Deciding on which EV and MG ZS EV test drive experience

Portgordon

Portgordon

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Driving
Hi All ?

Great idea setting up this Forum, well played Stuart - I've also used AVForums quite a bit over the years (although not a member), another excellent resource ?

I've had a keen interest in EVs for years so have been keeping a close eye on whats out there and what's coming to market. We've had many minis in our family over the years, so I was initially excited about the Countryman PHEV, test drove it and loved it. But, I really couldn't get my head around having to plug the car in to get just 18 miles of range ? Especially at that price point, so I had to dismiss it pretty quickly. Then I was excited about the Mini Electric, but as that got closer and closer to release I became less enthusiastic - the concept looked amazing, a little bit futuristic. But when it was released, I felt it had disappointing range (although I've relaxed a bit on that now), an expensive price tag, and it wasn't futuristic enough inside. After all the build up, and thinking they would have all of the tech and learnings from BMWE i series to put into it ,it just felt like a regular mini with a battery - not what I was hoping for. I was also hoping for a 5 door version.

I currently drive a 2014 3 door Mini Cooper D as my daily, it's a fantastic car - I love the large integrated screen, the tech / connectivity is fantastic (although there's no Apple CarPlay in the 2014). The engine is phenomenal, it's a 3 cylinder, 1.5 engine which on paper sounds terrible, but it's awesome. It has Eco, normal and sport modes which I switch between regularly and it achieves around 78mpg. It normally costs me £30-40 a month to fill up and has a full tank range of over 400 miles. Road tax is £0.

Our main family car is a Landy Disco, which has plenty of space for the family of 5 (I'm including the dog in that). My hobby car is a Toyota MR2 MK2.

I'm looking at replacing my mini which realistically does about 10 miles a day with an EV, but it has been a hard sell as the mini is so darn economical as it is. I love loads of the EVs on the market, but the price to get into it is hard to swallow.

My Current Favourite EVs are:
1) The Honda-e
2) The Hyundai Kona
3) MG ZS EV

The Honda , I absolutely love its style, and I love the tech inside, all those screens and connectivity are right up my street. It is a tad expensive (although actually cheaper than I thought it would be), but does have 5 doors to be able to do the school run when the larger family car is unavailable (albeit with car seats in the back I think it might be too snug). And the boot size is useless. Despite all that though, this car appeals to me - I have a real emotional connection with it, which is important for me, i really want that car and it would likely be a keeper long term. But, it's not really the car I need right now. I want an economical (electric preferred) car, with a bit more space, which is also affordable.

The Kona, I think is a great looking car - when it was first released I was actually very tempted by the Iron Man edition ? It has fantastic range - more than I need, but that would just change how we use the vehicle. It is a high quality vehicle with plenty of space. I prefer the Kona to the e-Niro. But the price point makes it a contender to replace the family car rather than my daily commute car. So it's out purely on price.

The MG ZS EV completely came out of the blue for me in December 2019. I wasn't even aware of it, it totally took me by surprise and when I saw the price I thought it must have been a mistake. I immediately tried to arrange a test drive but with Christmas etc.. happening, I had to put it off until January. The discounted price, puts this car promptly to the top of the list. At the starting price of £22,495 I thought it was a no brainer. That's technically only £4k more than the mini was, yet it's a substantially larger vehicle, has loads of room, is electric and has Apple Car play as standard. It meets and exceeds my main criteria! I was very excited!
I started watching all the videos and reviews that I could, and one thing was very clear that those BONGS would be very annoying, but it didn't deter me and all the other benefits outweighed that.

TBC...
 
.... continued

I test drove the MG 2 weeks ago, we got the whole family into the mini (as I was hoping the dealer would value the car for a trade in while they had it - something the agreed to do). The nearest MG dealer is in Brechin and I am in Aberdeen so i thought that was actually a great way to test the range etc.. 40 miles. Although I planned to take a scenic route home.

