The all-electric ZS EV is MG’s upcoming car for India. The car has been scheduled to be launched on 27th January 2020. It has been announced already that MG will be closing the bookings for the ZS EV car from 17th January 2020. MG had opened the bookings for the ZS EV starting from 21st December 2019, with a token amount of Rs 50,000. The bookings will start again once the car is launched in the market.
The all-electric SUV has been equipped with an electric motor capable of a maximum range of 340km. The car has a lot of advanced features as well. The ZS EV will be facing competition from the Hyundai Kona Electric in the Indian Market. MG has launched the Hector in the previous year and now it is all set to launch its second car for the Indian auto market.
The ZS EV will be arriving in India via the CKD (Completely Knocked Down) route. The assembling of the car will be done at the British automaker's plant located in Gujarat alongside the assembling of the Hector.
Initially, the electric SUV will be sold only in five metro cities of India including Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Bengaluru. The ZS EV will be available in two variants namely, Excite and Exclusive. The Excite variant is an entry-level variant that may not have some of the key features in order to keep the entry-level price competitive.
Some of the features that the Excite misses out on include a panoramic sunroof, PM2.5 air filter, the iSmart EV 2.0 connected features, roof rails, leather seats, a dual-pane sunroof, 6-way adjustable driver seat, rain-sensing front wiper, power-folding ORVMs, seatback pockets, six-speaker system, and heated ORVMS. However, the Exclusive variant of the ZS gets all of the above-listed features.
The iSmart EV 2.0 displays all the EV information that is relevant including the vehicle charging information, the driving range, the battery status (an alarm will be going off at 30 percent battery), carbon dioxide emissions saved on the last trip. The system will also show us a list of the public charging stations found nearby (called 360 Spider). The system will also tell about the type of chargers (AC/DC) and the connectors (CCS2, ChadeMO, etc.) that can be available.
Under the hood, the electric motor is capable of producing a maximum power of 143PS and a peak torque of 353Nm that aids the ZS EV car post a 0-100 sprint time of 8.5 seconds. The motor derives its energy from an IP67-rated 44.5kWh battery pack. MG has claimed that the ZS EV can travel up to 340 km on a single charge.
The normal charging time with a 7.4kWh wall box charger is 6 to 8 hours. Whereas if you use a fast charger, it will help reduce the charging time drastically. For example, the dash from 0-80 percent will be charged within an hour's time.
It is also expected that MG will soon launch a turbo petrol version of the ZS SUV. The price of the MG ZS all-electric SUV is expected to be between Rs 23 lakh to Rs 25 lakh.
MG has also made an announcement that very soon, the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support will also be made available for the ZS SUV. Some of the features of the ZS include an 8-inch vertical touchscreen infotainment system, keyless entry/go, electronic parking brake, tyre pressure monitoring system, 17-inch alloy wheels and automatic projector headlamps with LED DRLs.
When it comes to safety, the SUV has all the top safety features including ABS with EBD and ESC as standard along with six airbags, hill-start assist, hill-descent control, rear parking camera, and sensors. The MG ZS EV has successfully got a full five-star Euro NCAP safety rating. The crash test was done for the frontal, frontal-offset, and side collision. The result of the test has revealed properly that the car offered good enough protection to the front passengers as well as protected the driver.
To solve the issue of the unavailability of charging stations, MG has set up 50kW DC fast-charging stations at their dealerships. These will help to charge up the battery of the ZS SUV from 0-80 percent within 50 minutes.
At the same time, it is also planning to offer setting up a 7.4 kW AC charger at their customer's homes or offices. Not only this but the company will also be providing the customer with a portable charging cable. This cable can be used with any 15 A power socket. This will help to charge up the vehicle easily during emergency situations.
The MG Motor India had also tweeted about the issue of the charging stations stating:
"Ready, set, charge!
To create a stronger Electric Vehicle ecosystem, we have begun the process of installing AC fast chargers at homes of MG ZS EV customers. It's time to #ChangeWhatYouCan
The car looks just like any other mode
compact crossover SUV. You will find plenty of soft-touch plastics and leather-wrapped bits on the dashboard of the car and the central console. The driver’s info dashboard has an all-color digital center. This is surrounded by two dials that have a conventional look. There are three places in the vehicle from where you can find out the battery status of the car. These are the digital display and two other displays on the infotainment system.
The interior features of the MG ZS EV include the cabin with black finishing and you can find the silver inserts on the dashboard, door pads and there are circular air-con vents on both ends. The SUV has a smart exterior look with a bold looking diamond finished front grille, swooping bonnet, and a curved roofline. In the rear, the car has LED taillamps just below the raked windscreen. 
The Specifications of the MG ZS EV (EXCITE VARIANT)
Fuel Type: Electric(Battery)
Power: 140.8bhp@3500rpm
Torque: 353Nm@5000rpm
Transmission type: Automatic
0-100 kmph (sec): 3.1 Seconds
Top Speed (Km/h): 140
Front Suspension: MacPherson Strut
Rear Suspension: Torsion Beam
Front Brakes: Disc
Rear Brakes: Disc
Steering Type: Power
Tyre Size: 215/50 R17
Alloy Wheel Size: 17 inch
Tyre Type: Tubeless, Radial
Boot Space: 400 liters
Seating Capacity: 5
Length: 4314 mm
Width: 1809 mm
Height: 1620 mm
Wheelbase: 2585 mm
Also read:- Tata Nexon EV certification with a range of 312 km
image source-gaadiwaadi, amarujala
