Order placed for my new ZS EV

[RichardC]

Good afternoon all,

After lurking on here and getting loads of useful information I have now become a member.

I currently have a MG ZS but have been looking at getting the electric model. I test drove one yesterday and placed the order today. It should be here in about 10 days.

I have had my current MG for nearly 3 years now. A friend bought one and i thought it looked lovely. He told me to ignore the less than complimentary reviews. I was driving a Volvo XC60 at the time. We took a 1.0L automatic for a test drive and could not believe what a lovely car it was.

Moving forward my friend has just bought a new MG5 but as I like the higher driving position of the ZS I have gone for that model.

I have decided not to have a home charger installed but will see how the granny charger works.

There is a local fast charger not far from me. It has been installed by Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire councils and cost 20p per KWh.

I am sure that I will have loads of questions over the coming weeks.

 

[SCB86]

As you'll be aware the ZS EV has MG Pilot which is missing from the 5, for me it's what made the decision to get the ZS, along with the panoramic roof.

I don't have home charging available as I live in a flat. I have a free 7KW PodPoint charger in my village and I've done nearly 6K miles on free electricity so far. I have an ICE car which I keep parked close to the free charger and when I want to charge the MG I take my ICE car home.

Hopefully you'll love the car and driving electric is so much more relaxing and fun! I had a brand new £38K 3-Series petrol auto for two weeks recently and I couldn't believe how much better it is driving an electric car, I couldn't wait to get my MG back. No waiting for the gearbox to kickdown, just instant performance available at all times

 

[RichardC]

I have gone for the Excite so will not have the panoramic roof. However it does seem to have more tech than my current Exclusive.

I found the acceleration brilliant and when I was test driving the car I could not believe how quickly it pulled away.

I generally do lots of short journeys and average 160 miles a week so I will be charging at home usually. However we are going to Northumberland in June so I will need to carefully plan the journey.

 

[rbpasapera]

Good afternoon all,

After lurking on here and getting loads of useful information I have now become a member.

I currently have a MG ZS but have been looking at getting the electric model. I test drove one yesterday and placed the order today. It should be here in about 10 days.

I have had my current MG for nearly 3 years now. A friend bought one and i thought it looked lovely. He told me to ignore the less than complimentary reviews. I was driving a Volvo XC60 at the time. We took a 1.0L automatic for a test drive and could not believe what a lovely car it was.

Moving forward my friend has just bought a new MG5 but as I like the higher driving position of the ZS I have gone for that model.

I have decided not to have a home charger installed but will see how the granny charger works.

There is a local fast charger not far from me. It has been installed by Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire councils and cost 20p per KWh.

I am sure that I will have loads of questions over the coming weeks.

It's a great car! Enjoy it!

 

[SCB86]

The max I've managed on a long run was 148 miles. If you only do about 160 miles a week you'll probably only have to charge it once, but if you're granny charging it I'd keep it connected whenever you're not using the car. That way you'll always have a topped up battery despite how slowly the car charges on the granny charger.

Also, the car needs the battery cells to be balanced every so often and it can take quite a while to do at the end of a full charge (this needs no work on your part - it's all automatic and you can interrupt the balancing and use the car). This can only be done on a granny or 7KW charger, it doesn't happen on rapid public chargers.
So there are benefits to slow charging only on a granny.

The Excite misses out on some nice things but the Excite is well equipped for the price. The Excite still comes with MG Pilot and to me that was what I wanted more than anything when I was choosing my first electric car.

Even after 6K miles the acceleration still makes me smile - I find it hilarious dusting BMW's, Audi's and Mercs away from the lights. It's quite the "sleeper" car

 

[RichardC]

Thank you for the advice, especially regarding keeping the car plugged into the granny charger.

 

[JodyS21]

I have gone for the Excite so will not have the panoramic roof. However it does seem to have more tech than my current Exclusive.

I found the acceleration brilliant and when I was test driving the car I could not believe how quickly it pulled away.

I generally do lots of short journeys and average 160 miles a week so I will be charging at home usually. However we are going to Northumberland in June so I will need to carefully plan the journey.

You get a lot more for not much more £ with the Exclusive over the Excite, I get the impression that MG haven't actually sold many Excite models

 

[JodyS21]

Thank you for the advice, especially regarding keeping the car plugged into the granny charger.

We coped with the granny charger for a few months despite doing 3-400miles a week.
The big draw back was not being able to charge it fully during off-peak, so was costing us 3 times the price to charge all of the time.
It'll be fine if you're not doing many miles.

 

[RichardC]

You get a lot more for not much more £ with the Exclusive over the Excite, I get the impression that MG haven't actually sold many Excite models

The salesman today said that they sell more Exclusives. However I think the new Excite has more than my current Exclisive so I am happy with that.

We coped with the granny charger for a few months despite doing 3-400miles a week.
The big draw back was not being able to charge it fully during off-peak, so was costing us 3 times the price to charge all of the time.
It'll be fine if you're not doing many miles.

