MG ZS EV got updated earlier this year, with a larger battery pack of 50.3 kWh
MG has a good reputation with its EVs as a daily commute machine and the occasional highway trip. MG hasn’t yet recorded any fire hazard as of now unlike Tata Nexon EV. Nexon EV saw its first and only case till now recently in Maharashtra and fortunately, no casualties were registered.
Now, MG wants to expand its EV portfolio to target customers that are looking for an EV as a secondary or tertiary vehicle. Right now, MG only has the ZS EV in its portfolio. But we have seen spy shots of MG’s upcoming micro EV based on the Wuling Air EV that might launch in India somewhere in 2023. In the meantime, to keep the buzz around, MG is planning to launch some new stuff with the MG ZS EV.
MG ZS EV Base Excite Variant
When the ZS EV Facelift was launched earlier this year. It was offered in two variants Excite and Exclusive. Former priced at Rs 21.99 lakh and the latter priced at Rs 25.88 lakh, ex-sh. The difference in prices is largely due to the fact that Excite is powered by a smaller 44.5 kWh battery pack, in comparison to Exclusive variants 50.3 kWh.
Though prices of both variants were announced, only the Exclusive variant was launched. Excite variant was promised for launch in July 2022. Looking at the registration papers filed with NCT Delhi Transport Department, we can see that the base Excite variant is homologated along with two more variants with Exclusive trim. All of the variants will get the same 50.3 kWh battery though.
This 50.3 kWh battery pack promises a driving range of 461 km on a single charge. The electric motor makes 174 bhp and 280 Nm promising 0-100 kph sprint under 8.5 seconds. To price the new base variant attractively, MG might cut a lot of features like a panoramic sunroof, powered driver seat, wireless charging, blind spot monitoring, lane change assist and some more.
New Ivory Theme
Along with the new base Excite variant, MG has also registered two more variants and one of them is named Ivory and is exclusive to, well, Exclusive trim only. These variants might get ADAS features that its petrol-powered sibling Astor gets. These ADAS features include adaptive cruise control, high beam assist, pilot assist, front collision warning, emergency auto braking and more.
On the company’s website, MG provides an option to choose an interior colour. But right now, we can only choose Dark gray on all variants and Ivory option will soon be added. This new interior shade will lift the sense of space of the cabin and will complement the airiness introduced by panoramic sunroof.
Coming to the prices, ZS EV Excite will be launched at Rs. 21.99 lakh (ex-sh). The prices were already revealed at the launch of the model itself. At this price, it is only Rs. 3.7 lakh more than the Nexon EV Max by Tata Motors and promises a larger battery and more range, faster acceleration, faster charging and more.
Tata Motors is also taking strides towards giving more value to their EV customers by giving free features like cruise control, adjustable regen and more for all existing Nexon EV owners. Nexon EV is now Nexon EV Prime and gets more features. It will be interesting to see if MG ZS EV’s new base Excite variant would rob Nexon EV Prime’s market share.