We got to the dealer had a nice greeting, swapped the car seats over, agreed they'd look at the mini and we took off. I'm not a fan of the light blue colour that MG are promoting as the EV colour, and that just happened to be the colour of the test car, but the car itself we were all very happy with, the boot is spacious, the kids had plenty of room in the back and it even has rear USB sockets. I was already prepped for the bongs but O..M...G they really are infuriating. I hadn't realised that the lane keep would actually be nudging the steering wheel on my behalf (quite aggressively I felt), so that combined with the lane assist were very promptly disabled. I was getting quite frustrated by the BONG lane assist has turned off, BONG lane assist has turned on, BONG lane assist has...AAAARRRGGHHH ? After disabling that, there was far less bonging (although the remaining bongs are still annoying and I hope a software update gives better control). The startup sequence it goes through which continues to BONG and tell you that Lane assist is off (I know, I turned it off) about 1 minute into your journey, is still annoying but not a deal breaker. The fact that the car toots it's horn at you when you get out without the keys- i can see why they did it, but I sh@t my pants everytime. As did the BMW i3 owner sitting in his car next to us when we got to a charge point!

Speaking of charge points, when we got back to Aberdeen we had 16 miles of range left. Range anxiety was starting to kick in, but we thought, lets kill two birds with one stone and go do our weekly food shop as we know there's a charging point at Asda, we'll be in there for about an hour which should give plenty of charge. Great idea! So we rock up at Asda, and there are only two spaces at the point, one of which has an i3 in it already charging, but he's parked nearly over the line to the remaining space (which has a solid wooden fence at the other side. We went for it and squeezed into the space, I hopped out of the car to check out the charging milarky (that's when the car tooted it's horn twice scaring everyone nearby.

The screen on the charge point was broken ? Someone had written on the physical buttons what type of connector they were for, but being my first time charging, that didn't particularly help with no onscreendirections. The i3 was using the CCS connector, so I was left with the Type 2. I tried to ask the i3 owner for help using the screen, but he said he just pushed buttons until he saw a blue light, so I tried something similar ?. I made sure the connector was locked in place, had swiped the card and pressed a button, so off we went to do our shop. An hour later we came back, and the i3 had been replaced by an old BMW (non electric) - my first experience of ICEing. If I was fully into electric ownership I would have reported it. The car had gained about 30 miles of range. Afterwards I understood why, as I was using Type2 and also from looking at the details of that particular charger it can apparently only feed one of the DC chargers at a time.

So instead, i thought I would head to a different fast charging point in the morning before returning the car and I could sit in the car and read the manual etc.. i did that, and had a bit of an experience trying to tell if the car was actually charging or not ? The dealer had said the car has to be locked to charge, so I thought ok, but I want to sit in the car while its charging, and the day before I'd seen the i3 guy doing just that so thought it must be ok. The experience is much easier when the screen on the machine is working, after a short delay as the car and machine communicated it started charging. but then of course to get into the car, I had to unlock the car, so I wasn't very sure if that stopped the charging process. i got into the car and relocked it, but then started wondering if that meant the alarm would be set, so I thought I'll pop the accessories on so I can have some music - but I was expecting some sort of clear feedback inside the car that it was charging. I couldn't see anything so got started on the manual.

The manual says you can see the charging status by setting the ignition to the ON position, but later in the manual it contradicts itself by saying DO NOT put the ignition to the ON position while charging ? Even with the ignition in the ON position, I could't see anything obvious. Eventuallyi discovered that there are two dash lights, one red icon of a plug, which shows that the car is connected to a plug, and an orange one that shows the car is charging. Not the level of detail I was hoping for. Sitting listing to the radio, it eventually (after what felt like quite a short time) auto turns off. Something I wasn't expecting from an electric car. When the system turned off I noticed a much more detailed screen pops up in the drivers display area showing that the car is charging and the percentage charged - that's what I wanted to see. But to see that screen I have to press the START button THREE times?? seriously, surely there's a better way? So I'm sitting there for an hour and eighteen minutes (which to be fair I was impressed at that charge time), regularly starting the car and turning it off again to see the charge status. Now I know that sitting in the car while charging won't be the norm, as I'll either be charging it overnight, or at work, but still this didn't feel right.

