A comprehensive Domoticz plugin for MG (SAIC) electric and hybrid vehicles that connects directly to the MG iSmart API without requiring MQTT or external dependencies.
- MG4 (Electric)
- MG5 (Electric)
- MG ZS EV
- MG Marvel R Electric
- MG HS (Plug-in Hybrid)
- Other SAIC vehicles with iSmart connectivity
- Battery Level: Real-time state of charge (SoC) monitoring
- Charging Status: Active charging detection with power monitoring
- Charging Control: Start/stop charging remotely
- Charge Limit Setting: Set target SoC (40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%)
- Time to Full: Remaining charging time estimation
- Power Usage: Daily power consumption tracking
- Charging Power: Real-time charging power (kW) monitoring
- Lock Status: Door lock/unlock detection and control
- Engine Status: Engine on/off monitoring
- Hand Brake: Parking brake status
- Climate Control: Remote A/C start/stop
- 12V Battery: Auxiliary battery voltage monitoring
- GPS Location: Latitude/longitude coordinates
- Address: Reverse geocoding to street address
- Home Detection: Automatic home/away status based on GPS radius
- Speed: Current vehicle speed monitoring
- Tire Pressure: All four tires with automatic PSI/bar conversion (work in progress)
- Temperature: Interior and exterior temperature sensors
- Heated Seats: Control for front left/right seat heating
- Range: Current driving range estimation
- Odometer: Total vehicle mileage
- Charging Started: Notification when charging begins
- Charging Complete: Alert when target charge level reached
- Charging Stopped: Notification when charging ends
- Room Plans: Automatic creation and device organization
- Sleep Mode Detection: Intelligent handling of vehicle sleep states
- Token Management: Persistent authentication with disk storage (login once every ~4 months)
- Error Recovery: Automatic retry with exponential backoff
- 🌙 Night Cooldown: Reduced polling (1 hour) when at home during night hours (22:30-07:30)
- Domoticz with Python plugin support enabled
- Python 3.9+
- cryptography library for token encryption (
sudo pip install -U cryptography>=3.0.0 --break-system-packages) - Internet connection for SAIC API access
- MG iSmart account with valid credentials
- Vehicle registered in the MG iSmart mobile app
- Region selection: Europe (eu, default) or Australia/New Zealand (au)
IMPORTANT: If you are currently using the same account credentials in the official MG iSMART mobile app, you should create a dedicated secondary account for this plugin to avoid authentication conflicts. Using the same account simultaneously in both the app and the plugin will cause the mobile app to repeatedly request re-authentication.
How to create a secondary account:
- Create a new MG iSMART account using a different email address
- From your primary account, go to Settings → Secondary Account
- Invite the newly created secondary account
- Use the secondary account credentials in this plugin
Note: There's no need to associate the vehicle with the secondary account - it will inherit access through the invitation from your primary account.
cd /home/pi/domoticz/plugins
git clone https://github.com/lemassykoi/Domoticz-MG-Plugin.gitsudo pip install saic-ismart-client-ng>=2.0.0 --break-system-packages
sudo pip install -U requests>=2.25.0 --break-system-packages
sudo pip install -U cryptography>=3.0.0 --break-system-packages
- Go to Setup → Hardware in Domoticz
- Add new hardware of type SAIC iSmart (MG Cars)
- Configure the following parameters:
| Parameter | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Username | MG iSmart email address | Required |
| Password | MG iSmart password | Required |
| Region | Europe (eu) or Australia/NZ (au) | eu |
| Update Interval | Data refresh interval in seconds | 180 |
| Home Radius | GPS radius for home detection (meters) | 25 |
| Domoticz Port | Local Domoticz port for notifications | 8080 |
| Night Start Hour | The Hour only (not minutes) for starting period | 22 |
| Night End Hour | The Hour only (not minutes) for ending period | 7 |
| Debug Level | Normal, Debug, or Verbose | Normal |
Click Add to enable the plugin. The plugin will:
- Authenticate with MG iSmart API
- Discover your vehicle(s)
- Create 36+ devices automatically
- Create a room plan for organization
The plugin creates 36+ devices organized by category:
- Battery Level, Range, Charging Status, Location, Lock Status, Engine Status
- Climate Control, Charging Start/Stop, Charge Limit Selector, Lock Control
- 4x Tire Pressure, 2x Temperature, Speed, 12V Battery, Hand Brake, etc.
- Heated Seats, Power Monitoring, Address, Home Detection, etc.
- Normal: Essential logs only
- Debug: Detailed operation logs
- Verbose: Full debugging including API responses
- Set Home Radius to appropriate distance (default 25m)
- Plugin uses GPS coordinates to determine home/away status
- Requires Domoticz location to be configured
- 180 seconds (default) - Good balance of data freshness and API usage
- 300+ seconds - Conservative usage for occasional monitoring
- 60-120 seconds - Frequent updates (may impact battery if car is awake)
The plugin automatically reduces polling frequency during nighttime hours (22:30-06:30) when the car is detected at home:
- Night + At Home: Polls every 1 hour to preserve 12V battery
- Night + Away: Uses normal interval for security monitoring
- Daytime: Always uses configured interval regardless of location
Error: Authentication failed
- Verify MG iSmart credentials are correct
- Check region setting (Europe vs Australia/NZ)
- Ensure vehicle is registered in MG iSmart app
Error: No vehicles found
- Confirm vehicle is properly registered
- Try different region setting
- Check debug logs for API errors
Error: SAIC API error: 500
- Check internet connection
- Verify MG iSmart service is operational
- Enable Debug logging for detailed error info
- Set Debug Level to "Debug" or "Verbose"
- Restart Domoticz:
sudo systemctl restart domoticz - Check logs:
sudo journalctl -u domoticz -f - Look for plugin startup and authentication messages
- VIN numbers are hashed in logs for privacy
- Passwords are securely stored by Domoticz
- API tokens are encrypted with AES-256-GCM using credentials-derived keys and stored in
saic_token.json - Token encryption prevents token theft - files are useless without matching email/password
- MG iSmart API: Official SAIC/MG servers only
- OpenStreetMap: For reverse geocoding (address lookup)
- Local Domoticz API: For notifications and room plans
- Threading: Dedicated asyncio thread for API operations
- Token Management: Persistent authentication with automatic renewal
- Sleep Detection: Intelligent handling of vehicle sleep modes
- Error Handling: Retry mechanisms with exponential backoff
- Login Frequency: Once every ~4 months (when token expires)
- Token Storage: Persistent disk storage prevents re-login after plugin restarts
- Data Caching: Efficient API usage with proper token reuse
- Sleep Awareness: Reduced API calls when vehicle is sleeping
- Fork the repository
- Create a feature branch
- Test with your vehicle
- Submit a pull request
Please include:
- Domoticz version
- Python version
- Vehicle model and year
- Debug logs (with VIN redacted)
- Steps to reproduce
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
- SAIC iSmart API Client: Based on the excellent
saic-ismart-client-nglibrary - Domoticz Community: For the robust plugin framework
- MG Owners: For testing and feedback
Version: 1.6.8
Author: lemassykoi
Repository: https://github.com/lemassykoi/Domoticz-MG-Plugin