MG ZS EV: Still the cheapest, new EV in NZ! [FULL REVIEW]
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 พ.ค. 2024
- MG have updated their all electric ZS EV with a bigger battery, more range and a modernised interior, but somehow they've kept the price down, making it STILL the cheapest brand new electric car in New Zealand.
In this electric car review, a fairly confused Gav reviews the ZS EV thoroughly to find out if MG have cut any corners to beat the competition in price.
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Contents:
0:00 - Price & range
0:48 - Specs overview
1:36 - V2L adapter
2:07 - MG iSmart app
2:42 - Display features
3:31 - Seating position
4:34 - City driving feel
5:08 - Regen braking
6:34 - Power modes
7:53 - Essence vs Excite
8:47 - Stereo quality
9:07 - Interior measurements
9:43 - Road trip
11:03 - Adaptive cruise control
11:55 - Lane keeping assist
12:50 - Efficiency
15:15 - Power usage
16:33 - Charging speed
18:30 - Charging cost
19:30 - Self driving
21:11 - 0-100 time
21:40 - Cabin noise
22:06 - Handling
24:24 - Negatives
25:00 - Positives - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
Your presentation skills are very polished - you need your own TV show.
Seated heats fantastic ha ha .
Android Apple and Carplay Auto...😁
i noticed the seated heats too hahaha
must be a little lysdexick like me!
@@outbackev-hunter6035 thats what she said
Watching from the Philippines. Amazed at what your 'rush hour' looks like.
I learnt years ago to use sheepskin carseat covers. No burnt bums, no skidding off the seat in summer as though you were in an ice skating rink due to sweaty Betty legs and if the seats aren't the most comfy ever known to man or spuds, no square bum after a long journey.
The "not Tinder inches" line made me snort my drink out my nose! 🤣
I've had my MG ZS EV face lifted model for round 8 months. In the UK, the phone app works fine, setting up off-peak charging, pre-heating the car in the winter and setting the air-con going in the summer are just a few of its tricks. The Trophy (UK model) has the faux leather, heated seats, panoramic sunroof and intelligent Sat Nav. It also has its own WiFi hotspot!
I've owned lots of cars over the past 40 or so years and I love this car. My last Mercedes AMG broke down and had to be recovered week after it was delivered. My Audi and Land Rovers, seemed to spend more time in the garage, than on the road.
I don't know how they do it for the money!
My MG iSMART app Australia and NZ version works well for me too.
From Australia, thanks for the good review. Better than most I have seen.
My wife thinks I'm in love with Gav because I'm looking at so many videos and giggling. 😄
What can I say - congrats!! 😄😄
Great comprehensive review. Entertaining too . Definitely adding this car to the potentials...
Seated heats? I was looking for that option!!!
If you think the MG ZS is great value for money wait until the MG 4 arrives in NZ. Its just been launched in the UK, it's about the same size and specifications as a VW iD3 and it's getting rave reviews. The MG 4 is a game changer because of its price, in the UK it's £3500 (6700 NZ Dollars) CHEAPER that the MG ZS.
I've had a great drive and it's a hoot to drive.
I'd ordered mine (trophy long range version in UK) in HK, it prices HK$299000 (Nzd 62949). I intended to buy Tesla originally but when you jumped insider the MG you should be very much impressed how come they could made this quality with such a low price. Excellent!
now 277000
well rounded review.. informative and well paced.. am getting it soon in a couple of weeks!
Love seated heats - burgundy in colour. I'll be voting yes.
Thanks for the video - focussed on some features that other reviews haven't covered. Would've been good to know what the average charge speed was in this example - and how many kWh were added in the time taken.
Great review I love the way you treat the car for what it is and not test drive this car and expecting it to behave like a twice more expensive car you just test it for what it is .
I’m waiting for mine to be delivered but from the short rides i had in them i was impressed with the way it drives comfort and finish wasn't expecting it in this price range
also, someone thought me the trick of using what you called traffic mode while in cruise control as it worked smother
only approach i have is that regen is not working while in cruise control mode and it uses the cars breaks maybe they will correct it at one time or another
Your test road looks like fun and a lot like the UK B roads you should have made a range test on those roads and see where it got you
We got one and I watched a few review and informational videos. This is by far the best and most informative.