I took the car back to the dealer and quite honestly had the worst dealer experience I've ever had. He didn't seem remotely interested in trying to sell me the car. It was like he expected me to hand in the keys and take off. I had to ask him if we could talk pricing. I asked if they'd been able to value the car and they said no, they couldn't give me a value on the car until "nearer the time" ?. i said what do you mean nearer the time? They said that because the car if ordered wouldn't arrive until march/April, they would have to value the car then. I said that's fair enough, but to know if I want to go ahead with a purchase, I need at least an indicative trade in price for the mini to know if it's viable. They said they have no idea how much the car is going to depreciate between now and then so they couldn't. I was pretty much out and disinterested at this point. but I went ahead and asked for prices on the Exclusive. He quite reluctantly did some tapping on a calculator and came back with a monthly price of £350...

That was not at all what I was expecting given the advertisments on MG and this particular dealers own websites. I expressed my dissapointment quite calmly, and thought I'd just enquire. Does that consider the £500 deposit you require? "Oh, no I haven't discounted that" - and then I asked about larger deposits and again made the point about the trade in but it didn't seem to be going anywhere so i just said I'd think about it. I've had no follow up with them at all.

So I like the car, won't be using that dealer, and am currently looking at options. i will only go for the car at a discounted price as it's full RRP puts it too close to other cars I like. I'm also very concerned about this RustGate situation, and given how poor MG appear to be both from a dealer and manufacturer perspective with communication (and the fact I live in Scotland), I worry that this car might be a mistake. I'm still on the side of wanting it just now though.

That was a way longer ramble than I was planning, but it was good for me to get it out!

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. ?

Mark
 
Portgordon said:
Hi All ?

Great idea setting up this Forum, well played Stuart - I've also used AVForums quite a bit over the years (although not a member), another excellent resource ?

I've had a keen interest in EVs for years so have been keeping a close eye on whats out there and what's coming to market. We've had many minis in our family over the years, so I was initially excited about the Countryman PHEV, test drove it and loved it. But, I really couldn't get my head around having to plug the car in to get just 18 miles of range ? Especially at that price point, so I had to dismiss it pretty quickly. Then I was excited about the Mini Electric, but as that got closer and closer to release I became less enthusiastic - the concept looked amazing, a little bit futuristic. But when it was released, I felt it had disappointing range (although I've relaxed a bit on that now), an expensive price tag, and it wasn't futuristic enough inside. After all the build up, and thinking they would have all of the tech and learnings from BMWE i series to put into it ,it just felt like a regular mini with a battery - not what I was hoping for. I was also hoping for a 5 door version.

I currently drive a 2014 3 door Mini Cooper D as my daily, it's a fantastic car - I love the large integrated screen, the tech / connectivity is fantastic (although there's no Apple CarPlay in the 2014). The engine is phenomenal, it's a 3 cylinder, 1.5 engine which on paper sounds terrible, but it's awesome. It has Eco, normal and sport modes which I switch between regularly and it achieves around 78mpg. It normally costs me £30-40 a month to fill up and has a full tank range of over 400 miles. Road tax is £0.

Our main family car is a Landy Disco, which has plenty of space for the family of 5 (I'm including the dog in that). My hobby car is a Toyota MR2 MK2.

I'm looking at replacing my mini which realistically does about 10 miles a day with an EV, but it has been a hard sell as the mini is so darn economical as it is. I love loads of the EVs on the market, but the price to get into it is hard to swallow.

My Current Favourite EVs are:
1) The Honda-e
2) The Hyundai Kona
3) MG ZS EV

The Honda , I absolutely love its style, and I love the tech inside, all those screens and connectivity are right up my street. It is a tad expensive (although actually cheaper than I thought it would be), but does have 5 doors to be able to do the school run when the larger family car is unavailable (albeit with car seats in the back I think it might be too snug). And the boot size is useless. Despite all that though, this car appeals to me - I have a real emotional connection with it, which is important for me, i really want that car and it would likely be a keeper long term. But, it's not really the car I need right now. I want an economical (electric preferred) car, with a bit more space, which is also affordable.

