The base Excite variant of the MG ZS EV is now priced at Rs 22.88 lakh (ex-showroom).

Last month, MG reduced the prices of the Hector and Hector Plus. Now, the carmaker has revised the prices of the ZS EV as well. Prices have been reduced by up to Rs 2.30 lakh.

The MG ZS EV is available in three variants: Excite, Exclusive and Exclusive Pro. Following the latest price cut, the base Excite variant costs Rs 22.88 lakh (ex-showroom), Rs 50,000 less than before. Prices of the Exclusive and Exclusive Pro trims have been reduced by Rs 2.30 lakh and Rs 2 lakh, respectively.

The MG ZS EV is powered by a 50.3 kWh battery and an electric motor with an output of 174 BHP and 353 Nm. The battery is said to offer a maximum range of 461 km on a single charge. MG claims a 0-100 km/h time of 8.5 seconds.

MG had introduced the Exclusive Pro variant of the ZS EV in July this year. It is equipped with Level 2 ADAS, which includes features like Traffic Jam Assist, Forward Collision Warning, Speed Assist System, Adaptive Cruise Control and Lane Functions that help prevent unintentional deviation from the driving lane.

The service quality has been consistent across all the 5 services and I hope it continues.

BHPian speedmiester recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Update: 30,000 km completed and 5th Service:

Lightfury completed 30,000 km over the weekend during our last long drive. Since the last update, I have done two long drives of over 700kms. This included a drive to Chennai and a drive to Sriharikota. Both these long drives were covered with ease and with good efficiency.

Drive to Chennai:

This was a work trip, the drive from Bangalore to Chennai took 6 hours including a 40min breakfast stop. The ongoing road works slowed us down quite a bit post Vellore. I didn’t need to charge in between. I got the best efficiency on this drive covering 340Kms with 30% SOC left. This is with full AC and in normal mode. I charged up the hotel I stayed in Chennai and started the return drive with 95% SOC and charged up near Vellore at Zeon charger for 20 mins. This was sufficient to reach home with 19% SOC remaining. Average speed hovered around 55-56Kmph for the entire trip.

Drive to Sriharikota:

Planned a drive to witness the Aditya L1 launch. Due to paucity of time, we could only leave on Friday night to reach Tirupati early in the morning for a quick break before heading towards Sriharikota.

Drive to Tirupati took 4hrs 35 mins with a quick 5 mins break to stretch the legs. Charged the car at Relux charger in Tirupati. This was sufficient for our drive to Sriharikota and back to Tirupati. For the return leg, I used the Tata power charger at Taj Tirupati before the drive back home. Return drive from Tirupati to Bangalore took 4hr 45mins, this included 10 mins coffee break and couple of 5 mins break at the tolls. I was able to average 53Kmph for the entire trip of over 700kms. The odo ticked over the 30K kms mark during the return leg.

5th Service update:

Completed the 30000Kms/5th service today. Since this service is covered under AMC, the cost of the service was zero.

Tried the newly opened MG service centre on Mysore Road, and though it’s quite far from my residence, I was able to get an early service slot here while I would have had to wait until next week at the Electronic City service centre.

Service quality is on expected lines with good attention to detail and no push for unnecessary work. I was in and out in 5 hours. The service quality has been consistent across all the 5 services and I hope it continues.

Also received a cushion cum blanket as a gift as part of MG's 100-year celebration.

The car has been performing well with zero rattles and complaints.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

The MG ZS EV is powered by a 50.3 kWh battery that offers a range of 461 km on a single charge.

MG has launched a new variant of the ZS EV called Exclusive Pro, priced at Rs 27,89,800 (ex-showroom). The highlight of this variant is that it comes with Autonomous Level-2, (ADAS).

The MG ZS EV's Level 2 ADAS includes several advanced safety assists, including Traffic Jam Assist, Forward Collision Warning, Speed Assist System, Adaptive Cruise Control as well as Lane Functions that help prevent unintentional deviation from the driving lane. The system has three levels of sensitivity – Low, Medium and High and three levels of warning – Haptic, Audio and Visual.

The ZS EV facelift was introduced in India in March 2022. The updated version comes equipped with a 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system and a 7-inch digital instrument cluster, a panoramic sunroof and a wireless phone charger.

