STMDUK
Standard Member
Hey all, I mentioned recently that I was thinking about comparing the two, so here it is for your light reading pleasure, possibly!
Well, I'm not new to MG, nor to EV's but recently, we took delivery of a ZS EV Trophy, and us currently having a Peugeot E2008 GT Premium, I thought I'd speak some truths, firstly from the side of a (scarily) 11 year EV driver now, but also as a comparison to those who may be interested.
I've been in MG's pretty much continuously since 2001 in one form or another. First being a ZS 180 V6, then a few ZT's (I still own a V8), one of the first runs of the TF when SAIC/NAC started building them, and I have a HS Exclusive DCT as my company pool car, ironically it has one of the highest mileages of any HS's I've come across, with 129k miles since late 2020. So I'm fairly comfortable with the brand, I know what I'm getting and I'm happy with the deal as it stands.
So, my wife last year decided she wanted a change, she had a first gen leaf, then a second gen and then another, last year we decided to get a E2008, oh boy was that an education!
Honestly? The E2008 is a great looking and fantastic driving car, but that's where it all falls over. There are a lot of things I love about it, but there's so many niggles that make it absolutely frustrating to deal with and I thought I'd tell you why.
Pro's:
• Handles like a little pocket rocket. Corners flat as a ruler, keeps traction in any corner you can imagine and is rather fun for a B Segment EV.
• The seats are absolutely superb. I did 2500 miles in a week in that car, and they balance comfort and lateral support better than about 90% of the cars I've driven, they really are superb.
• The interior ambiance is great. Perceived quality is well up there, with rich leather and alcantara, ambient lighting everywhere, thick carpets, squidgy materials on all the touch points. Really looks and feels great, but more on this later.
• Heating was probably the best I've ever come across on a EV, even compared to my old company Polestar and Tesla (Lease). From turning on to hot air out of the vents is around 8-12 seconds depending on ambient temperature.
Cons:
• Remember I said about interior ambience and perceived quality? Actual quality is a different matter and this is where it s**ts the bed!
• From day one, it had a rattling drivers window, which 3 separate dealers just said "We can't hear it". Every single person that travelled in the car could, but the workshop couldn't, but of course.....I fixed it by removing the window seals and adding soft foam build up behind the seals, rattle fixed.
• The dash creaks and groans as you hit any form of rut and undulations in the road, even ones that are barely noticeable. Once again Peugoet couldn't fix, I got rid of about 90% of it by checking clearance of each surface component and using liberal amounts of silicone spray.
• There is a constant persuasive rattle coming from the boot, behind the side panel. Dealer couldn't fix until I threatened to give them the car back, suddenly they took it seriously and took the side panel off, finding one of the cooling ducts was loose. Fitted again and was silent for 1000 miles before it came off again, has been done 4 times so far and it cannot stay fixed (driven multiple 208's and 2008's and about 75% of them have the exact same noise and from exactly the same place).
• The windscreen started delaminating at 4 months old. Replaced under warranty and when I picked it up, it has a third party windscreen in it which has pretty much 0% factory UV tint, covered in scratches in the glass and the auto wipers and lights had stopped working. That took nearly a month in the dealer while they sourced another OEM windscreen which fixed the issue.
• Uneven tyre wear was a perpetual problem. Last front set at replacement was (across the treads) 4mm-4mm-1mm. Rear wasn't much better. Dealer and a trusted independent checked the wheel alignment, and it was always bob on perfect. Car hasn't had a accident and I've had it inspected to see if it had been before the dealer delivered it new, nope, no damage. Peugoet says it is not a warranty issue. A number of E208/2008 users at work (I'm a fleet manager for a leasing/company car company) have the same issue.
• The app is, without qualification, the worst I've ever come across! For reference, we took it to Paris back in June for a week. According to the app, it's still there! It rarely connects without forcing closed and opening again at least 10 times. Keeps telling me the car is overdue a service....when the app shows it's been done. Can't set preconditioning or heated seats in the app because it just throws an error code. If you look at the app reviews on the play store or the apple store, the reviews are very enlightening to how bad it is. I've even tried it on multiple phones, no change.
