2020 MG ZS EV Exclusive - Walk Around

[@michaelhorton6881]

I have a 2nd generation MG ZS EV and it addresses most of the issues raised, long range, better, bigger, faster touch screen, V2L, heated seats etc etc, I have moved from a Mercedes GLC and I am very impressed by the MG ZS EV LR.

[@TheBermudabob68]

I can't remember the mk1 ever costing just shy of £30K. It was officially about £25K and I got mine for £21K. The new model is nearer to your quoted price, but that's got all the niggles fixed and 100 miles more range...

[@Brian-om2hh]

Not *all* the niggles Robert. The ride still doesn't quite hit the mark, and shows a lack of development. And the overall build quality still isn't up there.

[@Richardincancale]

Please note the above comment is from a spammer / scammer, not from Transport Evolved. I strongly recommend not contacting the Telegram channel

[@jamesmccormack3229]

Being from Scotland I know a lot of people who have chosen the is car and the newer version. For the money the spec list is huge, great range, decent charge ability and the warenety is great, it ticks most if not all the right boxes for a cheap (well less expensive) EV for UK roads and families.

[@simoncavill]

We are on our second MG ZS EV and absolutely love it! Yes, its very much a “1st generation” EV, but it’s totally reliable, incredibly cheap to run and cost us only £24K at the time. The newer MK2 MG ZS EV is a huge improvement, but we are waiting to test a the new MG4 hatchback as a second car and then replace the ZS with the incredible looking Sportster convertable!

[@Hans-gb4mv]

Might I ask: why your second? What happened to the first?

[@simoncavill]

@@Hans-gb4mv The first was a company car - the second was a personal purchase!

[@narvuntien]

Make sure you pop into the comments on TE to tell me about your test of the MG4 hatchback, Its on my list, another EV hatch back likely to be available in Australia (next year).

[@Richardincancale]

Please note the above comment is from a spammer / scammer, not from Transport Evolved. I strongly recommend not contacting the Telegram channel

[@thelaserhive3368]

I like reviews by Kate and so, of course, I enjoyed this one even though the content was well known to me - being in the UK and as I’m considering cheap EVs I’ve watched maybe 20 reviews or so of this old model and the new one. To those who say the MG is boring…. Well, yes maybe. But as a gateway drug into EV ownership it has to be considered. Take into account that the old model reviewed is now outdated by the much improved new one, the price point of these gen. 1 cars is even better at £20k for a reasonable one with lots of warranty remaining. So maybe this review should really be taken in context as not outdated but a great insight into possibly the best priced used EVs available in the UK?

[@John.0z]

Thank you for a good evaluation Kate. For myself, I found the cameras and sound to be perfectly adequate. That was a very sensible way to combine a rental and evaluation. There are however two things that you might consider mentioning more carefully in future evaluations. The first is the spare tyre. You did mention a "kit", but just what does that mean? Here in Australia, a full-sized spare is very important for travelling in the less inhabited areas. Regrettably they are becoming very rare things. The second thing I would like to hear about is rarely referred to - when descending a hill under cruise control, does the control system hold the selected speed by employing a lot of regen? Varying it as the hill demands. I have only had a decent drive in one hybrid, a Honda, and it did not, the driver has to use the brake pedal to get more than a modicum of regen. Apart from the range this can add, carefully integrating the cruise control also indicates how serious the manufacturer is about helping us watching the road, rather than the speedometer! Needless to say I am a great fan of using HUDs. 🙂

[@peterjenkins8522]

the ZS comes with a (probably useless) tin of gunk and a compressor, but you can buy a space saver spare from MG as we did - like you never really like the idea of being stranded

[@John.0z]

@@peterjenkins8522 Thank you Peter. I am not a frequent visitor to the outback, but some of the places I have been I would have been very worried going to with even just a space saver. Those tins of gunk don't encourage me to think that any of the manufacturers who export cars to Australia have been here. If they did, I seriously doubt that they ventured outside the cities! Have a look on a map for a town called "Coober Pedy" - it is the biggest source of opal in the world. It is pretty isolated, but by no means the most. Then look on the west coast for Coral Bay. There are not many other cars on the road to save you north of Carnarvon. And they are just the tar roads.