The MG ZS EV is powered by a 50.3 kWh battery and an electric motor with an output of 174 BHP and 353 Nm. The battery is said to offer a maximum range of 461 km on a single charge. MG claims a 0-100 km/h time of 8.5 seconds.

The air-conditioning was on all the time and most of the driving was done in the Normal Mode.

BHPian speedmiester recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

A drive to Goa and Karwar in the Lightfury.

I just completed ~1300Kms drive to Goa and back in the ZS EV. We had planned a drive to Goa and Karwar during the summer holidays, this included a couple of days stay in South Goa and a day’s stay in Karwar.

Typically on such long drives, I prefer to drive in the night time as my son sleeps off in his car seat and it’s less stressful for him. Also, the cooler night temperatures are a lot bearable if a good part of the drive is completed at night.

We left our residence at 11:52PM with a full charge. Drove non-stop to the first charging stop at a Jio BP fuel station just before Ranebennur. It’s at a distance of 304Kms and it took me 4hrs 40Mins for this stretch. This is a 60KW fast charger and the charging process and experience are very good.

SOC was down to 25% and charged to 95% in 40mins, this was sufficient to reach our resort in South Goa with 16% battery left. We reached the resort at 12:45PM which included 45mins break for breakfast, 40mins for charging and wasting about 25 minutes at 8 election checkpoints. Most of the conversations at these checkpoints were around the range of the ZS.

There are two AC chargers at the resort we stayed and I charged to 100% there. We didn’t venture out in Goa.

On the return drive, we drove to Karwar for a night’s stay there. SOC was down to 82% when we left Karwar. We stopped for lunch in Honnavar and charged at the same time at the newly opened Jio BP fast charging station. By the time we had lunch, the car was charged to 97% from 56% in about 35mins. We visited the nearby temple at Idagunji and left for Bangalore at 3:15PM. I opted to charge at the same Jio BP charging station which I used while going to Goa. Reached this charger at 6:50PM with 32% SOC left. While the car was charging, we had an early dinner. Charged to 98% in 52mins, which was sufficient for the drive back home. The final leg of the drive took about 4hrs 20mins to cover the final 312kms to reach home. SOC was at 9% when we reached home.

Few pointers

• I don’t hypermile and I drive just like ICE cars. I keep my speeds between 80-90KMPH and with occasional bursts to 110KMPH.
• Most of the drive was in normal mode with sports mode used for about 200Kms during the return drive. AC was on all the time.
• Drive was excellent. Lightfury had no problem negotiating the occasional bad stretch of roads.
• The fast-charging network is in place and there was no range anxiety at any point. There were multiple reliable chargers available. An EV with a real-world range of 300Kms can do long drives with ease.
• I always opt for chargers which can charge two cars simultaneously and ones with a high charging rate. Also, I plan for backup chargers should the preferred one is down or occupied. I avoid chargers which can be a single point of failure.
• Plan for elevation changes, this can significantly add or reduce range. The onward journey was from an elevation of 900Meters to sea level and I could do the distance on a single charging stop. But the return leg meant climbing the 900meters increasing the consumption and prompting a second charging stop.

Final stats

• Total distance driven: 1291.4Kms
• Total driving time: 22Hr 55mins
• Avg. Speed: 55KMPH
• Avg. consumption: 7.7Km/KWH
• Total charging costs: 3209.86
• Cost/Km: Rs. 2.48

At the charging station

Parting shot

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Last month itself, the carmaker increased the prices by up to Rs 1 lakh.

MG Motor India is set to increase the prices of its models by up to Rs 60,000. The new prices will be applicable from March 1, 2023.

The MG Gloster and diesel variants of the Hector will see the most significant price revision of Rs 60,000, while the prices of the Hector petrol will increase by Rs 40,000.

MG will also increase the prices of the Astor. The SUV will command a premium of Rs 30,000. Similarly, those looking to purchase the ZS EV will have to shell out Rs 40,000 more for the electric SUV.

This is not the first price hike announced by MG this year.

The MG Astor and ZS EV are expected to get similar design updates.

Patent images of the facelift version of the MG Astor and its all-electric version, the ZS EV, have leaked online.

The MG Astor is expected to get a major makeover. Images reveal a redesigned front fascia featuring a new grille and headlamp clusters. The bumper has also been reworked and now gets large intakes on either side.

The ZS EV is likely to get the same updates as well, albeit with a blanked-out front grille and different alloy wheels. That being said, the car's side profile looks similar to the outgoing version.

