[Chrome6Boy]

For the people who are worried about the lack of physical buttons. I drive the ZS EV and the infotainment system has buttons and the touchscreen.

However every time you press the temperature button because you want to change the temperature of the AC, the screen changes to the AC screen even if you are on maps or android auto.

This is a huge inconvenience as you then need to get back to Android Auto for navigation which means pressing the touch screen several times and taking your eyes off the road.

In the last 2 years, I have been using the "Hello MG" and also "Hey Google" and it works almost flawlessly. It understands my South Indian Tamil accent and I use it for all the controls I need and the screen does not move from Android Auto.

I think this is the future, and physical buttons will die a natural death.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

Windsor Essence On Road Price: Rs. 17,50,000/- (Mumbai)

I have the price list for Madras, which has Essence at 16.71L including some ripoff items. Are Bombay price 1L above?



ZS Excite price looks good in comparison though.

Exclusive pretty much gets you everything but the glass roof, ventilated seats which I remember are the major addons in Essence.

ZS CATL battery that is imported has more established history in the car. Windsor's 38kw Octillion battery is new. Tata's Curvv and Nexon 45 kw too are from the same vendor. This is something to consider if you are an early adopter of Windsor.

Space in ZS is no match for Windsor.

You have not mentioned your use case, which will largely decide whether you need a 50 kw or not.

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

Windsor with 50kWh battery at an added cost of Rs. 1 Lakh would be perfect..

If they plonk the same 50kw CATL battery it'll be a 1.5 lakh premium

[VWAllstar]

Originally Posted by GoBabyGo

Hi, I think you may please wait for another 10 to 15 days as it is possible that JSW-MG will launch 50kWh battery pack Windsor EV to compete with Nexon.ev 45kWh and start delivering it from Dhanteras. Do keep checking MG social media page & website.

Windsor with 50kWh battery at an added cost of Rs. 1 Lakh would be perfect. And thanks, it does make sense to wait for it. However there are conflicting views from many, including MG Sales guys, that Windsor 50kWh may not be introduced as it will impact ZS EV Sales.

Originally Posted by sri_tesla

These prices does not make sense. Mumbai has road tax for EVs or not? As per Cardekho and CarTrade on road prices, it does not. So, How come Windsor Essense on road price is Rs 17.5 lakhs? It's ex-showroom is only 15.5 lakhs. So, why on road costs Rs 2 lakhs more?

That is the same question I asked the Sales Guy I met yesterday. He will provide me the breakup by today. I am guessing all extras like accessories must be included in that cost. My understanding is that, the on road cost of Windsor Essence in Mumbai should not be more than 16.5 Lakhs.

Originally Posted by psbali

Windsor is a huge car with a very limited range. The BaaShing and later on the price discussion took so much attention that we did not for once stop and consider the actual con.

I have an XUV which is huge for city traffic and it can get a little frustrating in bumper to bumper traffic so as per me driving a comparatively huge car with a small battery will bring more hassles.

But what choice do we have? Go for small battery to chase reliability or become a beta tester for Tata?


Too many things happening in a very short while is leaving me absolutely confused. Only option is to start SIP and put EV plans on hold for a while. Let all the hype die down and then take an informed call.

Nexon 45Kw is tempting but at least one negative news on a daily basis is not encouraging. Both cars are using prismatic cells from same company so if Nexon has niggles even MG will face the same ones?

We will soon have apples to apples comparison.

Somehow I am not very keen on Tata Cars. A close friend owns a Nexon and it feels premium. He has a NA Petrol MT which is reliable however the same cannot be said about their EVs. Doing a car specific SIP for another 3 years can prove to be a financially smarter move. But with more number of EV sales, the infrastructure need to get better at the same rate.
Overall I am confused to act on the instincts to own an EV or to wait longer. May be waiting for another 2 months won't do any harm.

[guptad42]

Originally Posted by GoBabyGo

...
While there is no doubt that ICE resale value will be much more than EV,
...

EV resale values are dropping fast because the tech is becoming better every passing year. Like laptops did about 15-20 years ago. The newer EVs are lighter, have longer range, better features, and at a lower cost. I suspect we have at least 10 years more of this journey. At some point, EVs will get very good and the year-on-year improvements will become small and EVs will hold their prices better.

