MG ZS EV Long Term Review — The Daily Grind

It has been a month of driving MG ZS EV. The best thing is that I got to terms with it within the first week of driving. With this, the biggest myth that got busted was 'Electrics are boring'. So, here I’ll discuss how interesting it is and if and how similar it is to conventional ICE vehicles. Moreover, this month involved a lot of driving within the city and here's how the ZS fared.

First things first. It's a proper mid-sized SUV with a spacious cabin providing a good seating position. Nothing feels unusual here, not even the high floor due to the incorporation of batteries. Further, the electrically adjustable driver seat provides a perfect driving position with good all-around visibility.

Parking it in a tight spot is easy too, thanks to the 360-degree camera and dynamic guidelines. Then, the seat padding is firm, providing adequate comfort and the leather gives that upmarket feel. Moreover, my wallet goes into the armrest storage and the phone fits perfectly in the wireless charging pad.

Now, I haven’t used the infotainment system’s in-built Jio Saavn app since most of the time my phone is connected through Bluetooth. It’s either a few music-streaming apps through the phone or Mumbai’s radio service that has kept me entertained through MG’s fairly nice-sounding music system. Even pairing a new phone is quick, and Android Auto can be connected automatically through a cable. That said, apart from the range-related information, there are many other bits that have kept me engaged. We'll detail those in the next report.

Now, after finding a good driving position and supporting aids, there still are other things to take care of. One is range anxiety and the other is charging woes. We've usually seen that the actual driving range is close to 75 per cent of the claimed range. So, here it is around 340km against the claimed 461km. It still proves to be good enough for me for a week's usage between Vashi-Mumbai. The best part is that 4-5 hours of charging time once a week is sufficient, unless you are planning to use it over the weekend.

Another thing that keeps me engaged is the 'KERS' or three regen modes to recoup energy. Level 1 allows coasting like usual cars, but level 3 is what I like the most. There is adequate braking when you go off the throttle, and the sufficient bite even allows you to slow down. This is one feature that will intrigue ICE car drivers. And it's quite easy to get used to. The instrument cluster keeps showing how much energy is being used while also indicating the level of regeneration on braking. We've been averaging 6-7km/kWh in peak traffic. Also worth mentioning is the continuous braking in bumper-to-bumper traffic that keeps adding a bit of charge through regen.

Well, it's been more than a month now and apart from filling the air in the tyres, washing the car, and the usual charging fees, there's no other cost that I had to bear. The charging cost can be approximated by multiplying the unit cost per kWh by 50.3, in this case, as that's the battery capacity here. For example, in Maharashtra, the unit cost of electricity averages anything between Rs 5.36-11.82 per unit (kWh). But don't go by this figure only, as usually, the amount increases slab-wise according to per kW of your unit usage. So, you will have to take into account the fee structure of your service provider to get the exact amount.

Now, let's consider you need to add a 40kWh charge to your ZS, given you won't run it till the battery is fully depleted. This, at 3.3kWh charging, will take over 12 hours to charge to 100 per cent and will cost close to Rs 500 according to a domestic tariff of Rs 11.82/kWh. As a result, the cost per kilometre is reduced to Rs 1.5 which will cost at least Rs 7/km with a conventional petrol or diesel vehicle. Consider the total minimum cost for the same journey with conventional petrol or diesel vehicle to be more than Rs 2000.

Now, I'm desperate for an inter-city trip with the ZS, but still not have been able to gather the courage to push the vehicle (pun intended) to its range limit and, that too, on the outskirts of the city. But I will test that soon to analyse if an owner can at least do a Mumbai-Pune return trip. Also, we will see if we are able to find charging points or help along the route. Stay tuned.

Pictures by Kaustubh Gandhi and Kapil Angane