MG will be bringing in their first electric offering, the ZS EV in the country sometime in January 2020. During the media drive which was recently held in Delhi NCR, MG officials gave out details regarding the charging process for the ZS EV.
Customers will be provided 2 chargers with their car. These would be 2 AC chargers, an AC Fast and a portable one. MG will help with a free installation of the AC Fast charger at customer’s house/office/any other preferred location.
This fast charger will have the capacity to charge the car up to 80% in around 6-8 hours. Additionally, customers will get a portable AC charger which they can plug in at any regular 15 ampere plug-point. This charger will be able to manage a 80% charge in 16 to 18 hours. Watch MG India official explaining the process of charging the ZS EV via fast charge.
MG is also installing 50kW DC Fast Chargers, across the country. These chargers will function on a pay-per use system. To begin with, MG has set up 10 DC Fast chargers at various MG dealerships. 4 of these are available in Delhi NCR, while other 6 are spread across Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bangalore & Hyderabad (5 cities where MG plans to launch the ZS EV).
These chargers have 2 guns, CCS & CHAdeMO, supporting European and Japanese charging standards (assume these to be similar to a mobile charger with ports for both Android & iPhones). Hence, these DC Fast chargers can charge even other EVs which aren’t made by MG.
The point to be noted here is MG has gone an extra mile to ensure that the charging infra can be used by other EV owners as well, supporting the overall EV ecosystem. Non-MG users will have to use the ‘Fortum Charge & Drive India’ mobile app to access these fast chargers.
(Photo: When the charger gun is engaged and car is locked (and the car is charging), it isn’t possible to remove the charging gun. To remove the gun, one needs to first unlock the car and only then can one remove the gun.)
Procedure to use the DC Fast charger is simple. Customers will have an option to either use a mobile app or an RFID key to engage the charger and start charging the car. Customers will have to first unlock the car, then plug the charger gun in the charging port, start the charging and then lock the car back. Once the car has been locked, charging will commence and the ‘breathable’ MG logo will start glowing with light, indicating that the vehicle is being charged. Charging details like time elapsed, amount of battery charged, etc. will be visible both, inside the car and on the charger.
If a customer’s car runs out of battery while they are on the move, they will have an option to use support from MG’s RSA. MG’s RSA team will help to replenish enough charge in customer’s car so that it can reach the nearest charger or customer’s preferred destination safely.
Clearly, MG has thought through the challenges the underdeveloped EV infra throws at potential customers. However, with more EVs & investment coming into the market, infrastructure related issues will slowly start to fade away.
