[aamishdhingra]

An excellent review by Bhpian Omkar, thanks for this review.

Somewhere down the line I understand that Ev's would be the safest bet for future atleast in the cities which are heavily bombarded with the traffic snarls like Delhi/NCR.

However some potent questions keep coming to me every now and then:

1. EV's are good pieces to own atleast for city travels, we are atleast looking for a time frame of 3-5 years for the road infrastructure to be developed upto the mark where highways have a decent network of charging stations. Do we see an increase in the time span for the infra to be developed?

2. Lead Disposal: Until 8 years/1,60,000kms the companies are giving a warranty on the battery but what is the effect it showers on the global warming and environment? Thats a big questionmark.

3. Freebies?: I'd reckon, most of Indians never thought about owning an EV 5 years back.. but now people are strongly considering it. How about the State govt's give out some good subsidies and relaxations to give a boost to the sector overall?

4. Maintainence: People are quite aware about the various components while servicing a Petrol/Diesel car. To gain knowledge regarding an EV will take some time so that people understand whether the dealership is cheating the customer or not.


These are just some of the pointers which cross my mind when I think to get an EV in my Garage.

Regards

[car-o-holic]

Thank you very much for the detailed review, I had been looking forward to this eagerly!

Based on the review and other posts by experienced team bhpians here, I will continue with my booking and hopefully we will have our MG ZS EV by June 2022!

[dsvikki]

Great review. Was looking for a Team BHP validation. Am taking delivery next week of my Ferris White ZS EV. Registration was done today but apparently the HSRP will take a few days and so hopefully early next week I will have it and can post my initial impressions.

[shyampsunder]

Originally Posted by aamishdhingra

1. EV's are good pieces to own atleast for city travels, we are atleast looking for a time frame of 3-5 years for the road infrastructure to be developed upto the mark where highways have a decent network of charging stations. Do we see an increase in the time span for the infra to be developed?

2. Lead Disposal: Until 8 years/1,60,000kms the companies are giving a warranty on the battery but what is the effect it showers on the global warming and environment? Thats a big questionmark.

3. Freebies?: I'd reckon, most of Indians never thought about owning an EV 5 years back.. but now people are strongly considering it. How about the State govt's give out some good subsidies and relaxations to give a boost to the sector overall?

4. Maintainence: People are quite aware about the various components while servicing a Petrol/Diesel car. To gain knowledge regarding an EV will take some time so that people understand whether the dealership is cheating the customer or not.


Regards

1. The cost of buying a fast EV charger is just around 60k to 70k today. Compare this with how much it costs to set up a petrol station which easily runs into crores. Even with low utilization, EV chargers can easily break even. This is the reason why you see a massive increase in the number of chargers in India. Just open Plugshare and Tata Power to see the number of chargers. Given that setting up EV chargers has been delicensed, I expect that within the next 24 months, all major highways to be electrified because most restaurants will gain high-value captive customers. This is already true in most parts of TN because of Zeon.

According to British Petroleum, their EV chargers are about to overtake their fuel pumps in profitability: Link



2. Batteries even after a decade of use, contain a lot of rare earth which are very valuable. So it makes it extremely lucrative to recycle them. That's why Tesla's CTO JB Straubel has started up a battery recycling startup. According to him, recycling is already profitable today. There is no way people will dump such valuable batteries when so much money can be made out of them.Link

3. For EVs there is not much in terms of maintainence. I was about to book the ZS EV and the 3-year service package is only Rs 7700, the salesperson told me it's a waste of money and it will be way cheaper to pay service to service. So not much to learn here for the public.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by aamishdhingra

Somewhere down the line I understand that Ev's would be the safest bet for future atleast in the cities which are heavily bombarded with the traffic snarls like Delhi/NCR.

Very true. Nothing more painful than burning fuel just to keep the AC running when stuck in a traffic jam.

1. EV's are good pieces to own atleast for city travels, we are atleast looking for a time frame of 3-5 years for the road infrastructure to be developed upto the mark where highways have a decent network of charging stations. Do we see an increase in the time span for the infra to be developed?

A lot of charging infra is already available across many highways all over India. Just open PlugShare app and you’ll be surprised by what you’ll see. Problem is, there are planty of chargers but not many true fast chargers. We are passing off 25kw chargers as fast chargers. These are simply incapable of topping up cars like the ZS EV in any meaningful way in 30 mins. Fast chargers should be 50kw, minimum. Such chargers are very few and far between.