But we are extrapolating ICE resale behaviour from the past, and that does not work well in times of basic change. Instead of looking at the past, think of what the scenario could be in the future.

• If an EV is much smoother to drive, has good range, is more silent and comfortable, and is priced same or lesser than a petrol car, what might that do to demand for petrol cars? And the first thing that gets hit when demand drops is price. Of new and old cars.
  
• Once we hit price parity, government could get much stricter with emissions controls for new and old petrol cars, because the argument for EVs being too expensive will go away. If it starts becoming too much of a hassle (and repeated costs) to keep an ICE car roadworthy, the ownership experience will start swinging towards EVs and there'll be fewer takers for old ICE cars especially with their higher maintenance costs.
  
• For city commute use, a punch.ev or a Windsor is already quite good (except for tata motors' reliability issues), and these will be on the used car market in about 3 years, starting to compete with used petrol cars. And with the sharper drop in used EV prices... used EVs could be cheaper than used petrol cars, and this could get remarkably interesting.
  
• In other words, it could happen that ICE cars bought today may fetch very low resale prices if held for more than 3-4 years, as the general public starts realising the age of ICE cars dominance is getting over. We used to have waitlists for landlines. How many people do you think applied for a new landline once mobile phones became affordable? The Indian consumers switches very quickly once a new thing becomes acceptable or desirable.

What it still needs though is development of a service ecosystem, with mandatory open access to spare parts and service manuals by 3rd party service stations. We also need to introduce EV service courses in ITIs, and add EVs as a subject in computer science, electronics, electrical, mechanical, automotive and design courses in our engineering colleges. Colleges with good industry connects are already starting to introduce EV projects. Plus consumer friendly rules for setting up Level2 EV charging at home (and I hope it is all bidirectional chargers so we can use the cars as grid batteries in the future).

I hope out govt shows some patience and does not raise EV GST rates suddenly. Raise them slowly, and only after EV sales exceed 20% of new car sales. Otherwise, you may stop the EV transition in its tracks, like the mistake some European govts made.

[ferrarirules]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

All said and done, MG ZS EV would be a better car considering the battery and range. Rs. 2,50,000/- loan for 7 years would add approximately Rs. 4000/- per month. What are your thoughts on this dillema?

What you will gain in ZS Excite Pro vs Windsor Essence (in order of importance)

1. 12 KW larger battery
2. Buttons for adjusting regen

What you will miss out in ZS Excite Pro vs Windsor Essence (in order of importance)
1. 7.2 KW charger which is needed for ZS EV. If you have community chargers, 7.2 KW available then this might not be a problem.
2. 360 Camera
3. Wireless phone charger
4. Power fold ORVM with Auto hold
5. Power adjustable driver seat
6. Leather Seats
7. Ventilated Seats
8. Reclining Rear seat

Based on this, I will say going for Windsor is a better bet if your use case is more city use and less highway use otherwise vice versa

Originally Posted by GoBabyGo

Hi, I think you may please wait for another 10 to 15 days as it is possible that JSW-MG will launch 50kWh battery pack Windsor EV to compete with Nexon.ev 45kWh and start delivering it from Dhanteras. Do keep checking MG social media page & website.

Based on my sources, there is no whiff of 50 KW launch as of now. Also, launching a new battery is not as simple as plonking one and launching it. You have to through testing, ARAI testing and whole lot before you launch the product. But I am ready to be proven wrong on this. Windsor 50KW will be a very strong car irrespective of segment - EV or ICE

[abburiaditya]

Has anyone been able to go on a test drive yet? The showroom guy keeps telling me they won't start test drives until the beginning of October. Also, I see some members giving on-road price numbers. Again, the showroom guy here refuses to share any information.

I remember a member (ferrarirules?) posting in the earlier Windsor thread about knowing the battery capacity in advance. Maybe he can shed some light on the possibility of a 50kW version of the Windsor with a delayed delivery date?

[Comrade]

I am looking for a spacious EV which will travel 40-50 kms regularly on the weekdays (work & school) and maybe 200 km max on some weekends. I am dead against EVs from Tata (unreliable and cramped rear seat) and Mahindra (step motherly treatment to EVs).

