Effect on MG ZS EV's range after 36,000 km and 3.5 years

Lighter electric vehicles can extract much more from the battery but this one weighs >1600 kg. For context, a Toyota Innova weighs 1730 kg and a Hyundai Creta weighs ~1400 kg.

BHPian doctorjee recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

3 and a half years driving an EV, and at what one might consider the half-life of a typical car in India…

It started as a gamble, yes, actually a gamble where one gives up the peace of mind of staying with the masses for the peace of mind that comes with driving comfort and saving a few pennies while at it...

The biggest question: how will the battery hold up over the years?

This is the 2020 Gen 1 model of the MG ZS EV, having a 44.5 kWh battery. At the time of purchase, the car promised 332 km on a full charge. I never really checked if it was true, but a number of online reviewers confirmed that it was very close to the actual numbers (and much better than the Hyundai Kona, which overpromised by a big margin).

Also, the mode and style of driving heavily impact the "mileage." We typically measure this as km/unit or km/kWh, and I would get anywhere between 5 and 9 depending on how I drive. That equated to a range between 222.5 km and 400.5 km. Some reviewers were even able to extract over 600 km on this model. Lighter EVs can extract much more from the battery, but this vehicle weighs >1600 kgs (for context, an Innova weighs 1730 kgs, a Creta weighs ~1400 kgs).

So today I did a practical range test. Home-to-office drive in Mumbai traffic, a mix of city and highway driving. At full charge, the car now promises 324 km (an 8 km or 2% drop since Nov 2020). I started at 8:26 AM (a bit later than usual). It took me ~45 mins to drive from Andheri East to Airoli (21.5 km). Average speed 28 km/h. I drove at ~70 kmph on the entire EEH stretch (that's the speed limit). Efficiency was 8 km/unit. I reached the office with 305 km of range remaining. So, simple math – I was promised 324 km and I will be getting 326.5 km as projected. At an average of 7 Rs per unit of electricity in Mumbai, I have spent <19 Rs for this commute.

Notes:

• The range is typically given with the AC turned off. The AC can shave off around 10% of the total range, so this isn't a completely realistic estimate. I'll do another test run with the AC on sometime next week. Thankfully, it wasn't too uncomfortable in the morning.
• The TPMS suggests that the tires are underinflated. Tire pressure makes a big difference in EV efficiency. Adding ~3 PSI could have given me about a 4% increase in range.
• I have done quite a few medium-long drives with this and never faced any range anxiety. I typically do a monthly trip to Karjat and at least once in 2 months do a 600km+ roundtrip.
• Shock absorbers do wear off fast in this may be. I have changed them twice in the last 3.5 years, but Mumbai roads have been really crappy recently and I did hit quite a few potholes really bad. The other minor challenges, the infotainment panel is more sluggish than before and the rearview camera is basically a potato.

So after ~36k km and 3.5 years, these are not bad numbers at the half-life of a car, right?

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