2. Lead Disposal: Until 8 years/1,60,000kms the companies are giving a warranty on the battery but what is the effect it showers on the global warming and environment? Thats a big questionmark.

There is no lead in lithium ion batteries. There are other metals like cobalt and nickel, whose recycling and disposal is another can of worms. It’s all work in progress, the EV battery recycling scene should be very different after 8-10 years.

3. Freebies?: I'd reckon, most of Indians never thought about owning an EV 5 years back.. but now people are strongly considering it. How about the State govt's give out some good subsidies and relaxations to give a boost to the sector overall?

Forget about it. So many states have done away with subsidies. Some of them don’t even waive off registration charges for EVs. All these little benefits will be done away with, over time. If anything, expect things on the lines of expect additional taxes/surcharge on fast charging or mandatory special meters for EV charging at higher rates, separate from your domestic supply. Don’t expect the governments to leave any possible source of revenue untapped. Cars are considered ‘sin goods’ and are taxed to the maximum extent. And EV cars are the purview of only the rich.

4. Maintainence: People are quite aware about the various components while servicing a Petrol/Diesel car. To gain knowledge regarding an EV will take some time so that people understand whether the dealership is cheating the customer or not.

Batteries and motors are rugged and maintenance free by nature/design. Especially in cars, where they are all liquid cooled. Rest of the stuff will need periodic replacements. Things like suspensions, steering racks, brakes etc are wear and tear parts and will have to be changed when needed, like any regular car.

[qaqa]

Originally Posted by cool_dube

... A miniscule percentage of households will have an EV as their primary/only car, where the ZS fits nicely. However, for majority of EV buyers, it would be their second or third car...

Well, my plan is for the ZS to be my primary car.

I travel from Bangalore to Mysore (~140 km) almost 3-4 times a month. The ZS can easily handle the trip and have enough juice left over to ferry me around town when I'm in Mysore. A short charge at home and I should be ready to drive back to Bangalore. Fits my needs perfectly.

For the rare long trips, my idea is to simply borrow my father in law's Vento TSI, and let him use my ZS in the meanwhile. I think i can live with a bit of inconvenience.

I get the guilt free fun of driving a f-a-a-s-t car for 99% of my trips. I certainly couldn't get such a fast ICE car for the money in Karnataka for sure.

For a primary car, the Nexon is a bit bare bones. The ZS makes you feel a bit more pampered.

[anshul70701]

Originally Posted by Tokengrip

Agree with the tyre pressure setting. Have turned it down to 35psi on the Version 2.0 of the ZS EV and it's super comfortable at that setting.
By choice i prefer the earlier front facia but i do like that digital instrument cluster. Wonder if they ll do a retrofit.

If they do,I'll be first in line for that

[SanSabh]

One thing I noticed is that there's no frunk! The pic showing the open bonnet is really disappointing - such a loose jumble of component boxes. Did it not even occur to the designers to create a frunk!? It's one of the signature perks of owning an EV, for heaven's sake! Probably because this car is adapted from an ICE platform?

[Arnav612]

A review really well put together, of a car that resonates with that quality. The ZS EV is one of the most desirable cars not just among EVs but also in a few ICE comparisons as well. No doubt it does lose out on size and price proportion, but hey, even cars like the Jeep Compass thrive and how in our market. The ZS is loaded to the brim with equipment and is really cost effective to run and maintain as well. The new facelift is refreshing, I however like it in darker and more subtle colours like Black and Silver to help me come to terms with the rather bulky front end this time around. They have smartly incorporated all the missing bits from the previous ZS EV in terms of equipment and feel good factor and have finally made it more relevant in 2022.

I have booked my car since October 2021, and when I saw pictures of the facelift, I really tried to get hold of a 2021 car because I wasn't a fan of the facelift at all. But one thing led to another and I changed my booking to a black car which really helps with the bulkiness and makes the car look really sleek as a whole.

