Here is my take on the ZS EV, first model not the facelift. Loss of range in winter is normal in all EVs and don’t go by the MG GOM, it’s less than accurate.
MGZS EV Issues and Niggles
Dealers - Lots of bad ones so it seems from my own experience and those of other on the MG Facebook groups. I ended up travelling over 200 miles to buy mine from Chorley MG, a dealership that I would certainly thoroughly recommend. Just a shame about the car! Local garages Arnold Clark, Glasgow and Fraser’s of Falkirk did not phone me back. The latter also threatened to charge £90 per hour if they deemed the water leak I had wasn’t a warranty issue. Needless to say I never used them and went back to Chorley instead.
Water Ingress - rear doors leak into floor well when the car is parked nose up on the driveway during rain and high winds. Solution is to park face down, no leak, but then I couldnt charge the car. Seals were replaced but it still leaked so appears to be a design fault.
Creaking and excessive steering wheel play - known issue that either needs to be addressed by tightening adjustable bolts on steering column or complete replacement of column.
Door handles sticking in open position - particularly in freezing weather. Again another known and common issue.
Charge Flap not opening or locking in freezing conditions - need to use a hair dryer around the flap or park the car face into the sun to warm it up.
Air vent reflections in both mirrors - silver trim in middle of air vents shines onto the glass and is constantly seen when looking at either near side or offside mirrors.
Condensation build up on windscreen - Another very common issue with the windscreen running with condensation as and when there is a sudden temperature drop. Probably made worse with panoramic sunroof and definitely with carpet mats if fitted.
Poor headlights - Replaced bulbs with Osram Nightbreakers, they are a bit better but still not great.
Lack of interior lighting - At night time the inside of the car, particularly the rear passenger space is a very dark place. No ambient lighting other than the pathetic courtesy light which has a filament bulb.
Sport Mode - don’t use it unless you want your passengers to feel sick. The car just can’t put down the sudden torque from the tyres onto the road. It judders and wheel spins and just gets annoying. Stick to normal or Eco mode instead.
Exposed Underpinnings - Other EVs I own have completely flat floors but not the ZS, everything including the “engine bay”, batteries and suspension is open to all of the elements, road grime and winter salt. See online posts relating to rust and that would certainly be a long term worry.
Suspension and Handling - not the worst but it’s a bit sloppy in the corners. Don’t try driving it fast on a country road, it’s not that type of car.
Poor positioning of charge socket - it’s not ideally suited given that you’ve got to crouch down to see the covers and insert the cable into the charge port.
Speed sign recognition - regularly misreads road signs or isn’t intelligent enough to realise you’ve left a speed restricted area. I’ve had it showing that I’m in a 60 in a built up area and likewise showing I’m in a 20 when I’m on a National speed limit road.
Speed warning indicator - keeps coming on by itself despite me switching it off. Flashing indicator is annoying. Seems to default back to on position after charging.
Lane Keep Assist - other than on a motorway it’s more annoying than anything. If you need this to stay in lane your driving skills aren’t very good or you are so tired you should be stopping!
No lighting in charge port - would be nice in the dark when you are crouching down to see what you are doing. I’m sure most other EV’s have a light in there, i3 certainly does and it’s colour coded too. They went to the bother of created a glowing MG badge so pity they couldn’t have added a light to the rear of the flap when they were at it.
Poor infotainment system - extremely sluggish and on occasion non responsive. I’ve had to restart mine many times to get it to work although sometimes it just randomly goes blank and restarts by itself. It seems to be worse when a phone is connected and using CarPlay. The ZS finished in last last place in a What Car review of infotainment systems.
Sat Nav system - mapping detail very basic. No live traffic information. Use Waze instead.
Faux leather seats - they are vinyl, not even remotely like leather, not absorbent nor perforated.
Telephone Calls - can barely hear Bluetooth calls through the speaker when car is moving even at full volume.
12 volt battery drain - using consumables like heater and so on drain the 12 volt battery, even for a short while is enough for the car not to start.
Front seat belts are fixed and have no adjustment.
Steering wheel reflection - Shiny metal insert on steering wheel reflects sunlight into your eyes when the sun is at certain positions in the sky.
Big drop in load floor so useless for dog cage with opening front door.
Rear floor isn’t flat with seats folded down. In fact the seat bases don’t move so backs lie on top when folded.
Not provided with a type 2 cable - you have to pay for one, haggle or take out MG finance to get one from the dealer.
No window tints - so you have to pay for after market fit. Most folks get it done. It’s much better with it and makes the car look much smarter too.
No battery percentage indicator - It’s there when it’s charging so why can’t we have the display available as and when required when actually driving instead of having to guess what the little led light on the speedo indicate.
Regenerative braking - it’s not that strong even in Kers 3 and despite MG suggesting that you will be able to one pedal drive you most certainly will not. It’s more like stronger deceleration and the car just will not come to a halt on its own, it’s just keeps rolling forward unless it’s going uphill.
Sound system - it’s decidedly average, if that, even with it optimised in the Exclusive model.
No climate control - just air conditioning
No light in glove box - again a little light in there would be handy. Some cars also have them in the storage tidy in the centre console.
No baggage hooks in boot - I bought mine from AliExpress and hung them onto the rear headrests so that a couple of shopping bags can at least be held secure without falling over.
No phone app - Another common feature but missing here so no ability to control any of the vehicles functions remotely or check on the state of charge.
No scheduled charging - Not in the vehicle itself so reliance is on the home charger having that facility.
Sharp edged trim - I’ve cut my wrist on the plastic of the rear wiper washer hole whilst washing the car. There are also a few sharp edges along the bottom of the doors and below the bonnet to be wary of.
Glue Marks - I had them on both the carpet and another on the dash.
Expensive and limited official MG accessories. “Cheap” car but expensive add ons like the mats, cables, roof bars and so on. Mostly all found at a fraction of the price aftermarket or on the aforementioned AliExpress which has loads.
Window Wiper blades are poor and a specific fit so you either buy expensive ones from MG or opt for the aforementioned AliExpress. Problem with mines were that they were left hand drive so had cut tabs off to get them to fit.
4 months & 9000 miles, no real issues to report.
The range reduction in low temps is an unsolvable problem and applies to all EVs.
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