just meant charging became a Tuesday errand instead of an overnight thing.
@hankmoodyJuly 28, 2026
Does the manual actually say anywhere that a granny charger isn't included, or is it just missing with no explanation at all? Trying to work out if this is a documented omission or just inconsistent delivery prep before I buy.
Nothing about it either way in the manual, that's what threw me in the first place. Just assumed it'd be standard like it apparently isn't.
@petey_fxJuly 24, 2026
If you're not buying a granny charger straight away, get in the habit of carrying the Type 2-to-Type 2 cable everywhere anyway, not leaving it in the boot for road trips only. It's the one thing standing between you and a public AC charger with nothing supplied.
Could I actually run on just public AC charging full time though, or is that only realistic as a short-term gap while I sort out something for home?
Full time is realistic if you've got a decent AC network nearby, that's basically my whole setup. Slower than a granny charger overnight, but fine if you're not doing huge daily kms and can plan around it.
@just_lurking22July 24, 2026
is the Type 2 cable actually enough to charge from a normal home GPO, or do you need the granny charger specifically for that?
A bare Type 2-to-Type 2 cable has nothing in it beyond wiring and the plugs themselves — no control box, no earth leakage monitoring, nothing that talks to the car about how much current is safe to draw. Plug that straight into a wall GPO and the car won't even start charging because there's no pilot signal telling it to. The granny charger is the bit that actually has the electronics in-line, that's what makes charging off a normal outlet safe at all. So for home charging off a GPO you need an actual portable EVSE, not just the cable — the cable's only useful once you're plugging into something that already has that control box built in, like a public AC unit or a wallbox.
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