Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
MG’s electric SUV is high-voltage value
The MG ZS EV is the cheapest new EV you can currently buy in New Zealand, but is it cheap enough? And does cheap translate into ‘‘cheap and cheerful’’ or ‘‘cheap and nasty’’? We find out.
SO JUST GET THE WHOLE BRITISH/CHINESE THING OUT OF THE WAY
OK, fair enough. But it does still come as quite a shock to some people that MG is now Chineseowned and quite a relief to others that they are no longer built by the British.
That’s right – while MGs are still designed in Britain, SAIC Motor (MG’s owners) stopped production there in 2016 and the ZS actually comes from several different places (including the same place as almost every ute on the market in New Zealand; Thailand), but the EV is built in China.
SO THE EV IS VERY WELL PUT TOGETHER?
Pretty much, yeah. In fact, it would probably be very fair and accurate to claim that the current crop of MGs are almost certainly the best built MGs ever.
Not a terribly high bar for sure, but the ZS EV is a wonderfully bolted together little thing with precise panel gaps, excellent paint quality and some very nice quality materials used throughout. While this means a normal ICE ZS offers much higher quality than its price would suggest, it translates into the ZS EV offering pretty much exactly sort of quality you would expect from a $49,000 small SUV. Which is nice.
The ZS is also wonderfully comfortable for a small SUV, with a ride that only seems to have benefited from the addition of hefty batteries, without the handling taking as much of a knock as you might expect.
OK, sure, it is a small frontdrive car with big torque, so there is wheelspin – and a bit of mild torque steer in the wet – if you are too eager with the throttle, and it will err towards expected and nicely controllable understeer if you dive into corners like it is a sports car, but drive it like a normal, well-adjusted human being, and it is a nicely benign and composed thing that won’t ever spring a nasty surprise on you.
It can, however, belt away from traffic lights in a way that will startle even Tesla drivers.
WHY AREN’T YOU TALKING ABOUT THE ELECTRIC PART?
Because the ZS EV is so delightfully normal that it almost doesn’t matter. Yes, it has a 44.5kWh battery that will deliver a WLTP-tested range of 263km, but its really only the tyre-chirping
MG ZS EV
Base price: $48,990.
Powertrain and economy: Permanent-magnet synchronous electric motor and 44.5kWh battery, 105kW/353Nm, FWD.
Vital statistics: 4314mm long, 1809mm wide, 1644mm high, 2585mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 359 litres, 17-inch alloy wheels.
We like: Excellent ride comfort, fully-loaded with equipment, impressive build quality, quick and super-smooth.
We don’t like: Intrusive driver assists, charging port cover in the grille feels a bit flimsy.
torque and almost silent running (it does have a subdued and quite brilliant sci-fi hum) that will really tip you off that this is anything other than a handsome small SUV that is perfectly suited to the urban jungle, as well as more than capable of tackling the open road when required to.
The power delivery is delightfully judged, with that big torque easily chirping the tyres but never overwhelming them, and the traction and stability control systems work beautifully well with it all to deliver a satisfying driving experience.
But it is not one entirely without flaws. While the ZS EV comes impressively equipped with a wide range of driver assists, some of them are a little crude and intrusive, like the lane keep assist that is a little too meddlesome and niggles away at the steering wheel in a particularly irritating fashion. It can be adjusted however, or turned off if you prefer, and it actually stays off until you turn it on again, not just when you turn the car on again too, so big bonus points to MG.
Then there’s the range. While it isn’t huge, you basically get what you pay for in EVs, so you’re never going to see Tesla-style ranges in this price range. Not yet, at least. But the MG’s 260-odd kilometres (closer to around 230 to 240 in the real world) is actually more than enough for daily running, and plugging it in overnight one or two times a week keeps it nicely topped up.
IS IT WORTH $48,990?
That all depends on how you want to approach it. If you are specifically wanting to buy an MG ZS, then the leap from the $27,990 ask for the top-spec Essence (or even the $33,990 ZS T Essence) is quite the leap and one that will no doubt be rather hard to justify.
However, if you are coming at it from the angle of wanting to buy a $40,000-to-$50,000 small SUV and are considering the likes of the Toyota C-HR or the Mazda CX-30, then the MG becomes a very compelling all-electric alternative.