MG ZS EV (2019 – 2024) Review

While many electric cars work well as a second pair of wheels (ideal for commuting to the station), the MG ZS EV is versatile enough to act as your main family transport. For the price of a Renault Zoe or MINI Electric, the ZS EV has space for all the family, and it doesn't represent the compromise you might expect in other areas, either. Find out more in our MG ZS EV review.

A new longer-range battery means the MG ZS EV can officially travel up to 273 miles between charges, which is almost as impressive as much pricier rivals like the Hyundai Kona Electric. An even more affordable model with a range of 198 miles is now also on sale – or, if you're not too fussed about its mile-munching abilities, you can pick up a second-hand MG ZS EV with a 163-mile range for not a great deal of cash.

Charging is easy, thanks to a flap in the front grille that opens to reveal a CCS charging port. A full overnight charge will take around 10 and a half hours, costing around £11 (depending on your home electricity tariff). If you need a quick top up on the open road, a rapid charger should add 70% of range in a little over 40 minutes.

With instant acceleration, the MG ZS EV is easy to drive around town, while it can comfortably hold its own on the motorway, too. There's a bit more wind and road noise than you might expect, but that's partly a consequence of not having a petrol or diesel engine rumbling away up front.

Importantly for a family SUV, the MG ZS EV doesn't compromise on safety. It was awarded five stars when it was crash tested by Euro NCAP in 2019, while there's a long list of driver-assistance tech to keep you on the tarmac. This includes an automatic emergency braking system that can detect pedestrians and cyclists, as well as a lane-keep assist feature.

There are now three core trim levels available: SE, Trophy and Trophy Connect. All are extremely well kitted out, with even the most affordable MG ZS EV SE (to give it its full name) featuring adaptive cruise control, a 360-degree parking camera and the excellent new 10.1-inch infotainment system (with navigation, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto).

We'd recommend the MG ZS EV Trophy, though, for an extra few driver assist features (namely Blind Spot Detection with Lane Change Assist as well as Rear Cross Traffic Alert), alongside faux-leather seats and a panoramic glass sunroof which does an excellent job of brightening up the cabin. For an extra £500, the MG ZS EV Trophy Connect adds some live services to the infotainment (including weather, traffic and Amazon Music).

Not only is the MG ZS EV exceptionally well equipped for the cash, it doesn't feel like a budget option, either. A lot of the materials feel just as plush as you'd find in a Volkswagen ID.3, while the aforementioned media system demonstrates sharp graphics and quick responses.

Four adults can sit comfortably in the MG ZS EV (five at a push), while a big boot will swallow up prams, shopping and overnight bags. A 500kg towing capacity won't be enough for weekend warriors looking to lug a caravan, but at least you'll be able to fit a tow bar and carry a bike rack if required.

What's the catch? Only a few minor niggles, really. There's the aforementioned wind noise, while the lack of reach adjustment for the steering wheel means a handful of drivers might struggle to get comfortable.

An MG ZS EV isn't going to turn heads in the same way as a new Hyundai Ioniq 5 or more premium alternatives like the Audi Q4 e-tron, but it looks smart enough. And with the money left over, you'll comfortably be able to afford a family holiday. That's a win in our books.

Looking for a second opinion? Read heycar's MG ZS EV review.

Its soft suspension does a presentable job of mopping up ripples and ruts at low speed, and while sharp-edged potholes present a bit more of a challenge, they’re usually dealt with reasonably effectively.

You will feel the body bouncing around over dips and crests, or even over a briskly taken speed bump, but it’s nothing that you or your passengers will find unsettling.

The soft suspension results in a bit of body roll when you’re cornering, although again, it won’t be too unsettling if you keep your speed moderate.

Not that the car ever encourages you to pick up the pace, mind. Grip levels are fine, but the steering feels slow and artificial. There are different driving modes to play with, the sportier ones of which sharpen up throttle responses and require less pressure on the pedal for brisk acceleration, while also dumping a bit more weight into the steering. However, they don’t do much to make your driving any more enjoyable.

With 154PS and 280Nm of torque on offer, the MG ZS EV's electric motor isn't quite as punchy as some you'll find in pricier electric SUVs. Still, with instant acceleration from the get-go, it actually feels brisker than its 8.4 second 0-62mph sprint figure suggests.

Because electric cars have a single gear, the strong acceleration remains constant, uninterrupted by the gearchanges you’d get in a regular car, while the experience of driving the car is just like driving an automatic.

The difference you will notice, though, is the regenerative braking. In its default mode, the car slows down noticeably every time you lift off the accelerator, rather more than if you did the same in a combustion-engined car.

This is so that the energy that would otherwise be lost in deceleration can be fed back into the battery as electricity. It never feels overly aggressive but there are two more modes you can switch between to dial it down progressively.

Safety is another area in which the MG ZS EV does a dazzling job despite its low price. The standard safety roster is incredibly generous, with all the stuff you’d expect - six airbags, tyre pressure monitoring and all the usual traction and stability aids - plus a lot of other stuff you might not.

Automatic emergency braking is provided across the board, along with lane keeping assistance, speed limit display, adaptive high-beam headlights and adaptive cruise control that can pretty much drive the car for you in a traffic jam. Exclusive trim adds a couple more bits to the roster including a blind spot assistant and rear cross traffic alert. This impressive amount of kit helped the ZS achieve a full five-star rating when it was tested by Euro NCAP.

From 2021, the updated MG ZS EV is rated to tow up to 500kg. That's not enough for a caravan, for example, but does mean you'll be able to tow a small trailer to the tip or fit a cycle carrier to the tow bar.

