Seriously thinking of buying in next few days

D

DanRiz

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MG ZS EV
Iv been interested in this car for a while, Iv been watching loads on youtube and have been reading as much as I can about it over the last few weeks. Im looking forward to a test drive tomorrow at 3pm.

Iv already negotiated a great price locally for a brand new (not pre-reg) Exclusive in White to include the comfort 2 update. It would be replacing a very reliable petrol Honda CRV 2013 Auto, main reason being we get 20mpg and we really wanted something much more economical. At this price point the ZS EV makes alot of sense and I think would suit us.

A few Problems I face:

1. Had to tell the wife we needed to spend approx another £600-£800 on home charger including the grant, didnt go down well. Also need a type 2 cable as i wanted untethered, so another £100.

2. The the RCB is under the stairs, so hiding the cables and making neat install is going to be a challenge and needs planning.

3. Im sure the RCB is already fully loaded so I think will need to pay more for extra parts and will more costly install overall compared to a more standard one (sorry im not all technical with electrics).

So my instinct is telling for the price we are getting we should allow approx 1k for all these extras and we would be still doing well, but she wasnt so convinced. Anyways we'll see tomorrow hopefully the test drive will swing it.

This forum helped me so much, thanks all.
 
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20 mpg is 27p per mile in petrol at £1.20 a litre. The ZS costs less than 4p per mile in electric at the average 14p per kWh. So you'l have that £1000 back in 4,300 miles in fuel saving alone.
Quicker if you find a local free charger.
 
Even quicker if you use the Pod-Point free charger if you have any units near you. Download Zap-Map and have a look for free charging points in your area or the Pod-Point app.
 
Unless you do big mileages you could manage with a 'granny charger' from a 13 amp socket.

I did and still do with my PHEV. I simply plug it in as soon as I get home.

Plus, as has been mentioned..go looking for a free one's...its a great feeling to get 'fuel' for free.
 
Or just accept that these things happen and that some capital expenditure is needed to finish the job properly. Then find an Installer who takes card payments and pay with a card having an offer period on new purchases, or simply get a short-term loan (18 or 24 months). You should easily cover the cost with the savings made. All my opinions of course - but viable options.
I’m getting my Exclusive, also in white, on Monday which is also when the Zappi etc is being installed. My installation isn’t going to be cheap as I had a long run of armoured cable buried for this specific purpose recently. Cheers
 
The big issue is whether you drive more than 250 km per day. If not, this is a no-brainer. I charge my car twice a week on my granny charger and smile as I pass the petrol stations. As mentioned above, it is a great feeling to pay close to nothing for "fuel". Not to mention all the expenses on maintenance of parts in ICE cars that aren´t in EV's. To further sweeten the deal, the taxation and insurance is lower than on the 20th century cars.
 
I couldn't agree more Reygun. I've had loads cars over the years (still have 4) and simply hate paying road tax...and of course petrol and diesel is heavily taxed. To dodge all these taxes and have free charging from my solar panels ....and to be able to drive a nice comfy good looking car......it doesn't get much better..:)
 
Hi DRiz.
A test drive where you let your Wify drive, will swing her around, I'm pretty sure;-).
There is some extra cost in getting started in the EV world, but when your in, you soon see it was worth doing the investment :)
 
What's the road tax on the old car, £160?

No Mot for the first 2 years, £54ish rrp (most places I've used share between £35-45 though) .

So EXCLUDING savings in petrol, in the first 2 years you'll save 2 lots of those, so that's £160+£160+£54+54= £428 GUARANTEED saving over your current car.

Plus, an installed home charger will add value to the house, as everyone will need one soon.

Easy man-maths to convince the other half!
 
Also don’t forget simple things like services are much cheaper too, plus with KER’s your brakes should last much longer, no exhaust pipes, oils, oil filters etc etc etc.....
 
DRiz said:
2. The the RCB is under the stairs, so hiding the cables and making neat install is going to be a challenge and needs planning.
Click to expand...

I had the same situation as this - I had to lift some floorboards and guide the cable - with the help of the installer - under our living room floor and to the outisde via an air vent. A bit if a faff to say the least, but resulted in a tidy installation.

Good luck with the test drive! :)
 
DRiz said:
Iv been interested in this car for a while, Iv been watching loads on youtube and have been reading as much as I can about it over the last few weeks. Im looking forward to a test drive tomorrow at 3pm.