[@SteveWithers]

The MG ZS EV doesn't use them in cruise control. It uses the brakes like the petrol version would. This is one of the main reasons I don't use cruise control. Plus, I'm in New Zealand the roads are too curvy and fill of intersections to make much use of cruise control.

[@John.0z]

@@SteveWithers Thank you for the warning. That just shows how little real thought in the design office goes into the *extra* possibilities that having a battery confers on even their hybrids.

[@user-zm5bs4kh2b]

I have in israel the ZS for two years. Range in Israel for 95% isn't an issue, but people love to complain. Glad to have gotton out of the poluters

[@tnickknight]

I dont care about exciting, I care about practically and affordable value. It will take a few years before we start getting the real sweet spot.. I got my new VW UP 8 years ago, with 5 year warranty, a set of snow tires and free insurance for a year fot under 10,000. It gets well north of 50 plus MPG, and nothing has ever broken on it.

[@SteveWithers]

I've had my MG ZS EV for almost 2 years (November 2020). I'm in New Zealand. The range is good enough for my purposes. It readily does over 200km on a single charge with a decent safety buffer (20%-ish) left over. It can actually charge at up to 80kw (on a 350kw Hypercharger) provided you start around 10% -15% and it will go at or near the top speed up to about 35% then begin to taper off. The 44.5kWh battery is relatively small, so very fast charging isn't sustainable if you want to avoid Samsung the battery. MG does. But on a 50kw charger it will happily charge at full speed to about 85%.

[@Telcontarnz]

Great to see you here Steve. A great car with a cult following. We also got the WLTP range regularly on NZ roads. We found the quality similar to the VWs we’ve owned and CarPlay was awesome…get the right cable!

[@telmaguerreiro4504]

Welcome back to the UK Kate. Hope the MG served you well

[@huwdavies6650]

The latest generation has had some stylistic tweaks including a completely blanked off grill snd slightly relocated charging port, a re styled and updated interior and the option of a larger long range battery pack.

[@bellshooter]

My ZS Trophy will charge at 70ish kW and do real world 140-150 miles in summer at between 3.7 and 4.5 mpkWh but suffers if driven above 65mph or with rain/cold/headwind. I bought mine for £22.5k with grant and MG first 1000 cars discount. The current price is £29.5 for the 51 kWh base add £2.5k for top spec and £2.5k for the 73kWh battery, with 198 and 273 mile WLTP respectively.

[@markbader4942]

Kate, good to hear you take responsibility for your part in the off-road abuse of rental cars. We should all keep in mind that eventually even they will become someone's baby. 😉

[@judebrown4103]

Hope you get to see the improvement on the 22 version, it's lightyears better and I want one! 👍

[@1grizzlyrizzo]

Does the job and not a bad vehicle, some say it's not exciting but if it's just a car you need then this or its sibling will not break the bank.

[@moff1959]

When if ever will we see this in the USA ? there is a huge MG brand loyalty untapped with a lot of potential sales in the North American market.

[@faustogrilo1749]

I know that some of the brand information can be vary confusing, but this car is capable of 85kW DC charging. It used to cost about £26-27K due to the Government grant. When it came out there were only a handful of EV to choose from, most of them more expensive and with less equipment and charging speed. The revised version has a 72kWh battery and improved DC charging as well.

[@ouch1011]

The average person beats their own car absolutely to death, so you can only imagine how badly they treat a car that isn’t theirs. On top of that, rental companies do absolutely nothing to take care of their vehicles. I used to work for an auto repair shop that had an Enterprise car rental franchise attached to it. They had us do the maintenance on their vehicles and I can’t think of a single time where the oil changes were done on time (they were typically at least 5000 miles overdue). They never, ever replaced things like engine or cabin air filters and unless the car was literally going to explode or crash itself, they never did any repairs. 20k miles on a rental car means it’s basically ready for the crusher.

