MG kickstarts its electric future in India; ZS EV unveiled ahead of January launch

Electric mobility is slowly gaining momentum in India. We already have a whole range of electric scooters in India and a few motorcycles as well. India also got its first long-range electric car, the Hyundai Kona a few months ago and now MG making is the next move. The MG ZS EV is the British brand’s second offering in India and it has been officially unveiled in the country today.

Powering the ZS EV

The MG ZS EV has a 44.5kWh battery pack with a range of 340km. It can fast charge to 80 per cent in 40mins (50kW DC charger) or takes six to seven hours for a full charge with a standard 7kW AC charger. It makes 141bhp and 353Nm of torque with a synchronous motor and can move from 0-100kmph in 8.5 seconds. MG Motor says that the battery pack of the ZS EV has been thoroughly tested for durability and quality. It’s tested to stay under one meter of water for around 30 minutes while the car itself has been tested for over 1 lakh km in India till date.

What about charging infrastructure?

To provide charging infrastructure, MG has joined hands with Fortum Charge & Drive. Under the partnership, Fortum will install 50 kW DC fast public charging stations for EV across MG’s showrooms in five cities including Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad by the end of the year. The DC chargers can charge the ZS EV to 80 per cent in less that one hour. Also, the ZS EV owners can have an AC fast charger at their home or office. At the unveiling, they also expressed their ambitious plans of installing fast chargers every 25km on Indian highways and every 5km in cities, in the next three years.

‘Pure Electric Internet SUV’

The MG ZS EV gets features like keyless entry with push button start, auto headlights and wipers, an 8-inch colour touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto among others. More importantly, just like the Hector, the ZS EV too is a car with ‘internet inside’. MG says that the system in the ZS EV is even better than the Hector. We’re not sure how much the system has improved, but we’ll bring you updates after we test the car.

Moreover, there’s also a PM 2.5 air filter in the ZS EV which cleans air in the cabin in less than 35 minutes. Internationally, the ZS EV comes with ‘MG Pilot’ which is a suite of driver assistance features including adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, blind spot assist and even traffic jam assist. There’s no clarity yet on how many of these will make it to India. Taking matters further, there’s a ‘CO2 saver’ that displays the amount of CO2 saved after driving an EV. Better than Hector internet connectivity system.

The MG ZS EV, after its launch in January 2020, will be the second only long-range electric SUV in India after the Hyundai Kona. Expect more EVs to be displayed by MG at the upcoming Auto Expo.