• This one is odd, but bear with me. The Pugs full LED adaptive lights are bloody fantastic....BUT, the difference between dipped and full beam is only that it turns on the top half of the lights when you put full beam on, the bottom 50% are exactly the same brightness regardless of which mode you have on, and the bottom 50% are as bright as my HS or the leaf's LED lights on full beam. Great for visibility but if you drive it for half a hour at light, you WILL get flashed 30 times or other drivers slam their full beam on in response to seeing you, drivers in front of you WILL pull up next to you at lights and shout abuse for having your full beam on, even when you don't....and 3 months ago, someone coming towards me doubled back, followed me to a car park and smashed my side window while threatening to stab me for 'Blinding him'. I'm not joking. Police are dealing with it, waiting for a court date. Lights are aligned perfectly in line with manufacturer specs and are MOT Compliant, but it's a ridiculous design. I really realised how bad they were when I was driving the leaf and my wife was behind me in the Pug, it was like someone has put Chernobyl in the back seats
• The charging programming is complete cack. Can theoretically take 100kw speeds but I've never had anywhere near. When charging from 5% to 25%, it will charge at around 60-70kw, but the moment it hits 25%, it drops to around 45kw. 45-60? 20kw is your lot. 90% dropped to around 7-9kw. Tried multiple charger brands, multiple weather conditions and multiple Peugoet EV's and they all did the same, makes a quick charge far longer winded than it ever needs to be.
• Servicing costs were horrific, at least in EV terms. The leaf cost around £99 for a base service at the Nissan dealer, £199 for a major. The Pug? £199-220 for base service and inspection and £329 ish for a intermediate. Checked with multiple dealers and all in that same ballpark. Replacement pads and disks on the front left me with only a few quid left over from £700 with shopping around.
So it hasn't been plan sailing. Compare that to the Gen 1 leaf, which did 99k miles with no parts replaced other than service and ancillary bits. The Gen 2's were great too.
So we both agreed, it was time to find a replacement. Tried a few and the ZS EV was the best one in terms of price/performance/quality/value for money etc, wife fell in love with it and that sealed the deal. We used one of the fleet cars for a month (ZS Trophy) to get the feel for it before we ordered and overall we were both really happy.
So we are now 2500 miles into the new car, and there's been a lot to adjust to. So here goes:
• Range is a little less accurate, but you do get slightly more of it, so win win.
• The interior feels cheaper, but it IS cheaper, so fully acceptable. However despite this, no creaks, groans or rattles so we are very happy, perfectly up to standard.
• The ZS rides a lot more softly, which isn't a complaint. Not as engaging as the Pug, but doesn't try to give you a herniated spine on a potholed road like the Pug did, different but actually a pleasant change.
• Charging is a lot easier to manage, the power map is consistent and stays within the steps a lot more zealously than the Pug, at 88% it was still pulling 48kw on a cold morning so a great result so far.
• Seats can really handle a week of heavy driving, the heated seats get a lot hotter than the Pugs do, so much better when you have backache or it is freezing out.
• The app works perfectly. Seriously, never failed to connect or do what we ask of it.
• Great experience from our local dealer. We paid sticker that's true, but we picked it up with a free type 2 cable as well as the granny cable, free mats and boot liner, free first service and fully charged. Also included a £25 bottle of wine and a bunch of flowers which was a nice touch, still nearly 10k cheaper than the Pug was with pearl paint and optional winter pack.
• The lights are nice and bright, but not set so high that it gives anyone coming towards you a napalm x-ray!
So how do I feel about the ZS? I love it. It's a great car, works exactly as you would hope it would, looks great in white (which I admit the images on the website and in the brochure don't do justice to!), It has no real flaws and no major issues and is probably one of the most comfortable cars I've driven recently. As of tomorrow the E2008 is going to it's new home (The dealer offered me only 5k less for it than we paid 14 months and 22k miles ago, so the market is still totally buggered. Overall, we are really chuffed with this experience so far.
