MG ZS highlights the range v price dilemma

As things stand, electric cars are all about compromise. You want a range of 450km in a mid-size motor? You got it — but with a bigger, heavier battery and a corresponding stiffer price. You want 250km in a mid-sized car? You got that too: cheaper but with a less powerful battery.

That is the choice and this week’s review car sure proved it to me. MG ZS electric vehicle is about lower range and lower price.

The MG brand, with it fame deep in British motoring history, is Chinese-owned. MGs are produced in China (although some elements of design are retained in the UK) with the emphasis on keeping the price down.

The ZS is on sale in the Irish market; there are a few other models here too and more to follow.

It is a tall, deceptively roomy family-sized SUV with strong styling on the outside. Its cabin is comfortably well-equipped.

The price beats the pants off rivals such as the Hyundai Kona and Kia Niro — we’re talking a difference of more than €8,000.

But there is a snag: range between charges. I came to personally experience it in the course of my test drives.

They say the car can do 263km on a single charge. It can’t. Not in my real world. 

It was charged to 200km when I took it. First day, I drove it on the scenic route to sunny Greystones. Not much of a journey but a perfect replication of slow suburban driving. Second day, I headed (slowly) for Gorey. I got a fright: the system flashed there were only 50km left as I neared the Wexford town. It looked like a long road back to Dublin. It seemed to me as if the charge diminished inordinately quickly — the figures, letters and icons on the cramped display are too small for instant detection while driving. It badly needs big displays informing you what range is left.

After getting over the initial shock, I wasn’t prepared to leave the main road until I was sure I could find a charging point. I trickled along at low speed but the battery was draining fast. There was no way I’d make it back to south Dublin. After moral and practical help from the brother (“you have plenty of charge to get there,” he opined after Google research) as I diverted to Ashford, Co Wicklow, to charge up. Peering at the poorly illustrated display told me I had 19km left.

I was in luck. There were two charging places outside the GAA grounds. The car’s charge point is slotted behind the front grille emblem.

I connected and all seemed well. Except the car display read: “Plugged in but not charging.” Computer, cable malfunction? I don’t know. The ESB/ecars people were most helpful and tried everything, but all our efforts to charge up were in vain. There was nothing for it but to get the excellent Automotive Team to rescue me. I was more upset than I care to admit, and thrilled to see my rescuer. But what if I didn’t have such back-up for a test car? What would an ‘ordinary’ driver do? To whom could they turn in these Covid times?

How much was I to blame for not noticing? I take my share. But how much did the lack of continuous display create false confidence?

I mused on such matters while waiting to be rescued. It gave me plenty of time to explore the car’s interior — again.

There’s great space throughout and the boot is especially big for an EV. It drove OK; I wasn’t expecting anything dynamic.

After grants and VRT relief, the entry-level Excite version costs from €28,995. It has a 44.5kWh lithium-ion battery — the key reason for lower range. By contrast, the Hyundai Kona and Kia Niro — with their more expensive 60kWh battery models — I found will nudge 425km in real-world tests. More realistic range rivals for the ZS would be the much smaller Electric Mini, Mazda MX 30, Honda e.

One thing worth noting is that is has a seven-year warranty.

I repeat: the ZS needs a better way of constantly telling you how much is left in the battery. The thing that irked me is that I am good at saving EV energy — regenerative braking is my forte. This one beat me.

So would I buy it? I wouldn’t. But it is, despite everything, a money-savvy way to get into family-sized, fully electric motoring — for tipping around town. Not, silly me, for a trip to Wexford and back.

It really is all about how much you are prepared to compromise.

Facts & Figures: The MG ZS electric SUV

44.5kWh battery, 143hp motor; full charge, 6.5 hours; rapid charge to 80pc, 40 mins. Claimed range 263km. Standard spec includes auto headlights, rear parking sensors, 17in alloys, pedestrian/bicycle detection, intelligent speed limit assist, adaptive cruise control, 8in colour t/ screen. ‘Exclusive’ spec adds: leather-style upholstery, silver roof rails, heated seats, panoramic sunroof.