2022 MG ZS EV review – Current Affair | First Drive | Autocar India

This is the updated mg zs ev and today we are gon na find out if mg have done enough to make it the only car. In your garage Music on the outside, there hasnt been a lot that has changed on the mg zs. It still is very recognizable. You can still see a lot of the older car and especially if youve seen its petrol powered cousin, the aster, then it will be a lot more clear to you on what all is new. The headlamps are exactly like on the asters. They are led headlamps now. The earlier one got halogen units and these look really sharp. They are slimmer, sleeker and a bit more modern as well and low down. You have the sculpted bumpers. They look really nice really modern and plush, and they definitely add a bit of premiumness, but the big one is the closed off. Grill gone is that mesh grille and the charging slot that rested under the logo. You now have a closed off grille and a charging slot that sits besides the logo. Over to the side, you still have 17 inch wheels, but they do get a bit sharper in terms of design and the electric badges sit proudly still on the fenders at the back is the same story. The led tail lamps are slimmer and sleeker, and you also have the funky looking bumpers here as well. Overall, the new zs looks a lot more like an ev now and with the changes.

It is also a bit more premium and new age inside the updated zv. You again see a lot of aster in the way the cabin looks. You know. Of course you miss out on that robot and you also dont get that lovely sangria red interior, but you still get this carbon fiber sort of design its there on the seats as well, and that looks really nice. The seats while soft and comfy still miss out on ventilation and that in a car at this price point is a big, miss low down. You have the other big change, the touchscreen it has grown in size 10.1 inch. Now the earlier one was eight inches and even though the ui is still the same, it is a bit more responsive and better to use. But you do get sim based connectivity with plenty of features and apps, although once you plug in your phone apple or android connectivity, has you sorted now there isnt any adas like on the aster, but you do get some useful bits like lane. Change assist, rear cross traffic assist and a 360 degree parking camera along with blind spot monitors that are hugely helpful low down. You also have automatic climate control and a wireless charger now, but the other big change is, of course, the instrument cluster. It is now fully digital, seven inches, it replaces the old dials and it looks properly fitting in an ev. But the thing is, there is a lot going on in there and not all of it is perfect, like the tiny display for the regen mode, you can barely notice it and have to look a lot closer to make out what level you are on and overall, The display could have been a bit more vibrant now, at the back, space is still the same, so legroom and headroom arent that big of an issue, but, as you can see, i am seated a bit knees up that is not comfortable under thigh support is something That is a bit of a miss.

However, the additions on this updated versions are rear, ac vents, thank god for that, and you have a center armrest as well that, along with the 60 40 split for the back seats, makes the cabin that much more usable and practical. And, of course, how can you forget the panoramic sunroof? It is just such a big draw, especially for suv buyers, premium, suv, buyers that it just cannot be ignored, while the cosmetic changes are significant compared to its predecessor. Mg has also bumped up the battery capacity, thereby bumping up the range about time. We talk about the elephant in the room Music mg claims. The updated zv can do 461 kilometers on a single charge, and that is quite a lot, but to be fair, these claim numbers are never the reality and real world numbers differ quite a lot. So, on a full charge, you can expect around 350 kilometers in eco mode 335, kilometers in normal and roughly 300 kilometers in sport. But of course these figures change based on your driving style. Nevertheless, it still has improved the overall range by around 40 kilometers, and that is a good chunk. Now, apart from the range, what has also increased is the power from the motor. The earlier car made 143 horsepower. This one makes 176, the torque does see a dip from 350 nm to 280, but all these fluctuating numbers have no real effect in terms of performance, because 0 200 is still the same 8.

5 seconds i mean with that gain in power. You would expect it to be much faster, but thats not the case, because the motor has been optimized for that extra gain in battery capacity and overall it is done to achieve a good balance between efficiency and performance in comparison to the older version. There is marginal difference, but the overall character is still very much. The same top speed, though, is a lot higher than before. Now, even though the performance hasnt changed drastically, it is still very, very peppy. In the city flex, your foot and off it goes and small gaps are made very easily. It is just very, very effortless, and all this you can do in eco mode. Now that is the most relaxed setting it has. It also has a normal mode, which is slightly peppier, and there is also a sports mode which is really eager. But, to be honest, you never really find the need to use them because, of course they also reduce the range and who would want that in any way. Have it in eco all day, and it will be just fine. You will never really struggle for more poke. The other important bit on any ev is the region. Now the updated zs continues to get three region modes just as before, but they sadly are still not that effective. I mean i would have liked them to be a bit more in terms of the range addition that they do, for example, the hyundai kona.