@@shadowbanned5164 I do. Heavy electric vehicles are exempt until the end of 2025 as well.
I am looking forward to this as it will be one less complaint from the anti-EV crowd. Perhaps by 2030 we'll have options for per-mile RUCs for the entirety of the NZ as overall fuel efficiency increases and we need to make up on maintenance.
@@shadowbanned5164 a good reason to ask for a per mile per kilogram rate in future.
22:33- Te Ohaki Road and Glen Murray Road in the waikato are great driving spots. Looks like a great vehicle for its cheap price :)
Could you do a road trip range test with a family and luggage to see what mileage you will get out of it? I'm seriously looking at going electric.
Great review
Bob
The MG iSmart works fine on my Android phone, only problem is that the Charging management bit does not work, nice review I am enjoying our Excite
I have the same issue. I would say the app is beta stage at best.
Yeah, great review as always. I question the value of 'anti-sin' warranty. I.e. voided by off road.
I'd also like more info on battery type, design. Not 'blade' I think, but LiFePO4???
Nice review :)
So excited for MG to launch this model and MG4 in the Philippines 😊 great and fun review again!
As a German speaker from Switzerland, I highly appreciate that chargers on the other side of the world are displaying german messages like "Karte wird geprüft". Seems like the available languages are English, Italian and German. Quite an odd choice for New Zealand.
ISmart app would not work for me whilst i had the car set to my local area time zone (Brisbane, Australia), I had to set the car to Sydney to then sync the car to the app, after which I was able to put the cars clock back to Brisbane, so this might be an issue in NZ as well. Also had an issue with the media system freezing whilst using apple carplay, just need to hold down the Home button for 20 seconds until the system powers off.
Absolutely great review, you have made me want to go and test drive one now. I prefer the interior to the BYD and I didn't like the annoying noise inside the cabin of the BYD so hoping this MG is quieter.
So in the end, could you please tell what you decided? Did you go with this or BYD? What is your experience afterwards?
@@DiveshGupta_22 I didn't go with either BYD or MG after test driving both as they didn't suit me. I went with a Tesla Model 3 and absolutely love it. Had the best features and after the price decrease was better value for money.
@@sheryltrainor3784 thank you so much
License plate says "pleb 18"? :)
Thx
What are the prices without rebates. No giveaways in UK I believe!
Is "seated heats" a deliberate error or just an unintentional slip of the tongue? I have noted the same on some of your other reviews. Good ole seated heats 😂
fyi cruise control disables the regenerative braking
I am about to upgrade my MGZS EV to the newest one with the 440 km distance option.. I have been more than happy with mine as l use 98% around town. I would however like to see more ev chargers at each place AND as was my experience at ChargeNet super charger last weekend at the Bombays 3 out of 4 CCS charges were faulted. According to another driver at least one had been out for 2 months. I rang charge net to complain and the usual answer- waiting on parts. This is not good enough!
PS Gavin- l learned a few more things about my MG which l have had for 2 years.
What's your visibility like as a driver? I find the windscreen posts can obscure things when they are poorly designed.
New owner of one and it’s good. Don’t get me wrong you can’t see as much as you could in an older car (coming from an AU falcon) but compared to a lot of other newer cars the visibility is good and when it comes to parking the top down camera view is way better then just your average rear view cameras. Admittedly the camera quality isn’t great but it’s good enough to make out what’s around you even at night so honestly if you’re coming from a newer car the visibility isn’t really an issue.
Best vid
Nothing sadder than a dropped pie, the anguish would be crushing.
"my gland is tingling"
*shudder*
I test drive the MG EV & BYD Atto and I just felt the BYD to be a little larger and it came with the extended range option giving you a 60KW battery instead of the 50 KW. Plus the fact that BYD is using the Blade battery technology makes the BYD the winner in my books. However, in Australia EVDirect, the importer of the vehicle increased the price from just over $50K to just under $54K with on roads in Victoria overnight last week and without notice. MG have a Dec 2022 sale selling the top end EV for just $49K so I don’t think I can justify the extra $5K for the BYD anymore. What’s your opinion?
Btw, I enjoy the method of your reviews but I would like to see a but mite I on the battery technology and how they are expected to degrade over time etc as this will make a big difference to one’s decision on purchasing.