Happy trails all.
Well, I'm not new to MG, nor to EV's but recently, we took delivery of a ZS EV Trophy, and us currently having a Peugeot E2008 GT Premium, I thought I'd speak some truths, firstly from the side of a (scarily) 11 year EV driver now, but also as a comparison to those who may be interested.
I've been in MG's pretty much continuously since 2001 in one form or another. First being a ZS 180 V6, then a few ZT's (I still own a V8), one of the first runs of the TF when SAIC/NAC started building them, and I have a HS Exclusive DCT as my company pool car, ironically it has one of the highest mileages of any HS's I've come across, with 129k miles since late 2020. So I'm fairly comfortable with the brand, I know what I'm getting and I'm happy with the deal as it stands.
So, my wife last year decided she wanted a change, she had a first gen leaf, then a second gen and then another, last year we decided to get a E2008, oh boy was that an education!
Honestly? The E2008 is a great looking and fantastic driving car, but that's where it all falls over. There are a lot of things I love about it, but there's so many niggles that make it absolutely frustrating to deal with and I thought I'd tell you why.
Pro's:
• Handles like a little pocket rocket. Corners flat as a ruler, keeps traction in any corner you can imagine and is rather fun for a B Segment EV.
• The seats are absolutely superb. I did 2500 miles in a week in that car, and they balance comfort and lateral support better than about 90% of the cars I've driven, they really are superb.
• The interior ambiance is great. Perceived quality is well up there, with rich leather and alcantara, ambient lighting everywhere, thick carpets, squidgy materials on all the touch points. Really looks and feels great, but more on this later.
• Heating was probably the best I've ever come across on a EV, even compared to my old company Polestar and Tesla (Lease). From turning on to hot air out of the vents is around 8-12 seconds depending on ambient temperature.
Cons:
• Remember I said about interior ambience and perceived quality? Actual quality is a different matter and this is where it s**ts the bed!
• From day one, it had a rattling drivers window, which 3 separate dealers just said "We can't hear it". Every single person that travelled in the car could, but the workshop couldn't, but of course.....I fixed it by removing the window seals and adding soft foam build up behind the seals, rattle fixed.
• The dash creaks and groans as you hit any form of rut and undulations in the road, even ones that are barely noticeable. Once again Peugoet couldn't fix, I got rid of about 90% of it by checking clearance of each surface component and using liberal amounts of silicone spray.
• There is a constant persuasive rattle coming from the boot, behind the side panel. Dealer couldn't fix until I threatened to give them the car back, suddenly they took it seriously and took the side panel off, finding one of the cooling ducts was loose. Fitted again and was silent for 1000 miles before it came off again, has been done 4 times so far and it cannot stay fixed (driven multiple 208's and 2008's and about 75% of them have the exact same noise and from exactly the same place).
• The windscreen started delaminating at 4 months old. Replaced under warranty and when I picked it up, it has a third party windscreen in it which has pretty much 0% factory UV tint, covered in scratches in the glass and the auto wipers and lights had stopped working. That took nearly a month in the dealer while they sourced another OEM windscreen which fixed the issue.
• Uneven tyre wear was a perpetual problem. Last front set at replacement was (across the treads) 4mm-4mm-1mm. Rear wasn't much better. Dealer and a trusted independent checked the wheel alignment, and it was always bob on perfect. Car hasn't had a accident and I've had it inspected to see if it had been before the dealer delivered it new, nope, no damage. Peugoet says it is not a warranty issue. A number of E208/2008 users at work (I'm a fleet manager for a leasing/company car company) have the same issue.
• The app is, without qualification, the worst I've ever come across! For reference, we took it to Paris back in June for a week. According to the app, it's still there! It rarely connects without forcing closed and opening again at least 10 times. Keeps telling me the car is overdue a service....when the app shows it's been done. Can't set preconditioning or heated seats in the app because it just throws an error code. If you look at the app reviews on the play store or the apple store, the reviews are very enlightening to how bad it is. I've even tried it on multiple phones, no change.