Currently, the MG Astor is available with two engine options. These include a 1.3-litre turbo-petrol unit producing 138 BHP and 230 Nm and a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated motor that puts out 109 BHP and 144 Nm.

In India, the ZS EV comes with a 50.3 kWh battery and an electric motor with an output of 174 BHP and 353 Nm. The battery offers a maximum range of 461 km on a single charge. MG claims a 0-100 km/h time of 8.5 seconds.

Source: @kurdistan_automotive_blog_

MG has also homologated two new Exclusive variants, which include an Exclusive Ivory trim.

MG launched the ZS EV facelift earlier this year. The electric SUV is available in two trims - Excite and Exclusive. The latter comes with a 50.3 kWh battery pack, while the base Excite trim gets a smaller 44.5 kWh battery.

Now, according to a Type Approval Certificate, the base trim has also been homologated with the 50.3 kWh battery, which suggests that it could be introduced on the Excite trim in the future.

The larger battery pack offered on the ZS EV has a capacity of 131 Ah and weighs 396.9 kg. It powers an electric motor that has a peak output of 174 BHP @ 5,500 rpm.

MG has also homologated two new Exclusive variants, which include an Exclusive Ivory trim.

Source: Rushlane

The MG ZS EV facelift was launched in March this year, priced at Rs. 21.99 lakh (ex-showroom).

MG has announced that it has sold over 5,000 units of the ZS EV facelift in India. It is said that around 1,000 vehicles are booked every month.

The MG ZS EV facelift was launched in March this year, priced at Rs. 21.99 lakh (ex-showroom). It is available in two trims – Excite and Exclusive.

The styling of the 2022 ZS EV is similar to the petrol-powered version. The EV gets a blanked-off grille which is flanked by reprofiled headlamps. The rear features redesigned LED taillights, and the car rides on 17-inch alloy wheels.

Inside, the ZS EV facelift comes equipped with a 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system and a 7-inch digital instrument cluster.

Powering the 2022 ZS EV is a 50.3 kWh battery and an electric motor with an output of 174 BHP and 353 Nm. The battery is said to offer a maximum range of 461 km on a single charge.

MG has sold close to 81,000 units of the Hector and Hector Plus SUVs in India.

MG Motor India has sold over 1 lakh vehicles in India since the brand made its debut in June 2019.

MG made its foray with the Hector. Today, the brand offers five products, including the Hector Plus, Astor, ZS EV and Gloster.

MG has sold 80,982 units of the Hector and Hector Plus, making it the highest-selling model for the company. The Astor comes in second with 8,983 units. The carmaker has sold 5,473 units of the Gloster to date.

The ZS EV is MG's sole all-electric offering. The company has sold 4,800 units of the electric SUV since its launch.

The ZS EV's straight-line stability is good and the car doesn't feel nervous even at 120 km/h. However, if there are undulations on the road, the car does tend to feel bouncy.

Driving the MG ZS EV

Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor puts out 174 BHP & 280 Nm of torque. Compared to the previous car, the facelift makes 33 BHP more, but 73 Nm less! It's still as quick though:

Before we get to the driving part, let’s get the basics right. There are 3 main components in an EV – the battery, the motor and the controller/charger. The battery is what stores the energy and the motor is what uses that energy to move the car. The controller/charger converts the energy from the battery into a usable form to power the motor. In more technical terms, the power grid from your house or a charging station is usually an AC. The lithium-ion battery can store electric energy in DC form. So while charging, there’s usually an AC/DC converter that will convert the power grid's AC into DC and store it in the car’s battery. The DC fast chargers that you see, usually have the AC/DC converter inbuilt, which is how they can charge the car’s battery faster. The controller typically sits on top of the motor.

Driving an EV is quite a unique experience and recent EVs have all been impressive. Push the engine start button with your foot on the brake pedal and you'll hear nothing, although the car is "alive" now. There are four transmission modes to choose from – P, D, R and N. Turn the classy rotary dial to engage D, lift your foot off the brake pedal and the car crawls forward at 6 km/h. This will be highly appreciated in heavy traffic conditions where you can drive with just the brake pedal. I had the privilege of getting stuck in Mumbai's Western Express Highway weekend traffic for about 1 hour and 45 minutes, and it wasn't that bad crawling in the bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Driving in the city is a pleasant experience. The accelerator pedal's response is linear and not snappy (especially in Eco mode). Passengers will appreciate how smooth the drive feels, without any jerks caused by gearshifts or any engine sounds. It is an incredibly refined experience.