I just didnt like the interrior of the BYD. The extra distance is great and all, but given that there are so many charges around the place these days, the extra distance for the extra price isnt really worth it (I mean if you buy a BYD, then sure get the extra battery, but not something I would buy a BYD over).
Can we please get this car in Canada??????
WLTP though isn't the US test standard, probably came out of the EU(haven't checked though) the closest to real world for the various methods is EPA. Otherwise use ev-database for real world.
In NZ, EV SUV's easily cost $70k-$90k. This is cheaper than the Toyota Corolla Cross Limited version. MG software is slow. Wired android/apple. Not a fan of the circular dial. But its good value for money. Toyota New Zealand offers 5 year warranties on their new cars, with I think 8 years for the hybrid battery. I might upgrade in 2025. Most of the interior looks cheap which is also where they've cut costs to keep the price low.
you may have a different view when you test drive the top line MG ZS model, really, trust me. You shall happy with the wired apple carplay as you could easily buy a android box from Taobao (cost around 100 pound) that turn your infotainment into a truly open android system will full functions such as youtube, netflex etc
No telescopic steering wheel. Too bad if you're someone like me with long legs and short arms! Not the feature to cheap out on.
That is one weakness, I have the opposite problem. I have short legs and normal arms! ;-)
I'm 6'3+ and the steering wheel isn't a problem, height is pretty good too but legroom may be a problem with another tall person infront/behind
Love your videos.....but please stop saying off-peak rates all weekend, every weekend, as that is only the case for certain parts of the country! 😤
I spent almost that amount on a 4 year old leaf.
The only downside for me is the charging speed.
Really need 100kw+
Except still most charges are 50kw and those EV that can charge over 100kw only stay there to around 60% then drop like a rock
I use one pedal driving all the time, I really wouldn't buy a car without it.
Lucky u
When will we have really cheap small EV's on the market like China and Europe?
Stop comparing a Chinese EV with a Japanese ICE vehicle! This is still a huge difference in price when you compare it to its ICE counterpart the MG ZS starting at $26k. Still my mum just brought the new Ora Cat and that is $42,300 after rebate with a similar sized battery but a lot more tech.
Sure lets compare with... lets see... a Nissan Leaf... surely that's a better car but it cost a lot more.
So how about Nissan Sakura? It should be cheaper but it's actually a Japanese electric kei car so it's smaller. Essentially its a rebadged Mitsubishi EK X EV, 47kw as per kei car regulation but with 195nm of instant torque. Moreover it's in our market, not yet at least.
Another one is Nissan Ariya. Like the Leaf, the Ariya is surely way better heck a lot more expensive. Like Sakura, it's not available in our market. Unlike Sakura however, the Ariya is also on the U.S. market.
So what about Honda e? Would you like to spend $70kish for such a small Honda? I wouldn't! Not to mention it only have 4 star Euro NCAP rating compared to 5 star on MG ZS EV.
Ultimately Nissan Leaf and Honda e are only cars we can compare but with higher price tag. Otherwise a long forgotten Mitsubishi iMiev (Mitsubishi Innovative Electric Vehicle) was our first ever mass produced EV on our market.
@@t8polestarcyan22 What the hell are you on about! I clearly said of same class!
I gave a perfect example the MG ZS ICE and the MG ZS EV!
ZS ICE AU$23,000 driveaway price and ZS EV AU$45,000 driveaway price. But then you went off a a rant comparing cars in total difference classes.
Well, can you find a Japanese EV SUV then? You've clearly stated that we should "Stop comparing a Chinese EV with a Japanese ICE" right so I've found the only found Japanese EVs as I've mentioned.
I didn't like the charge being in front it's easy will get damaged i case of accident.
Lol if you hit something hard enough to destroy the port then I doubt you will be driving the car afterwards due to a lot more damage!
Meanwhile, in the UK, we pay (£30k-35k at current exchange rate) NZ$58k-68k, though we have 51kWh and 73kWh variants in both trim levels.
Still, that's a hefty P&P delivery charge - they'd better put it in a nice box and tie a ribbon around it!
MG has also revamped the MG5 following the MG4 release, which looks a lot better. However, it comes in at similar prices to what we pay for the ZS, and only has the long range battery option.
The MG4 is the best value here, saving maybe £3k over the MG5 - what's it like in NZ?
Neither the 4 or 5 are being imported to Aotearoa yet.
