MG ZS EV Review (2022-present)

Very practical, especially by the standards of other EVs at this price point, most of which are smaller hatchbacks. You’ll find ample space in the front even for a tall driver, and those in the back will have lots more headroom and legroom than they would in the back of a Peugeot e-2008 or Hyundai Kona.

The ZS EV has 470 litres of boot space, which is very spacious by comparison to a Nissan Leaf or VW ID.3 for instance. The rear seats fold down in a 60/40 split, but because the rear seats are raised to make room for the lithium-ion battery pack, there’s a sizeable step up in the boot floor when you fold them down, making it less than ideal for carrying really bulky or long items. The standard variable boot floor does help to mitigate this if you raise it to its highest level.

The quality of the cabin plastics and other materials actually isn’t bad in the MG. Up front, the dash and surrounding trims feel tactile, and most of the switches are nicely damped. There’s even a clear, digital driver’s readout. However, you do start to see the cheap finishes around the rear seats when they’re folded, and also in the space under the bonnet, which houses your washer fluid bottle and the electric motor.

There are other practicality niggles, including an irritating habit of binging and bonging in alarm at every possible opportunity for reasons that we couldn’t always fathom, and it also locks the charging cable into the port and won’t unlock it unless you release it via the touchscreen in the car. It’s a small irritation, but it is still annoying that you can’t unlock it via the key fob or from the charging port itself.

The MG ZS EV is roomy and practical by the standards of similarly priced EVs, then, even if it does have some annoying features that could mar the day-to-day ownership experience.

Overall, our favourite electric SUV - the Skoda Enyaq iV - has a much bigger boot of 525 litres and is generally more practical, but it also costs a bit more than the MG ZS EV, so overall you really can’t argue with the MG’s family-appropriate cabin. As an aside, if you’re after low cost and big practicality, make sure you check out the MG 5, an estate that costs a bit less than the MG ZS EV and has a 250 mile range, but is similarly spacious and brilliant value.

The MG ZS EV is fit for purpose in the way it drives; nothing more, nothing less. It’s fairly nippy for a spacious family SUV; peculiarly, the smaller battery MG ZS EV gets more power, with 174bhp compared to the big battery car’s 154bhp, for a 0-62mph of between 8.2sec and 8.4sec in the small- and big-battery cars, respectively.

The steering doesn’t give you much idea of what’s going on with the front wheels, and while you can adjust the steering weight with the drive modes, this doesn’t really remedy the problem. It’d be useful to have that better sense of connection through the steering, too, as the MG ZS EV is rather prone to understeer, which is where it washes wide of your chosen line through a corner. There’s nothing dramatic or scary about this, and it’s very easy to correct any understeer by lifting off the throttle, but it is quite noticeable even in dry conditions, while in the wet there’s a fair bit of wheel spin as well.

For all that, the MG ZS EV is still impressively comfortable and easy to drive. The suspension soaks up the worst of the bumps, you have a good view down the road and it’s responsive enough to instil confidence.

Regenerative braking is standard, as it is on every EV, and can be toggled through three different strengths via a switch on the centre console. Brake regen’ is a system where the car feels like it’s braking for you when you ease off of the accelerator, when actually it’s using the car’s natural forward momentum to top up the battery and improve your driving range. In the MG ZS EV, it’s easy enough to judge the level of braking its applying, and it can help you to drive smoothly around town. It doesn’t have a one-pedal drive mode as the Nissan Leaf does, but few will quibble with the brake regen’ modes on offer, albeit they might quibble with it being adjustable via a switch on the console, which is nowhere near as convenient as having it on steering wheel paddles like you get on the Hyundai Kona Electric.

The MG ZS EV is quieter than any petrol or diesel rival, but by EV standards there’s quite a bit of wind noise on the motorway, while the suspension noise is noticeably boomy around town.

Overall, the driving experience is absolutely fine, but rivals like the Skoda Enyaq iV, Vauxhall Mokka-e and Hyundai Kona Electric are nicer to drive.

The MG ZS EV comes with an extensive suite of safety equipment regardless of which of the trims you go for, which includes automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control and a semi-autonomous drive mode that includes the ability to accelerate-and-brake automatically in traffic jams, and steer to keep you in your lane. You do have to go for the Trophy or Trophy Connect trims to get blind spot assist and rear cross traffic alert thrown in.

Otherwise, even entry level SE trim gets alloy wheels, climate control, keyless entry, the digital driver’s display, rear parking sensors and 360-degree parking camera. That’s the sort of equipment list to shame most far more expensive rivals, including the more modest Skoda Enyaq iV and VW ID.3 models.

Step up to Trophy and you get wireless mobile phone charger and a panoramic sunroof, silver roof rails, heated side mirrors, heated front seats with electric adjustment, leatherette upholstery and automatic wipers. Trophy Connect adds internet connectivity including Amazon music streaming, and that’s the lot with the three-trim line-up in the MG ZS EV.

A 10.1-inch touchscreen is standard across the range, and includes Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Bluetooth and sat-nav. It’s easy enough to use, with straightforward shortcuts on the homepage. The screen could be more responsive, and the graphics aren’t as good as those in the Kia Soul EV and Hyundai Kona EV. It’s also annoying that the climate controls, which are on the screen, disappear altogether when Apple CarPlay or Android Auto is active.

Even so, it’s a big improvement over the 2019 MG ZS EV, which had worse graphics and menu layout that looked distinctly aftermarket, not to mention a smaller screen. The newer system isn’t faultless but it does the job, and – mostly – it does it pretty well.

The 2019 MG ZS EV was offered in two trims: Excite and Exclusive. Both were well equipped but Exclusive was the one to go for as it had leatherette upholstery and a panoramic glass roof, amongst other extras. They’re more common on the used market, too.

The MG ZS EV is fantastic value to buy for a zero-emissions car, and is cheap to run. It starts from under £30,000 and runs up to around £35,000, and monthly payments are usefully low, too.

Even with the rise in electricity costs in 2022, electric cars remain around half as expensive to ‘fuel’ as an efficient diesel or petrol car, if you use mostly home charging (as the vast majority of EV users do). It also holds its value well, as the MG ZS EV has established a good reputation as a worthy electric family SUV and so demand is high. It’s also a reasonably efficient EV. We’d expect to see around 190 – 280 miles of range in real world driving from the MG ZS EV Long Range, depending on driving conditions and temperature; don’t forget that EVs are most efficient in slow driving and warm conditions, and will be least efficient on the motorway and when it’s cold.

If charged up at home for 28p/kWh, you’ll pay just over £19 for a full battery in the MG ZS EV, which works out at 8.3p per mile if you get a very achievable 230 miles to a charge.

Public charging is more expensive, and is more on a par with petrol or diesel costs (or can be even more expensive), so factor that in if you expect to use public chargers regularly.

Insurance costs are very reasonable, and overall the MG ZS EV promises to be one of the cheapest cars – EV or otherwise – to own and run.

MG Motor as an overall brand came a decent 10th place in the 2021 What Car? Used Car Reliability Survey, while the 2019 MG ZS EV was placed second – just after the 2011 Nissan Leaf – in the same survey’s electric car category. Generally, the MG ZS EV has proven to be reliable and there haven’t been any recalls, but look out for squeaky and damaged trim, and the charging flap feels pretty flimsy when open so make sure that it hasn’t been damaged.

The MG ZS EV has a seven year, 80,000 mile warranty. That’s far better than most rivals, although Kia e-Niro betters it and the Hyundai Kona Electric gives it a run for its money. The battery is also covered for the same duration.