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MG Drive Unit Reverse Engineering

Posted: Fri Dec 13, 2024 12:59 pm
by Jack Bauer
One of the big projects I've worked on this year has been the MG drive unit. I'm not 100% sure which exact models and years of MG vehicle use this exact unit but am fairly sure the newer ZS and 5 are amongst them. It also "look" like some of the other drive units MAY use a similar control board but this has not been confirmed as yet.

I'm pleased to say that the V2 OpenInverter board now runs the drive unit in full FOC closed loop mode on the bench. I also have purchased a 2003 Volvo V70 to use as a test bed.

Anyway, for those interested here are some links and videos:

Github repo with lots of info: https://github.com/damienmaguire/MG-EV-Inverter

Videos :











Re: MG Drive Unit Reverse Engineering

Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2025 3:07 pm
by Jack Bauer
Guess this was a giant waste of time then...

Re: MG Drive Unit Reverse Engineering

Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2025 4:18 pm
by Uppertown
Jack Bauer wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2025 3:07 pm Guess this was a giant waste of time then...
I think it's an idea who's time will come, it's a neat unit, almost an electric diff it's so compact and I'm seeing plenty of MGs on the road so they should soon be plentiful and cheap at the breakers. Perhaps it will take off when we all come out of hibernation in the spring.

Re: MG Drive Unit Reverse Engineering

Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2025 2:52 am
by Tomas
What kind of power does this driveunit make?

Re: MG Drive Unit Reverse Engineering

Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2025 7:56 am
by steveknox
Do you have some basic dimensions for the drive unit? I'm wondering how easily it would fit in the subframe of a RWD car.

Re: MG Drive Unit Reverse Engineering

Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2025 5:05 am
by vitecd
Can I get the firmware, please?

Re: MG Drive Unit Reverse Engineering

Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2025 5:20 am
by johu

Re: MG Drive Unit Reverse Engineering

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2025 5:10 pm
by Jack Bauer
Thanks is the word you were stuck on.

Re: MG Drive Unit Reverse Engineering

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 4:29 am
by Beggernator
I will say thanks. Have been looking at the rather attractive prices for the mg units and it's nice to see you have worked your magic again on getting things spinning.

Re: MG Drive Unit Reverse Engineering

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2025 5:34 pm
by CMARAMLeaf
This is fantastic! Lots of implementation possibilities from my point of view at least. I’ve been trying to figure out if it’s possible to make the version used by ram work in my truck. Looks like they’re quite similar.

Re: MG Drive Unit Reverse Engineering

Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2025 7:11 pm
by LRBen
Scanned a drive unit today. From an MG ZS

Model is here:
https://grabcad.com/library/2017-2020-m ... ive-unit-1

Re: MG Drive Unit Reverse Engineering

Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2025 11:20 am
by Jack Bauer
So as I have never sold a single MG board and have given away the few boards I have in stock I decided to add all Kicad sources and production files to the GitHub repo here : https://github.com/damienmaguire/MG-EV- ... /tree/main

Re: MG Drive Unit Reverse Engineering

Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2025 8:31 pm
by crasbe
I started a wiki page about the Drive Unit: https://openinverter.org/wiki/MG_MG5_Drive_Unit
It is very empty still, so if anyone wants to add some information, feel free :)

Yesterday and today I started to build a replacement for the funky parking lock actuator that is realized with a tree phase motor in the original application and a dedicated controller.
My plan is to replace that with a watertight NEMA 23 stepper (not the one in the picture, Beff Jezos didn't deliver it yet).
Bild_2025-11-16_212857344.png
Bild_2025-11-16_212844343.png
Hopefully this Drive Unit will gain some attention once Damien starts the V70 conversion and people notice it. It's a really nice, compact unit but yet very powerful. :)