[@terryd8692]

Pretty fair review. We have a 2st gen MG ZS EV, it's actually my wife's car, I have an SMAX. This is the first car she's had where I prefer to use it instead of mine. I love the convenience of the EV, the dodgem like accelerator/brake, adaptive cruise control and other little things. I love the blind spot warning in the mirrors and the way they alert you when reversing should anyone walk or drive behind the car. The range isn't brilliant but for local driving and home charging it's great. I do like the cockpit layout and especially the sunroof, a real bonus.

[@AdrianoCasemiro]

I wish I had this one in Brazil. Gotta love that range/$ ratio. Also, looks good and practical.

[@storm4710]

We loved the 2022 facelift MG5 and plan to buy one next year

[@mikiethebikie]

We have these in New Zealand, the later model has a much better touch screen response. The have the low price EV space here but BYD are coming. Kate I have one of those digital Tee shirts.

[@philipbrown4602]

The new model is considerably better!!

[@shanefiddle]

Love the TE logo animation with the rainbow flag and wind turbine! So good. Thanks for the review 🙂

[@jimmiecox3183]

Great review of 2020, I hear lots of the issues have been addressed can you review 2022? that would be so great. Kind of like this video format. keep them coming. Thank you!

[@transportevolved]

If I can lay my hands on a 2022 or newer next time I'm over, I'd love to.

[@martino9134]

The ZSEV launched Oct 2019 is large part why MG 'now Chinese owned' is now the 12th top selling brand in the UK, if 12th doesn't sound impressive its a 6x increase from 4 yrs ago and MG in 2022 in the UK is outselling Mazda, Mini , Citroën, Fiat, Jaguar , Volvo, Honda, Renault, Seat, Skoda, and dare I say ...Tesla. Thus take-off has coincided with the affordable and well specified EV's the ZS is now on its 2nd generation in 2 battery sizes 51 and 72kWh + an Estate car the MG 5 with a 61kWh battery. A very popular PHEV HS larger SUV. The sales would be bigger for a 9 month waiting list for the new ZS models, They're now poised to launch a facelift MG5 Estate and a brand new ID3 sized hatchback on an EV only bespoke platform with a starting price of under £26k ..the UK spec VW ID3 is 10k more. The top spec 64kWh 280 mile range MG4 Trophy is 31.5k . They have at least 3 more EV's in the pipeline including a hot hatch AWD MG4 , another SUV the MG Marvel R already on sale in Europe and a 2 seater roadster, the Cyberster, ready for the MG bands centenary in 2023.

[@tonychallinor6721]

A fair walk around. I've had an identical car for 2 years and 30k trouble free miles. No flaking chrome tho!

[@The1979gregor]

Enjoy the UK!

[@narvuntien]

They newer model is better its got real competition with the BYD Atto 3 now. As with many I am ergerly awaiting the MG M4 which appears to have the numbers I am looking for. However, if its also got a slow screen that might push me towards the ORA cat instead.

[@moony2703]

Love the drama of the intro. XD Great video and information, thanks for going through the drama of getting this to us.

[@davidg6370]

Checking the FastNed site confirms that the max charging speed of 76kW not the 50kW stated in the video.

[@transportevolved]

The 2020 in the review charges at 50kW max (although I typically saw around 46kW - 37kW), the 2022 version is listed by MG as a max 80kW charge rate. ^Kate

[@krisvandermeulen253]

No worries die the quality, it is good enough, as long as the content is good. Bad content is much worse than low quality.

[@rigel1632]

Amazing you’re trotting out the wrong charging figures (like some others did back in the day). It can certainly do well in excess of 50kW as I had one for 18 months.

[@transportevolved]

Those are the manufacturer provided figures and the test vehicle we had maxed out at 47-48kW. ^Kate

[@rigel1632]

@@transportevolved Got one charging at 63 kW on an IONITY charger this afternoon in the group. The manufacturer numbers were only ever referring to the then standard of quoting 50kW timings. Max I saw on mine was 76kW 😊

[@apoco_lips9957]

i would drive that, im guessing this isnt possible to import to the US D:

[@terrylyons6210]

Love Kate's videos but "Pacific North West" without another point of reference would be Japan!