Iv already negotiated a great price locally for a brand new (not pre-reg) Exclusive in White to include the comfort 2 update. It would be replacing a very reliable petrol Honda CRV 2013 Auto, main reason being we get 20mpg and we really wanted something much more economical. At this price point the ZS EV makes alot of sense and I think would suit us.

A few Problems I face:

1. Had to tell the wife we needed to spend approx another £600-£800 on home charger including the grant, didnt go down well. Also need a type 2 cable as i wanted untethered, so another £100.

2. The the RCB is under the stairs, so hiding the cables and making neat install is going to be a challenge and needs planning.

3. Im sure the RCB is already fully loaded so I think will need to pay more for extra parts and will more costly install overall compared to a more standard one (sorry im not all technical with electrics).

So my instinct is telling for the price we are getting we should allow approx 1k for all these extras and we would be still doing well, but she wasnt so convinced. Anyways we'll see tomorrow hopefully the test drive will swing it.

This forum helped me so much, thanks all.
Click to expand...
Don’t worry if your Consumer. Unit. Is full the fitter will fit a single RCB for the charger. Where is your meter, is it outside or inside. If your charger is to be fitted within a reasonable distance from the meter you will get a Standard
installation. Depending on which charger you choose it can be from £550 upwards or if in Scotland £245 upwards (extra grants in Scotland). The amount you will save on fuel and Tax more than compensate the initial outlay especially if you opt for a cheaper energy supplier aimed at EV users like Octopus 🐙. Enjoy the Test drive, there is no other EV on the market with the equipment level of the MG at the price of the MG.
 
Thanks all very much for taking the time to reply.
Happy to report the test drive went very well, so we are paying deposit tomorrow.

Il try and reply to all....

On the CRV we approx spend about £1600 a year on fuel + £250 tax, so the savings should be significant.

I Spent lot of time on Zap-map unfortunately there are no 'free' charging points near me in NW London and more worryingly the few rapid chargers that are near me (25p kwh but perfect for emergencies) all seem to be out of service, or others reporting charging at only 10kwh, instead of 50. So somewhat dissapointing.

For charger installation the meter and consumer unit are both under the stairs next to eachother. The floor cannot come up, so Im thinking maybe best to drill though the cupboard, through to the 1st stair side and follow cable on skirting and around a door frame, which is less than ideal. It should be less than a 10m run to get to the point outside from the cupboard, so im hoping a standard install around £600, or with an extra RCB, not too much more. Also im not sure how thick the interior wires leading to the charger is, im worried its going to be hard to hide if too thick.

On another note I dont think the Octopus go is for us, as we are generally high users at peak times and the peak rate on octopus is much higher than our standard rate of 12p. I wouldnt want to change our whole routine too much, considering the savings are so big anyway.
Id rather have the freedom to charge at our leisure. I know you can set times on smart chargers 12.30-4.30 but then you may need a couple of extra hours charge at a much higher rate cost, all seems too much of a faf for not much gain considering the peak rates - maybe im wrong!

I like the look of the Untethered Mini Pro 2 and trying narrow down installers. Its a complete minefield, and dont know where to start. Or if i should go for another model like podpoint or wall box.

Once again thanks all for your help
 
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Hi, the cable conductor size will be 6sqmm - which is “cooker cable” sized for internal cable, but if the cable goes outside (other than straight through a wall into the back of the charger unit), then it will need to be armoured cable - which is round and has a diameter of 15mm or so. It’s also got a more limited bend radius. Be careful as installers often leave the cost of this cable off as it’s specific to your installation and also quite expensive at approx £5 per metre.
The good news is that you can use the inside cable to get to the nearest outside wall, through the wall into a junction box and then external cable to the charger.
This really is one area where you can’t skimp. How about getting a proper external socket installed and then use the supplied granny cable?
Just a thought- Rob
 
mystreet said:
If you look at this Post its my installation of the EO Mini Pro. The installer is from Chelmsford. Won't post on here as not sure if you can.
Click to expand...
Is that a smart charger? I think you only get the OLEV grant with smart chargers .....
 
One bit of advice I was given on here about tethered/untethered chargers is with tethered you don't have to muck about - as much! - with cables if it's raining. This led me to getting a tethered charger and I increased the charging cable to 10m as the standard 5m meant I had a bit of juggling to do with my other vehcile to get it to reach.

I hope the install all works out for you.
 
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