Dealers say mid 2023, just hope it's far better than the current ZS EV as both the Ora Cat and Atto 3 drive far better than that car! My mum just brought an Ora Cat $50k plus ORC less the rebate makes it $43k!
@@gregb1599 I think the Ora Cat is a much smaller car no?
We only have the new battery cars not the older LR ones, the price he quoted included about $8000 of rebates so the price isn't too far off the UK one.
That sucks I want vehicle to load 😢
The face lift version has Vehicle to Load. If you can't get the appropriate cable, buy a cheap charging cable and swap the resistor at the car end and replace the other end with sockets. There are TH-cam videos that show how to do this.
@@pauld7827 Yeah I am sure a cheap cable will not be a fire risk as well as possibly invalidate your warranty if it is found to cause any damage to the car
😆🤘🏼
China govt manufacturing subsidies mate. This is why we cannot compete with them
I think so, otherwise, they cant make such a great car with such a low price
This car does not do 320 km, it's a prediction. Driving Range: WLTP Combined Cycle (km) 320.
Owning this car the real driving range is 269 Km, the same as the 2021 model.
If you look at the specifications the millage per Kw is (Driving Efficiency: WLTP Combined (kWh/100km) 17.1)
50.3 Kw battery = 50.3 / 17.1 = 294 km in perfect conditions.
Soon as you use heating or cooling you lose 20km instantly.
If you turn off regen or reduce regen (Kers 1 to 3) you lose 20km.
By your drive of 214 km/h with 22% battery, we can see that you would only get 274.36 km/h MAX.
On this drive, it gave you a reading efficiency of 15.9 kw/h but that would mean you would get 320 / 15.9 = 316 km/h which is not the case in this test drive.
The advertising is not truthful or consistent and should be disclosed to the public.
As for Warranty, MG will only give a 12-month warranty at any time and will extend after service with them. They extend another year after service every year till you get to 7 years. This is crazy considering servicing for an MG Ev is every 2 years so technically you are void of warranty in 12 months by their official letter.
If you try to get MG support it is literally non-existent.
I wish reviews were done with some real investigation before purchase i.e " centre of gravity (Km/Kw to petrol/gasoline) cars, support after sale / Government taxes non disclosed). Not just a test drive then calling it a full review
Did you mean initial purchase price or total cost of ownership? If you include depreciation for these “disposable” cheap Chinese evs, a model 3 is a much better investment.
Disposable as these vehicles do not have hardware or software which allows future upgrades to vehicle systems. Would you buy a smartphone which does not allow updates to software or allow you to download your own apps?
Lousy performance handling and reliability should make any buyer seriously think twice before spending this much money.
is a Chinese car so guess what, the QR code doesn’t work in China as well. Oh by the way my BJEV need me to perchase cellular data in order to listen to a app of president Xi Jinping’s random quotes
Yeah, the Chinese make rubbish stuff. For example: iPhones, Tesla and Volvo electric cars. Thank goodness I bought an MG EV, good British make.....
@@pauld7827 that is not what I’m saying. as an 100% Chinese, we manufacture a lot good products, but for R&D, we are catching but not there yet. I think this car as well as other Chinese cars are great for the prices but they may have some flaws. I think SAIC is an ok manufacturer, but for me, it will definitely stay away from State owned car companies. I can buy one but definitely do a thorough test drive
@@pauld7827 iPhone is made by Taiwanese company Foxconn, Tesla giga Shanghai is the only factory that owned 100% by a “foreign company” (in compare with SAIC Volkswagen joint), polestar is owned by a 100% private company Geely. Just for references.
Of the CATL and BYD battery is rock solid products, we are proud of that because for the first time we can say made good stuff without the price factor
They rust and they literally buckle under the smallest of crashes, that's how they kept the price down
lol sure thing bud. 5 star ANCAP rating says otherwise.
Crap car don't waste your money my friend had two new ones in a month because the first had to many problems.
what were the problems
It's always a " friend " who has issues with ev's...
And yet your personal anecdotes of a "friend" doesnt mean shit. Just bought one for my wife and its fantastic. ZERO issues.
After 4 weeks, is your wife still enjoying it?
@@gt1cm2 loving it. We have solar and have had the high capacity charge point put in. 320km range. Is perfect for everything she does at home.