Get on some open city roads, floor the A pedal and you'll be greeted with instant power / acceleration. This is the beauty of powerful electric motors. The car is fast and has abundant torque right from the get-go. In fact, the acceleration is so strong that, in all of the silly childish drag races at traffic lights, you will always win. MG claims a 0-100 km/h time of 8.5 seconds (same as the previous car) and we believe that. To put that timing in perspective, the ZS EV is faster than the Creta, Seltos, Astor etc., but not something like the Octavia which is 0.5 seconds quicker to 100. The MG ZS EV is genuinely enjoyable to drive and anyone who experiences the effortless acceleration the first time becomes an instant convert.

One key difference compared to the outgoing car is that the traction control cannot be switched off manually. While in the old car, you could switch it off and leave tyre marks on the road, in the new car, the traction control gives you a perfect launch without the unnecessary wheelspin. On the move, you will not only be keeping up with traffic, but flying past other unsuspecting cars in no time (in stealth mode) quite easily. Overall, despite the lesser torque and more power, the refreshed ZS EV feels very similar to the outgoing car in terms of performance.

Out on the highway, the ZS EV is fantastic. An advantage of a powerful electric motor is, if you need to perform a quick overtake, there's no need to wait for a downshift or being in the engine's powerband. Just bury the accelerator pedal and you're off! You'll hit silly speeds with ease, and not even realise it due to the lack of drama (engine noise etc.). That being said, single-gear EVs don't have that higher end punch above 120 - 140 km/h that geared turbo-petrol cars do. Keep in mind that if you drive hard, the range drops drastically. This is also why you will see EVs that are driving longer distances sticking to the middle lane and cruising at 80-100 km/h (which is the best cruising speed for the current lots of EVs). We already told you that the ZS EV has a realistic range of 350 - 400 km. But with an aggressive pedal-to-the-metal driving style, GTO used up about 70% of the battery after just 135 km of hard driving. Again, EVs are best at cruising @ 80-100 km/h for long-distance travel. This sensitivity to driving style is more like turbo-petrols rather than turbo-diesels which are more forgiving.

Getting up to cruising speeds is an easy affair and the absence of any sound means you will reach triple-digit speeds without realising it (it's only when the speed warning chimes sound that you know you're doing 80 km/h and 120 km/h). The MID shows the motor spinning at 7,600 rpm while doing 100 km/h and 9,000 rpm at 120 km/h. If you're wondering, "isn't this too high?", well, most electric motors are high revving and can rev to over 20,000 rpm! This eliminates the need to use complicated gearboxes. The entire usable powerband can be achieved with a single-speed transmission, although higher-end cars like the Porsche Taycan have adopted a second gear.

There are 3 driving modes to choose from and unlike some other cars, these aren't gimmicky. They're mapped specifically for different driving styles.

• Normal Mode: The default mode. The car always restarts in this mode, no matter what mode you last drove in. It's great for driving in the city as well as on the highway. Strikes a good balance between power and economy.

• Eco Mode: The mode to engage when you want the maximum range. Throttle response is dumbed down, which actually results in a smoother drive in the city (less of that "torque-pull" effect). Power comes in more gradually when you ask for it. However, even in this mode, the motor does not feel dull to drive. There's enough grunt for day-to-day driving and overtaking. The performance of the air-con, however, drops noticeably in this mode.

• Sport Mode: The mode when you really want to have fun. While Normal mode will keep you entertained 90% of the time, Sport mode is for the remaining 10%. The accelerator response is even sharper and the car just feels more eager to pounce. However, it can feel too peaky for city driving and also eats up the battery faster. Use "Sport" when you're looking for fun on expressway runs.

Regenerative Braking

There are 3 levels of regenerative braking, just like in the previous car. At levels 1 and 2, there's obviously lesser resistance when you lift off the accelerator pedal. I found myself driving mostly on level 3 with maximum regeneration. Interestingly, even at level 3, the regenerative braking didn't really seem as strong as in the Hyundai Kona. It's slightly more subdued, but still works well and feels more natural for someone coming from a petrol / diesel-powered car. Engine braking lovers will appreciate driving with regen at the maximum level. But MG should really have made level 3 stronger.