I was keen on buying MG ZS Excite Pro but was waiting for Windsor launch. For my use case, 38kwh battery will be sufficient. ZS is not going to give me any additional usability (range wise) over Windsor. With Windsor, I will save 4.5L (21L vs 16.5L) and will get more features and more space. I have booked Windsor Essence but a final decision will be taken only after a through test drive.

[ishekk]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

Windsor with 50kWh battery at an added cost of Rs. 1 Lakh would be perfect. And thanks, it does make sense to wait for it. However there are conflicting views from many, including MG Sales guys, that Windsor 50kWh may not be introduced as it will impact ZS EV Sales.

The question is will MG be able to fit 50 KWh battery without decreasing the ground clearance? The 38 KWh cells are already prismatic which means larger/longer battery can be fitted only if some space is left under the body. Otherwise will people be willing to buy an EV with lesser ground clearance as unlike ICE vehicles underbody impact can be fatal in case of EVs? Or will MG be willing to fit NMC battery to increase battery capacity in distant future?

[abburiaditya]

Originally Posted by Comrade

I have booked Windsor Essence but a final decision will be taken only after a through test drive.

I see you are in Hyderabad. Where have you booked the car? Are the showroom guys providing any updates?

[GoBabyGo]

Originally Posted by ferrarirules

[b]
Based on my sources, there is no whiff of 50 KW launch as of now. Also, launching a new battery is not as simple as plonking one and launching it. You have to through testing, ARAI testing and whole lot before you launch the product. But I am ready to be proven wrong on this. Windsor 50KW will be a very strong car irrespective of segment - EV or ICE

Hi, I think your sources are correct, but Windsor EV pricing with battery definitely bring lots of interest in this product. Even with 38kWh battery pack, people are talking about it because of size, space, trust of MG for battery tech, reliability, customer care and overall feel good factor of owning a successful product (MG ZS EV is almost a flopped product).

I am not sure, but I think China has lots of finished products ready and may be MG China (or their parent company in China) will have huge inventory of 50kWh battery and can be shipped to India (may have already shipped & assembled in India) and one good day suddenly we get a news that MG launched 50kWh Windsor EV at an introductory price of 15.49 lacs.

[ferrarirules]

Originally Posted by abburiaditya

I remember a member (ferrarirules?) posting in the earlier Windsor thread about knowing the battery capacity in advance. Maybe he can shed some light on the possibility of a 50kW version of the Windsor with a delayed delivery date?

As mentioned above I have received no news on 50 KWh variant to be launched soon.

Originally Posted by ishekk

The question is will MG be able to fit 50 KWh battery without decreasing the ground clearance?

The car is on skateboard architecture as it is a born EV. If you look underneath the car, you will realize there is ample battery space for adding more battery. The car comes 50 KW battery outside India in all markets.

Originally Posted by GoBabyGo

may be MG China (or their parent company in China) will have huge inventory of 50kWh battery and can be shipped to India

For the battery prices that they have quoted for Windsor, they need to go for localization of battery so they will look at an vendor in India like Octillion or any other to provide them locally assembled battery pack. So it doesn't matter if they have cells in China or not.

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by abburiaditya

I see you are in Hyderabad. Where have you booked the car? Are the showroom guys providing any updates?

I booked with RAAM Group. No update till now. Initially I was told TD will be available after 2-Oct. I usually track dealer's updates on the instagram. More reliable than calling any SA.

Originally Posted by ferrarirules

Based on my sources, there is no whiff of 50 KW launch as of now.

Originally Posted by GoBabyGo

I think your sources are correct

The SA I spoke to was candid about 50kwh. He said MG does not want to kill ZS yet so Windsor won't be getting 50kwh anytime soon. But obviously he would have limited knowledge about product pipeline.

[DIY410]

Originally Posted by GoBabyGo

Hi, I think you may please wait for another 10 to 15 days as it is possible that JSW-MG will launch 50kWh battery pack Windsor EV to compete with Nexon.ev 45kWh and start delivering it from Dhanteras. Do keep checking MG social media page & website.

It's not possible for MG to launch a car with higher battery in just a couple of days. The battery cells inside the pack isn't a universal size. MG is said to have used local sourcing for the battery pack. When you have a lower kWh pack, it's easier to cram in the cells. But when you squeeze in more cells to up the kWh, the Indian supplier sourced cells may not be able to fit inside the pack, due to the difference is size of the cells and the energy density.
There is a reason ZS EV still gets imported battery pack, it's a older product but still has a faster charging cells inside.

