MG ZS EV review: A promising electric SUV

GREATER NOIDA: If MG Hector has a heart, its successor comes with a heart and a soul. MG (Morris Garages) Motors India takes the electric route, introducing the globally-known face ZS EV in India. Although this MG offering will be a rather expensive buy here, there is no looking back.
What is it?
The ZS EV looks and feels like a regular SUV. Hector, I think, had raised the expectation bar in terms of roominess and sheer road presence.In flesh, EZ EV isn't dimensionally as humongous as the Hector but surely stands bigger than a Creta and almost a Seltos.
Hosting the same powermill, ZS EV comes in two variants - Excite and Exclusive. The range-topping Exclusive is adorned with iSmart EV 2.0, PM2.5 air filter, roof rail, rain-sensing front wiper, panoramic sunroof and a bouquet of features. The price difference between the variants will surely witness a visible gulf, but the Excite, devoid of the features, does sound a tad too bland.

How does it look?
Simple and straight-forward, just like a conventional ICE-powered SUV. The design cues have been naturally aspired, like the front projector headlamp unit resembles the London Eye and an LED stripe in the tail light sketches the outline of a constellation. Silver skid plates on either ends offer ZS EV that SUV-ish lift.
The black front grille and a bumper consume major area upfront. The chrome lining the grille, which also docks the charging port, is dotted with silver inserts. Sharp creases on the bonnet evoke a butch appeal amid the overall eye-soothing silhouette.

The creases extend along with the side profile. The strong lines, chrome inserts in the dual-tone door handles, body cladding and along the window line offer an athletic stance, something the carmakers dub as a panther leap. The heated ORVMs electrically-adjustable.
The MG logo on the tailgate is a smart inclusion, acting as the knob to open the boot. At 470 litres, it's a decently-sized portal for a weekend family outing. Carmaker logo aside, Internet Inside and ZS EV chrome badges are placed on the flanks.
How does it feel inside?
The interior is laid in a black and silver theme; nothing flashy and sober to look at. Seats are sufficiently large with well-stitched contours, and four adults can easily accommodate. The front row seats are electrically-adjustable (6-way driver and 4-way passenger) with multi-function steering, which is leather-wrapped, perforated and height-adjustable.
Between the front row seats, you find a couple of cup holders with a sliding lid and tray box as standard storage fitments. The glove box is space-crunched, however, an awkwardly scooped out portion in the front does offer some utility space. A couple of USB ports and charging socket are placed in the scoop, which are slightly difficult to access. I was looking forward to a wireless charging facility.

The soft-touch material wraps most of the front cluster and I like the way side AC vents are placed. Circular in design, the outline takes a silver shade. Silver accents stroll from the flanks to the instrument console, offering a visual contrast. The material used for knobs and switches solidly built with littles scope of complain.

A key highlight inside is a massive sunroof. Staggering 90% of the rooftop is replaced with a see-through ceiling, which runs across to the end of the second row. Speaking of the second row, the seat comfort is decent due to the well-positioned seat angle and decent under-thigh support. Headroom in both the rows is adequate, however, knee and leg spaces for passengers in the second row demanded a little attention. A USB port and no armrest for the second-row passengers.
What's new about Hello MG!
Highly connected. Hector seems to have passed the baton, and now ZS EV is integrated with a much-advanced, feature-loaded 8-inch infotainment system. The processor is brisk, with a commendable tactile response. Also, the infotainment screen downsize from Hector makes the ZS EV more appealing. Among the latest inclusion, the electric SUV gets 60+ voice command, a PM2.5 air filter, a hotspot connectivity facility and an updated weather forecast system.

The dashboard consists of two circular dials, reflecting the speed and power derived from the batteries. A MID in the middle displays several real-time engine parameters like the range and regenerative braking.
The exhaustive list of safety feature include ABS with EBD, Isofix, hill climb assist, rear passenger seat belt reminder and reverse parking camera. You may also choose to set the speed limit as required, without the 80 kmph and 120 kmph mandatory beeper intervention. The electric SUV has received a 5-star crash rating from EuroNCAP, joining the elite list with the likes of Audi Q8 and Ford Puma.
Drive the new MG:
Supremely quiet and amazingly quick. Fire the engine, foot on the pedal, and you can witness the instant torque on offer. The 44.5 kWh battery pack, power rated at 143 PS and 353 Nm, fuelled the SUV in 0-100 kph charge in nine seconds. The ZS EV gets three driving modes -- eco, normal and sports. During most of our test run, the car rolled in the normal. Enough grunt is available in this mode, however, if you are in a mood to gun down the straight, switch to sports.

The cabin is as silent as death, with engine whine being the only conversation breaker. On the highways, it's more like a meditative experience, with no gear shifts and calm drive. Overtaking is effortless, while the car is well-grounded even at speeds over 140 kph. In all honesty, ZS EV is very stable in high-speed mid-corner with negligible body roll. The regenerative braking (MG calls it KERS) can be dampner and intrusive at times.

The steering wheel is light with a variable weight ratio. As the SUV catches speed, the steering gains weight, ensuring plenty of confidence to the driver. The suspension set up is moderately soft, with the battery pack placed right under the passenger seats. The SUV glides over the road imperfections with a smile. The disc brakes configuration offers a good amount of bite.
Address my range anxiety:
The carmakers say the 44.5 kWh battery pack covers a distance of 340 kilometers against a full charge. While we couldn't put that number to test, we expect a 90% conversion in real-life road conditions, offering around 300 kilometers.

For every car sold, MG India will set up a 7.4 kW AC fast charging at your workplace, office or a place of buyer's convenience. This should ideally take 6-8 hours to juice up the dead battery. The owner may also rush to the nearest MG outlet to avail of the 50kW DC fast charger, which takes around 50 minutes for a 0-80% charge. The third option is plugging the car with 2.4 kW AC charger, which will take around 16-18 hours for the same.
If you run out of these three regular resources, the carmakers have your back covered. The MG battery van will reach out to you, when asked for, and help you with a top-up reach, enough to sail to your nearest MG dealership or your desired place. MG India also plunged into the ambitious goal of setting up DC fast-charging stations at an interval of 25 kilometers along the popular national highways.

Kinetic energy regenerative system (KERS) offers some amount of ren-gen braking to recharge the batteries. You can toggle through the 3-fold setup, however, it gets very intrusive in the third stage. The navigation system, powered by TomTom, flashes a spider on your infotainment screen when the car reaches a reserve battery. The spider indicates the nearest charging stations.
Final call:
Multiple factors would determine the success of the ZS EV here. Firstly, the pricing. We expect the base variant to be priced around Rs 18 lakh and the range-topper around Rs 22 lakh (ex-showroom), which by a fair margin wouldn't be affordable to many. That said, anything under Rs 22 lakh, will give ZS EV a mileage over its competitor Hyundai Kona.

At the dawn of the electric era, the likes of MG Motors India and Hyundai are ringing the bells. The competition here is not any rival, but consumer sentiments and awareness. Interesting design, likable performance, and class-leading safety surely make the ZS EV a promising buy.