Finally got a chance to drive MG ZS EV The other day. Drove it for around 20km on fairly low traffic highway with lot of hard accelerations in Sport as well as Comfort and Eco mode. The car indeed is a breeze to drive. You can see slow moving traffic fade away in the IRVM very quickly.
Here’s the drive summary.
A few points :
~ A lot more spacious than the Kona, especially in the backseat. The under thigh support isn't great in ZS either, but there is space below front seats to slide your feet under which makes things just that much better than Kona.
~ Space is further accentuated by the massive panoramic sunroof. Cool party trick plus makes cabin appear more spacious than it actually is. The controls for the sunroof are lifted from old Superb or the Tiguan.
~ IRVM is not auto dimming and instead gets a flip switch to adjust.
~ The instrument cluster seemed bit old at the first glance but all gagues are clearly marked with readble size font making it easy to read. I particularly liked the "Power %" gague which shows how much power is being used in percentage. Exactly opposite of Rolls Royce which shows power reserve instead. The regeneration is indicated by the needle which dips below zero to show battery getting charged back through regenerative braking. It's actually pretty cool to see the needle dance around all the time.
~ Central console has cupholders in the middle which has a lid which gives out a premium feel. It also closes with a click. One of the cupholders has key symbol on it,I believe that's where you put the keyfob to start the car if battery of the fob is drained. What's more, the surrounds of the cupholders portion are wrapped in soft touch material which makes it very comfortable to rest arm on while driving.
~ The controls are on wrong side i.e, indicator stalk on left and wiper stalk on right. (German,eh?) Will take some time getting used to. The light stalk is on auto headlight position by default. (which is a good thing in my opinion) You have to turn the the dial clockwise and hold to disable auto headlight function.
~ The MID feels very tiny for a car of this price in 2020. It does show a lot of information though. Tyre pressures,current speed,trip metres,EV related information and some settings are found in there. There's no distance to empty number always displayed but instead you'll have to scroll to one of the screens or push button on the center console to see that. I feel it should've been always there.
~ Controls on steering wheel feel good to use. Left side buttons control sound volume while right side controls MID. They're exact same parts from a VW. Hornpad is light. The horn sound is also very European. It is less intrusive in the cabin than Kona. I feel MG badge could've been a bit bigger on the steering.
~ Cruise controls are found on another stalk below the light stalk. I forgot to try out cruise control, probably because I was busy fiddling with that instant acceleration.
~ All four windows go auto down but only driver side window goes auto up and down. This one window can also be operated through voice command, though I find pressing button much more easier. All window buttons and rear window lock buttons are illuminated. (ahem, Hyundai Group)
~ Rotary dial for drive mode selector is awesome to use with very tactile feel and good feedback. I personally like this better than Kona's button system. The top portion acts as "P" button. Circulate the knob clockwise to shift to "R","N" and "D" respectively. It does not move 360 degrees. Electronic parking brake automatically gets engaged or disengaged every time you press P or rotate knob to other mode respectively. The top portion has orange ring light around the P button and the letter P illuminates as well when in Park mode. Looks very cool. There is a light above each mode letter as well to let you know which gear you are in.
~ The buttons in front of rotary knob are for drive mode,KERS, and battery respectively. Drive mode changes from eco,normal and sport though there's no continuous scrolling. You'll have to pull it backwards. Same is the case with KERS button. Push it forward for level 1,2 and 3 but then pull it backwards for preceding level. The third button, which is battery button is absolutely useless for all it shows is remaining range in the MID.
~ Speaking of KERS,there's no zero level like in the Kona. There's slight,moderate and heavy. Furthermore you cannot have one pedal driving as car does not come to stop even with heavy regeneration. What I found out on the internet is that it doesn't light up brake lights when KERS is activated! I believe this is a huge safety hazard as it can slow down car very rapidly and there's no way for motorists behind you to know the same. It can be fixed with an easy update though, but till then, users please dab on the brake pedal slightly just to make the brake lights get lit.
~ Eco mode dulls the throttle significantly compared to other modes but is still quite drivable around in city. Sport mode is absolutely fun with wheelspins if you depress the pedal fully.
~ Driver seat gets electric adjustment though only 6 way and without lumbar support. I didn't find under thigh support to be inadequate as pointed out by some reviews. Passenger seat gets manual adjustments.
~ The infotainment screen is better than the Hector. Much more responsive. It does get Ganaa app pre installed. (bloatware IMO) There are some other car settings hidden in the screen but what I particularly disliked is lack of charging options which you get on the Kona. There's no scheduled charging, no way to limit the total percentage of charge, and no way to limit the power drawn from charging wire. It does show charging information though. Physical knob for volume is a blessing if you've tried using the Hector screen.
~ No auto climate control. A lot has been spoken about this so I wouldn't go on any further. Interestingly the outside temperature is shown only when climate menu pops up on screen momentarily when you change any climate setting.
~ There isn't any armrest for rear bench, but it gets three point seatbelt for middle passenger. You decide which one's a better compromise.
~ There isn't any cabin light at the rear either, sad.
~ I couldn't find inconsistent panel gaps on the outside. Interiors seemed well put together as well.
~ Charging port location is not only weird but also very un-ergonomic. You'll need to bend down to access the port. What makes it worse is that there's no illumination inside. Imagine finding that cap thingy in the dark. The "glowing MG logo" is almost impossible to see in daylight. You have to lock the car to start charging. It will stop charging as soon as you unlock the car. There's no auto unlock for the charging cable like in the Kona.
~ Boot opener will definitely remind you of the Volkswagen cars. It felt good to operate, to be honest.
~ The rear gets only 3 parking sensors instead of 4.
~ The car makes three short honks if you forget the key inside. It also honks while locking and unlocking. (much much better than Hyundai version of it,trust me)
~ Request sensors on both front doors. Nice.
Sorry for points not being categorised properly. I jotted them down as I remembered them.