What MG can do is launch the 50 kWh Windsor EV with imported battery pack fully assembled but it won't be as cheap as a Indian sourced pack due to import duties or they can wait for the Indian battery supplier to start sourcing similar cells and also redesigning the pack internals for cooling, bus bars etc which means all suppliers to the battery pack maker will also have to retool.

[chetan_l]

I had pre-reserved the top variant Turquoise Green color before setting my eyes on the vehicle and I got a chance to check out the model in the showroom today (Jubilant Motors, Rajajinagar, Bangalore). I have watched so many video reviews and read expert content on this forum, that there was nothing surprising when I saw the car today! :P

Suffice to say that I am happy with my choice and I am proceeding with the purchase. The SA and his assistant were very courteous and answered my queries.

I am attaching the on-road price quoted by Jubilant Motors for the car below:


The Rs 18.35 lakhs shocker for the final price includes 1.06 L for PPF and 40k for Ceramic coating. Removing those will bring the price to ~16.9L. This includes 40k for the "Essential Kit" accessories pack - I am definitely not going in for the whole pack because what I require is actually spread over into different "packages" that MG offers - so, I will have to cherry pick the accessories I need from the list of items that MG offers. MG has released their price list here.
While the pricing is announced for most items, a few are yet to be announced.

In terms of EV charging at home, I am a first time EV user and I am looking for some help around the process of getting an additional load sanctioned from BESCOM (Bangalore) for the EV charger kit that MG will install at home. If anyone from Bangalore can guide me on any pitfalls and gotchas I need to be aware of when dealing with BESCOM, I will be grateful!

BaaS calculations & foreclosure
In terms of BaaS, there was no one available from the financiers to answer my more in-depth questions. However, I had done my own calculations of how the BaaS pricing will work with say Bajaj Finance who had mentioned that rate of interest will be 9% (subject to Credit score of the buyer). As per my calculations, if I pay Rs 5,250 per month on the principal amount of Rs 350,800 for the battery, then I will be repaying the loan by the 94th month. Refer the summary snapshot below:


Note: If anyone is interested in the repayment table I have computed, you can check it out in this attachment: MG Windsor BaaS Estimate.pdf

I checked with the SA and he referred to his calculation cheat-sheet. He said Bajaj has announced that the EMI period (marketed as BaaS rental period) will be for 96 months. Close enough

I see a few people worrying if there will be inflationary hike to the Rental cost thru the tenure. As per my understanding, this is akin to a fixed-rate loan and the prices will NOT change.

There was no one from the financiers to confirm, but I am willing to wager my money on this model

As per my calculations, if you want to sell the car after 36 months, you have the option of foreclosing the rest of the rental by paying Rs 2.45 lakhs and negotiating with the new buyer on the basis of the full ex-showroom price of the car (15.5 L). Or, if the buyer is willing to continue with the BaaS rental, then the price will be arrived on the basis of car price less the battery price (11.99 L).

Bajaj Finance pricing may be closer to Rs 2.5 Lakhs against my calculation of 2.45 L (after 36 months)

Similarly, if you want to foreclose at 5 years, you will have to pay ~1.82 L (maybe 1.85L as per Bajaj).

In any case, your BaaS rental will cease after 8 years.

Unlimited Warranty (for first owner) on the battery

The SA confirmed that MG will replace any dead/degraded cells in the battery at no extra cost under the unlimited warranty. I missed checking if the car has to be serviced only at MG to avail this benefit. It is likely to be so; in any case, it makes better sense to get the EV serviced at MG motors itself given the new tech and knowhow.

I am not writing anything additional about the car itself. @omkar and @suhaas307 have done an excellent review and there are other experts who have weighed in.

Just waiting for the Test Drive and the actual process of owning the car! Have a great day folks

[thomahawk]

Originally Posted by chetan_l

The SA confirmed that MG will replace any dead/degraded cells in the battery at no extra cost under the unlimited warranty.

Any idea about the 'lifetime' quoted here? 15 years? I thought the warranty will cease when the the BaaS tenure (if that also isn't lifetime) ends. As in if you get a new battery/refurbished cell - lets say after the standard 8 years mark, they'll renew the lease/loan for whatever it cost MG to do that?