Deliveries have started here in Mumbai but astonishingly, as luck would have it, of all the colours, my dealer doesn't have even one black car to allot. He says that they are promised a black by the end of this month and that would be ours the minute they get their hands on it. It's a little disappointing but there's nothing we can do and since we've come this long waiting, we'd rather happily take a car home from them than end things on a sour note

[qaqa]

Originally Posted by anshul70701

If they do,I'll be first in line for that

I like the Astor's front end quite a bit. Given that the facelifted ZS and the Astor share so much with each other, I am hoping that some smart chap comes up with a way to fit the Astor's front panel to the ZS!

I personally find the ZS's nose ghastly. I am trying very hard to ignore that awkward front end and am hoping that it will grow on me eventually.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by qaqa

Well, my plan is for the ZS to be my primary car.

The ZS EV fits your use case to the T, no two thoughts about it. And it is certainly superior to the Nexon EV in almost all aspects, which reflects in the price as well.

What I was trying to say is - we as a nation have quite some ground to cover when it comes to EVs being the primary/only car in a garage for the masses - relatively higher cost, sparse charging infra (though it is catching up at a rapid pace), etc. Given all these factors, more people will put their money on a relatively lower-priced car like the Nexon as opposed to the ZS.

[ankitsingh7]

Originally Posted by Omkar

The ZS EV gets a host of safety features like 6 airbags, electronic stability control, ABS + EBD + Brake Assist, emergency stop signal, hill start assist, hill descent control, electronic parking brake with auto hold, ISOFIX child seat anchors, tyre pressure monitoring system and all-round disc brakes. Additionally, you get a 360-degree camera, rear-drive assist (blind-spot detection system, rear cross-traffic alert & lane change assist), heated ORVMs and pedestrian warning system.

Is the pedestrian warning system present for the front as well? If yes then that would explain the radar system.

I have a few questions

1. What is the maximum Charging Rate Capacity of the ZS EV? Long range UK version sits at 96 kwh
2. How difficult would it be to apply PPF to that front grill or lack there of?

[qaqa]

Did a long 45 min test drive of ZS EV yesterday. A couple of observations on the instrument cluster.

a. I had set the seat to a low-ish position, which I felt most comfortable in. Despite being a somewhat tall 6' 2", from my driving position, I couldn't see the bottom 1/4th of the instrument cluster. Now this is critical since all the important stats are displayed in the bottom section including the KERS state and the battery percentage. I had to half sit up from my position to catch a glimpse of these important stats.

b. The cluster fonts are way too small to be usable. All important information (incl. the aforesaid KERS position and battery %age) is displayed in such small font that your eyes have to linger on the display to decipher what they are saying.

c. The cluster display is dominated by an utterly useless graphic showing the flow of power.

Poor design of the cluster I would say. I hope MG issues an update or something. Or atleast introduces multiple display formats (which should be simple given the all-digital display).

Also felt that the front arm rest is placed too high. If you set the driver's seat even to the mid position, your left arm would be propped up a bit too high.

[denny_ace]

Originally Posted by cool_dube

What I was trying to say is - we as a nation have quite some ground to cover when it comes to EVs being the primary/only car in a garage for the masses - relatively higher cost, sparse charging infra (though it is catching up at a rapid pace), etc. Given all these factors, more people will put their money on a relatively lower-priced car like the Nexon as opposed to the ZS.

For those considering an EV as their second/third car can possibly wait for one from MG/Hyundai (or a Tata Punch EV may be) in the price range of 12 - 14 lakhs, albeit with a smaller battery pack, in the next couple of years. The existing ICE car in the garage can take care of the long trips while the EV can be the run-about.

As a primary car, the MG ZS EV with the range offered by it at this price tag clearly has the edge over its competitors

[keroo1099]

I had some time to kill yesterday so ended up doing two TDs. The Slavia 1.5 DSG was first

Second TD of the day:
I've fallen in love with the MG ZS EV.

The noiseless acceleration is absolutely adictive. It's like a breath of fresh air to accelerate quickly without a rising engine/exhaust in the background, and the ZS can move when floored.

Has superb front seats, and more steering feel than the Salvia in my opinion.

Interior looks and feels nice and the soft touch material on all the important touch points helps lift this feeling. Liked it better than the Slavia.

Instrument cluster is clear, legible and is much nicer than the Slavias.

Only negative is the soft suspension which felt great in the city but I feel will float on the highway

PS: My daily driver is a remapped Linea TJet