You know you can see the amount of kilometers that you gain just by region, and that is the sort of information i was expecting on the zs. Since it has a fully digital instrument cluster now they could have really sort of incorporated those things and made it a bit more intuitive, but that is the miss whats. Also, a miss is paddle shifters because you have to control region through this switch right here, and that is not the most convenient when you have to switch between the levels you have to constantly monitor them and its just not that much engaging with paddle shifters. You have more control and it adds to the overall driver involvement. What is also a downer is that if you set the region to a certain level, it remains there permanently. So, no matter how hard you break, you can never exploit the full range of region, which also stops it from gaining a few extra kilometers. With the 7.4 kilowatt ac wallbox charger, the zs can charge from 0 to 100 in eight and a half to nine hours and zero to eighty percent on dc. Charger takes 60 minutes and while those times are long, they can be even longer. If you have to wait in line you see, the charging infrastructure is growing rapidly, but it still isnt as dense as it should be for a hassle, hassle, free experience, and this might be more for those who want to go out of the city, because you have To plan your entire trip around the charging stations – and that is a bit of an issue because say you plan your trip, you have your charging station narrowed down and you know that youre gon na stop maybe an hour that it takes to charge this on dc Charge youre gon na stop that and have some lunch now.

The thing with that is, you need some sort of a miracle to find a charging station that is very close to the eatery or restaurant that you like, and the odds of that are very, very minor. If it is a food court, then maybe youre in luck, but if not, then it is going to be a bit of an issue, and the other thing, like i said, is to have to wait in line, for example, if some other ev user decides to take The same trip and leaves five minutes before you hes gon na probably reach there five minutes before, and that means you are gon na have to wait an entire one hour before he gets done with his charge and its not like these guys want to do. Half a charge, or maybe just a bit of a top up – they really want to take as much as they can get because you never know where the next charging station is. So that is a bit of an adjustment, but i do know a lot of ev owners who have gone long distances. Theyve planned their trips well and they have made it. They use it as their only car, so it can be done, but it just isnt as relaxing on the head, because you have to constantly worry about. Is there another car? There is somebody else already charging is the charging station at my favorite place. I dont want to eat that if you have family with you thats a whole another headache.

So this there are some issues before you start driving evs out station. If your journey is under 300 kilometers or roughly around that range, if you dont have to encounter too many uphill sections, because that is where the juice really runs out, then maybe you can use your ev for a lot more things, but as of now it still Is reserved to the city confines for a relaxed and comfortable drive if you dont want to worry at all, keep it in the concrete jungle in terms of ride comfort, the zs hasnt changed much. There still is that hint of firmness at slow speeds, so at city speeds you will feel the thuds and bumps in the cabin. But as you gain speed and the momentum picks up, it gets a lot better. Undulations are taken care of with ease highway. Stability is very good. Triple digit speeds are not a problem. The car doesnt really feel light. It feels nice and planted, and that is quite reassuring now handling on the zv is nothing to boast about, but then again it never was and its not even heading in that direction. With this, the steering is fluid and has a good amount of heft, but dont expect much in terms of engagement. An enthusiastic drive wont be much satisfying theres, also a bit of body roll. If you are too eager in a corner, but body control overall is sufficient. With the update mg has surely upped the desirability of the zs after all, any bit of extra range is welcomed with open arms.

The cabin 2 was always practical and comfortable and, with the new feature editions that has only improved, it is more premium. This time round. The thing is, it costs 25.8 lakh rupees, and that is a whole lot more than the next popular ev that is used in the city, the tata nexon. Of course it gets a much lower battery pack. It gets a lot lower range as well, but for the city it is very much usable. However, this also has a cheaper x side variant that is very much close to the next one in terms of pricing and the next one also has a long range version coming, which will directly go against this excite version. So its a lot happening in the ev space and if you want to take that plunge into the green plate, club now is the right time and the mg zs is one of your top choices.