• This one is odd, but bear with me. The Pugs full LED adaptive lights are bloody fantastic....BUT, the difference between dipped and full beam is only that it turns on the top half of the lights when you put full beam on, the bottom 50% are exactly the same brightness regardless of which mode you have on, and the bottom 50% are as bright as my HS or the leaf's LED lights on full beam. Great for visibility but if you drive it for half a hour at light, you WILL get flashed 30 times or other drivers slam their full beam on in response to seeing you, drivers in front of you WILL pull up next to you at lights and shout abuse for having your full beam on, even when you don't....and 3 months ago, someone coming towards me doubled back, followed me to a car park and smashed my side window while threatening to stab me for 'Blinding him'. I'm not joking. Police are dealing with it, waiting for a court date. Lights are aligned perfectly in line with manufacturer specs and are MOT Compliant, but it's a ridiculous design. I really realised how bad they were when I was driving the leaf and my wife was behind me in the Pug, it was like someone has put Chernobyl in the back seats
• The charging programming is complete cack. Can theoretically take 100kw speeds but I've never had anywhere near. When charging from 5% to 25%, it will charge at around 60-70kw, but the moment it hits 25%, it drops to around 45kw. 45-60? 20kw is your lot. 90% dropped to around 7-9kw. Tried multiple charger brands, multiple weather conditions and multiple Peugoet EV's and they all did the same, makes a quick charge far longer winded than it ever needs to be.
• Servicing costs were horrific, at least in EV terms. The leaf cost around £99 for a base service at the Nissan dealer, £199 for a major. The Pug? £199-220 for base service and inspection and £329 ish for a intermediate. Checked with multiple dealers and all in that same ballpark. Replacement pads and disks on the front left me with only a few quid left over from £700 with shopping around.
So it hasn't been plan sailing. Compare that to the Gen 1 leaf, which did 99k miles with no parts replaced other than service and ancillary bits. The Gen 2's were great too.
So we both agreed, it was time to find a replacement. Tried a few and the ZS EV was the best one in terms of price/performance/quality/value for money etc, wife fell in love with it and that sealed the deal. We used one of the fleet cars for a month (ZS Trophy) to get the feel for it before we ordered and overall we were both really happy.
So we are now 2500 miles into the new car, and there's been a lot to adjust to. So here goes:
• Range is a little less accurate, but you do get slightly more of it, so win win.
• The interior feels cheaper, but it IS cheaper, so fully acceptable. However despite this, no creaks, groans or rattles so we are very happy, perfectly up to standard.
• The ZS rides a lot more softly, which isn't a complaint. Not as engaging as the Pug, but doesn't try to give you a herniated spine on a potholed road like the Pug did, different but actually a pleasant change.
• Charging is a lot easier to manage, the power map is consistent and stays within the steps a lot more zealously than the Pug, at 88% it was still pulling 48kw on a cold morning so a great result so far.
• Seats can really handle a week of heavy driving, the heated seats get a lot hotter than the Pugs do, so much better when you have backache or it is freezing out.
• The app works perfectly. Seriously, never failed to connect or do what we ask of it.
• Great experience from our local dealer. We paid sticker that's true, but we picked it up with a free type 2 cable as well as the granny cable, free mats and boot liner, free first service and fully charged. Also included a £25 bottle of wine and a bunch of flowers which was a nice touch, still nearly 10k cheaper than the Pug was with pearl paint and optional winter pack.
• The lights are nice and bright, but not set so high that it gives anyone coming towards you a napalm x-ray!
So how do I feel about the ZS? I love it. It's a great car, works exactly as you would hope it would, looks great in white (which I admit the images on the website and in the brochure don't do justice to!), It has no real flaws and no major issues and is probably one of the most comfortable cars I've driven recently. As of tomorrow the E2008 is going to it's new home (The dealer offered me only 5k less for it than we paid 14 months and 22k miles ago, so the market is still totally buggered. Overall, we are really chuffed with this experience so far.
Happy trails all.