Being retired I only do about 150 miles per week so I am hoping that the granny charger will be fine.

 

[Dr Dave]

You get a lot more for not much more £ with the Exclusive over the Excite, I get the impression that MG haven't actually sold many Excite models

The worst thing about the Exclusive are the cheap plastic uncomfortable seats (the Excite seats are far more comfortable). However the new ice ZS has redesigned plastic seats which are more comfortable, hopefully these will be in the 2022 ZS EV when it comes out.

 

[SCB86]

You get a lot more for not much more £ with the Exclusive over the Excite, I get the impression that MG haven't actually sold many Excite models

The Exclusive adds 2 front tweeters and 3D surround sound, heated (fake) leather seats, drivers electric seat adjustment, reversing camera, rear cross traffic assist and blind spot assist, auto wipers, panoramic roof, roof rails and body coloured mirrors that are also electrically folding and air con with a pollution and odour filter.
Quite a comprehensive list of extras and definitely worth the £2500 price difference in my opinion, especially as even on a lease it's not going to cost a lot more per.month for the Exclusive.

 

[SCB86]

The worst thing about the Exclusive are the cheap plastic uncomfortable seats (the Excite seats are far more comfortable). However the new ice ZS has redesigned plastic seats which are more comfortable, hopefully these will be in the 2022 ZS EV when it comes out.

The seat design and build are identical bar the upholstery and electric adjustment

 

[Dr Dave]

The seat design and build are identical bar the upholstery and electric adjustment

That may be the case but they are uncomfortable and covered in cheap plastic.You get what you pay for, the ZS EV being a cheap electric car, in my opinion the plastic seats are poor. The fabric seats material has more stretch. MG have recognised the problem and have taken the trouble to improve the seats in the latest ice ZS which are much more comfortable with more stretch in the material. It is good to see these improvements being made.

 

[Gomev]

That may be the case but they are uncomfortable and covered in cheap plastic.You get what you pay for, the ZS EV being a cheap electric car, in my opinion the plastic seats are poor. The fabric seats material has more stretch. MG have recognised the problem and have taken the trouble to improve the seats in the latest ice ZS which are much more comfortable with more stretch in the material. It is good to see these improvements being made.

They do look nice.

 

[Chrisb]

No sunroof to go wrong on the exite, which is why I chose it, I live in an area with lots of speed bumps, which has caused me problems with different cars I've had with sunroofs

 

[Dave S]

That may be the case but they are uncomfortable and covered in cheap plastic.You get what you pay for, the ZS EV being a cheap electric car, in my opinion the plastic seats are poor. The fabric seats material has more stretch. MG have recognised the problem and have taken the trouble to improve the seats in the latest ice ZS which are much more comfortable with more stretch in the material. It is good to see these improvements being made.

Is that the ICE ZS? I can see a hand brake.

 

[SCB86]

No sunroof to go wrong on the exite, which is why I chose it, I live in an area with lots of speed bumps, which has caused me problems with different cars I've had with sunroofs

You're not wrong about the sunroof. Mine creaked constantly when open so couldn't be used. Took MG 2 weeks to sort. It does however transform the interior ambiance and flood it with light.
Other rattles are still there too. This is a cheap car that's cheaply built from mainly cheap materials, unfortunately rattles are proving more common than they should be.
Then again, being electric and almost silent means rattles are amplified.

 

[Dr Dave]

Is that the ICE ZS? I can see a hand brake.

Yes it's the 2021 ICE ZS, my wife just bought it. I have the EV.

 

[SCB86]

Not a fan of the hideous fake carbon fibre fabric on the seats - clearly copied from VW.

 

[RichardC]

Well I have now been a ZS EV owner for 5 days now and it has been a joyful experience. The car is much better to drive than my ICE ZS was. No issues so far apart from on one occasion when the car would not start. Don’t know what I did but I got out and locked the car then got back in and it started.

I have done lots of short trips but did a longer one today - well 44miles Including going on the motorway.

I have done one granny charge and I am currently waiting for my home charger to be installed. Following our trip this morning I decided to do a rapid charge at a Instavolt site. I was rather apprehensive about it but it went perfectly. We are off on holiday at the end of next week and I will look out for Instavolt chargers. Although a little expensive at 40p/kWh it was a pain free process.

Whilst charging, there was a couple in their Range Rover Velar parked next to me. They got out for a chat and we’re asking lots of questions as they were interested in getting an EV themselves. Suddenly I have become an EV expert after 5 days ha ha.
I also spoke to a lady who arrived to charge her Etron- I will say that the MG charging plug is very conveniently placed. Hers was next to the driver door and she struggled to insert the charger. Again being an expert now I told her about Zap Map which she had not heard of.

Annoyingly Mrs C has managed to chip the paint on the passenter door on day 3 of ownership When she opened the door against a concrete planter. We had “words”.

I have not told her that I managed to break one of the clips that holds the boot string.

All in all a great week.