The MG ZS EV is considerably bigger than any other electric car you can pick up new for around £30,000. Obviously, that means you get a great deal more cabin space – making the MG ZS EV legitimately spacious enough to rival petrol alternatives like the Nissan Qashqai or Skoda Karoq.

Even if you buy one with the Panoramic sunroof (that's Exclusive or Trophy models), there's enough headroom for the tallest of adults to get comfortable. You have a relatively high seating position, while there's plenty of kneeroom. A wide cabin and flat rear floor means you can squeeze three in the back with little hassle.

The boot of the MG ZS EV is a good size, too, capable of carrying up to 470 litres of luggage. There's a false boot floor which can be lifted up, leaving space for all your charging cables underneath. This can also be shifted up to reduce the quite significant load lip.

It'd be fair to expect a few flimsy finishes in a cut-price electric car like the MG ZS EV, but you might be pleasantly surprised. Certainly, everything you look and touch is softly-surfaced and nicely textured.

There’s plenty of glossy black panelling and chrome-effect trim to jazz things up, too, and all the various switches and buttons - the rotary gear selector in particular - work with a pleasant slickness and precision that give an impressively substantial feel. All in all, the interior doesn’t feel any worse for quality than a Renault Zoe, and in fact, it probably feels better on that score than a considerably more expensive Nissan Leaf.

The infotainment is one area in which the MG ZS EV initially showed its bargain basement roots. Both Excite and Exclusive models came with an 8.0-inch touchscreen media system with all the functionality you'd expect it to – including DAB radio, Bluetooth, navigation and Apple Carplay/Android Auto.

While the system looked modern enough, it wasn't that easy to use, while some of the screen transitions and animations were glitchy and slow. The screen was rather lazy in responding to inputs, too.

A new 10.1-inch infotainment system was introduced to the MG ZS EV line-up late in 2021, representing a huge improvement over the smaller display found in pre-facelift models. It's quicker to respond, has sharper graphics and its menu layouts are easier to navigate. We'd like it to be a little higher up (making it easier to glance at on the move), but it does at least look better integrated than the 'tacked on the dash' look many manufacturers are currently going for.

You now get a digital instrument cluster as standard, too. This is functional rather than fancy (with little in the way of customisation), but no one's really expecting Audi's Virtual Cockpit in a car as affordable as the MG ZS EV.

At the time of writing, you'll pay £30,995 for an MG ZS EV Long Range, while the more desirable MG ZS EV Trophy Long Range is £33,495. Add an extra £500 to that for the Trophy Connect model.

That's inclusive of the Government grant, putting the MG ZS EV in the same region as much smaller electric cars like the Renault Zoe, Vauxhall Corsa-e and MINI Electric. It's a considerable chunk less than electric SUVs like the Hyundai Kona Electric, Peugeot e-2008 and Kia e-Niro.

While the MG ZS EV represents excellent value for money in terms of size, you also get a lot of equipment for your cash. The entry-level SE comes kitted out with navigation, adaptive cruise control, rear parking sensors and 17-inch alloy wheels, while the Trophy adds faux-leather seats (heated in the front with electric adjustment for the driver) and a panoramic sunroof.

Poor residual values mean you can save a lot of money by looking for a pre-facelift model. If you're not on a strict budget, though, we'd stretch to the updated MG ZS EV. The brand says it's worked hard to improve residual values on the facelift model, which'll be a good thing for finance rates.

One area in which the MG ZS EV wasn't initially quite so competitive was its limited range. Pre-facelift models could theoretically travel 163 miles between charges which, when you consider real-world factors, soon dropped to around 120 miles. Not quite enough to convince family buyers to chop their Qashqais in.

So, when the MG ZS EV was updated in 2021, the brand dropped in a bigger battery and called it the MG ZS EV Long Range. According to WLTP tests, this can travel a much more competitive 273 miles. There's also a Standard Range model available with a lower price tag and 198-mile range.

The ZS EV’s charging socket is of the common CCS (combined Charging System) variety, so it’ll be compatible with most AC and DC charging stations around the UK. Install a 7kW wallbox charger at your home, which most buyers will, and a full juice-up takes between six and a half and 10 and a half hours (depending on battery size).

Find yourself a 100kW public rapid charger, and you can charge the MG ZS EV Long Range from 10-80% in around 42 minutes.

Servicing and repairs will be affordable, too, although reliability data is in short supply, so it’s hard to say how reliable the car will be as it gets older. Good job, then, that the car comes with a fully transferable seven-year/80,000-mile warranty.

The current MG ZS EV is available in three trim levels: SE, Trophy and Trophy Connect.

The MG ZS EV SE (catchy, right?) is very well kitted out for the money. Standard equipment includes air conditioning, LED headlifhts, adaptive cruise control, a 360-degree parking camera and a 10.1-inch navigation system (with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto).

The MG ZS EV Trophy adds a panoramic glass sunroof, leather-style seats (heated in the front), roof rails, rain-sensing wipers and wireless phone charging. The Trophy Connect adds live services to the infotainment, including weather and traffic updates as well as Amazon Music.

The pre-facelift MG ZS EV was available in Excite and Exclusive trim levels. Standard equipment on the MG ZS EV Excite includes air-con, alloy wheels, keyless entry, rear parking sensors, four powered windows, electric door mirrors, a leather steering wheel and automatic headlights.

Exclusive trim adds even more in the way of luxuries, including a powered driver’s seat, leather-effect upholstery, heated front seats, automatic wipers, a panoramic roof and a reversing camera.