[@VanCityAdam]

@Transport Evolved What is the song at the beginning?

[@Richardincancale]

I just signed for a 2022 MG5 today! At least in part due to the encouragement from TE!

[@Richardincancale]

Please note the above comment is from a spammer / scammer, not from Transport Evolved. I strongly recommend not contacting the Telegram channel

[@databeestje]

Soooo, this is better then the Mazda MX-30, right? @6.15 Yup!

[@francesconicoletti2547]

Left out a back door a passenger can get out of without permission of the front passenger, which apparently is a feature now.

[@Junior2uu]

Good review

[@kanoeist0]

Only thing it's missing is a song 😏

[@SightsToKeepInSight]

You matter so much with quality and that's good. But having some videos in 'mobile phone' quality is nothing bad, really.

[@Telcontarnz]

For me content is what gives the real quality given how good things like iPhone cameras are now

[@roguebullet4220]

Perfect. Thanks.

[@jimparr5412]

Bring some of those home with you

[@QALibrary]

been waiting for this one

[@christopherballard1933]

We have one. Total bargain paid 23k for ours new. Inc Vat

[@crowfoot1199]

"... you do, however, get a rear wiper" /cries in Ioniq 5/

[@douglasdietrich4174]

I would love for inexpensive EVs like MG to come to Canad and the US. Ora Cat? Yes, please! Nio? Pretty please?! North American governments need to stop being so protectionist. We're trying to save our own lives on this planet. We can't afford the stupidity protectionism brings.

[@ashtaroth1975]

The 2022 Model charge faster, sadly MG launched It a couple of months after i buy muy lovely Red dwarf

[@AddieDirectsTV]

MG still exists?

[@patreekotime4578]

Like Range Rover and Volvo, it is owned by the Chinese and has been for some time now. It is actually a really popular marque in South East Asia and I saw various types of MG badged SUVs all over Thailand when I was there a few years ago.

[@robertengland8285]

@@patreekotime4578 Range Rover/Land Rover/Jaguar are Indian owned

[@andymccabe6712]

They're ALL just a random badge on a metal box on wheels! Branding is completely psychological - it's just a car......!!

[@cesartrujillo4190]

I want plastic interior so it’s easier to sanitize and use plastic conditioners.

[@timw4369]

low cost not cheap. Cheap signifies garbage that doesnt last.

[@1grizzlyrizzo]

Think you may have someone phishing on here with telegram links.

[@lesliefranklin1870]

This sounds like it's about the price and capabilities of a Nissan Leaf.

[@dgurevich1]

It has a single feature that is missing in the leaf, and is a show stopper for hot climates Active liquid battery cooling. In a country where it routinely gets hotter then your breath, it matters

[@tjs114]

"Why are we reviewing it now?" Translation: we rented it while visiting family, and by making this video; the rental becomes a business expense.

[@transportevolved]

It's amazing how wrong you can be about this. I paid for the trip to the UK and the rental out of my own pocket - I'm not claiming it as anything... I mentioned it to Nikki and she asked if I'd mind - I asked my wife and she was okay with me taking effectively a chunk out of our holiday to work. So while I was paid hours for my time by TE, the car and the trip aren't a business expense. ^Kate

[@andymccabe6712]

@@transportevolved well, as you know, Kate , KZbin is rammed full of people talking complete nonsense.......!!? Talking of rams, spotted a Herdwick sheep in the opening scenes, which means you were most likely in the Lake District, as that's where about 99% of all Herdwicks live......!?

[@transportevolved]

Yep. I spent a lot of my youth up in the Lakes, got married there and if the UK weren't filled with TERFs would probably live there. ^Kate

[@gordonmcmillan4709]

Competent but unexciting. The car, that is, not Kate ... 8-)

[@ps3301]

It is the least exciting ev in this category. So boring

[@timmurphy5541]

The most exciting thing about the others is thinking about the price.