Noise, Vibration & Harshness (NVH)

No engine, no sound, no gearshifts! The ZS EV is eerily silent on the inside as well as the outside. So, you will find yourself honking at pedestrians who're simply unaware of the car creeping up behind them. A faint whine from the motor is heard only at high revs, which is beyond 100 km/h and that too isn't intrusive. On the highway, tyre noise and wind noise register themselves beyond 100 km/h.

Range

MG claims a range of 461 km with the new 50.3 kWh battery pack based on ICAT certification. The new battery pack is the largest in the segment and gets ASIL-D, IP69K safety ratings, which are by today's standards the highest for electric cars. It gets a UL 2580 certification, which just means that it has been tested to meet nationally-recognized safety standards.

The outgoing car had a 44.5 kWh battery pack and its ARAI certified range was 340 km. In all fairness, these numbers are very subjective and the real-life range solely depends on how you drive the car. Check out this excellent report by BHPian docelectric2020 where he took the ZS EV on a 1,200 km road trip. You should expect 350 - 400 km, depending on how you push the magic pedal.

Given the rising demand for EVs, there are plenty of charging stations popping up everywhere, which ought to take care of range anxiety. There are many apps and websites like pulseenergy.io, plugshare.com, etc. that list out all the charging stations near you. End of the day though, remember the golden rule = EVs are best charged where they are parked (either at your office or home).

Charging

The ZS EV gets the industry-standard CCS type-2 charging port. You get a 7.4 kW home charger from MG installed in your parking lot that can charge the battery from 0-100% in 8.5 to 9 hours. If you're travelling somewhere, you can use the portable charger in the boot to charge the car from any 15 Amp socket (the larger 3-pin sockets used for ACs and fridges), which would take about 15-19 hours to charge from 0-100%. Do note that in all EVs, the initial 0 - 80% charging happens quicker...the final 81 - 100% takes more time. The last option are the 50 kW DC fast chargers that you will find at some of the charging stations. This would fill up your car's battery from 0-80% in about 60 minutes. If you're still worried about getting stuck somewhere after running out of juice, MG has roadside assistance with mobile charging support currently available in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune.

The charging socket is placed under a simple flap on the front solid grille. There's a green indicator next to the socket showing the battery level. The pre-facelift car had a unique charging flap where the MG logo would move up and you had to insert the charging cable below. The MG logo even lit up when the car was charging (reference image). IMO, that arrangement looked way cooler than this simple open flap and charge mechanism:

Once plugged in, the MID displays the remaining charging time, estimated range and battery percentage:

Suspension

Ride Comfort

EVs are inherently heavy cars due to the battery pack in the middle. Getting the right balance of ride & handling is tricky and it's especially the case with EVs based on ICE cars (like the ZS EV). The ZS EV gets a MacPherson strut suspension at the front and a twist-beam suspension at the rear. It rides on 17" alloy wheels that are shod with 215/55 section tyres. The recommended tyre pressure is a (very high) 41 PSI, presumably to maximise the driving range. With this tyre pressure, the suspension is firm and you are always aware of the kind of road you're travelling on. That said, the ride quality isn't as bone-jarringly stiff as the Kona. It's liveable, although you will slow down for bad roads.

We dropped the pressure down to 35 PSI, which made the ride more absorbent & compliant. With this more reasonable tyre pressure level, bumpy roads were handled in a better manner (although the underlying firmness was there). 

Handling & Dynamics

The ZS EV's straight-line stability is good and the car doesn't feel nervous even at 120 km/h. However, if there are undulations on the road, the car does tend to feel bouncy. The handling is above average. Drive it like a family man and you'll find the behaviour to be neutral. Drive it like an enthusiast and you'll feel body roll, with understeer coming in earlier than expected. The ZS EV isn't a car that likes being hustled through corners & these tyres can't handle all that sudden torque in the turns either. We recommend a more conservative driving style on your favourite mountain roads.

Steering

The electric power steering is a nice unit and very user-friendly. It's light at slow speeds which makes driving around the city a breeze. The EPS weighs up adequately on the highways.

Braking

The all-wheel disc brake setup provides good stopping power. Emergency braking situations are handled well and the car is brought to a halt from high speeds effectively.

Continue reading the discussion on the 2022 MG ZS EV Facelift on our forum.