The Kona, I think is a great looking car - when it was first released I was actually very tempted by the Iron Man edition ? It has fantastic range - more than I need, but that would just change how we use the vehicle. It is a high quality vehicle with plenty of space. I prefer the Kona to the e-Niro. But the price point makes it a contender to replace the family car rather than my daily commute car. So it's out purely on price.

The MG ZS EV completely came out of the blue for me in December 2019. I wasn't even aware of it, it totally took me by surprise and when I saw the price I thought it must have been a mistake. I immediately tried to arrange a test drive but with Christmas etc.. happening, I had to put it off until January. The discounted price, puts this car promptly to the top of the list. At the starting price of £22,495 I thought it was a no brainer. That's technically only £4k more than the mini was, yet it's a substantially larger vehicle, has loads of room, is electric and has Apple Car play as standard. It meets and exceeds my main criteria! I was very excited!
I started watching all the videos and reviews that I could, and one thing was very clear that those BONGS would be very annoying, but it didn't deter me and all the other benefits outweighed that.

TBC...
Click to expand...
Sounds like the bongs are the only thing you don't like.
The bongs I get in the Ioniq are from the active lane assist and autonomous emergency braking systems, and I got used to them. I would rather ALA is on so that motorway & dual carriageway driving is safer with it nudging the wheel slightly to steer. Not 'for me' but 'with me'.
The autonomous emergency braking system occasionally throws a false positive when a car in front is turning left or I'm weaving through parked cars. Again, I'd rather leave that system on as it's saved me from a prang once already.
So in a nutshell, I got used to the bongs because the systems they serve are worth having on.
 
Last edited:
Portgordon said:
.... continued

I test drove the MG 2 weeks ago, we got the whole family into the mini (as I was hoping the dealer would value the car for a trade in while they had it - something the agreed to do). The nearest MG dealer is in Brechin and I am in Aberdeen so i thought that was actually a great way to test the range etc.. 40 miles. Although I planned to take a scenic route home.

We got to the dealer had a nice greeting, swapped the car seats over, agreed they'd look at the mini and we took off. I'm not a fan of the light blue colour that MG are promoting as the EV colour, and that just happened to be the colour of the test car, but the car itself we were all very happy with, the boot is spacious, the kids had plenty of room in the back and it even has rear USB sockets. I was already prepped for the bongs but O..M...G they really are infuriating. I hadn't realised that the lane keep would actually be nudging the steering wheel on my behalf (quite aggressively I felt), so that combined with the lane assist were very promptly disabled. I was getting quite frustrated by the BONG lane assist has turned off, BONG lane assist has turned on, BONG lane assist has...AAAARRRGGHHH ? After disabling that, there was far less bonging (although the remaining bongs are still annoying and I hope a software update gives better control). The startup sequence it goes through which continues to BONG and tell you that Lane assist is off (I know, I turned it off) about 1 minute into your journey, is still annoying but not a deal breaker. The fact that the car toots it's horn at you when you get out without the keys- i can see why they did it, but I sh@t my pants everytime. As did the BMW i3 owner sitting in his car next to us when we got to a charge point!

Speaking of charge points, when we got back to Aberdeen we had 16 miles of range left. Range anxiety was starting to kick in, but we thought, lets kill two birds with one stone and go do our weekly food shop as we know there's a charging point at Asda, we'll be in there for about an hour which should give plenty of charge. Great idea! So we rock up at Asda, and there are only two spaces at the point, one of which has an i3 in it already charging, but he's parked nearly over the line to the remaining space (which has a solid wooden fence at the other side. We went for it and squeezed into the space, I hopped out of the car to check out the charging milarky (that's when the car tooted it's horn twice scaring everyone nearby.

The screen on the charge point was broken ? Someone had written on the physical buttons what type of connector they were for, but being my first time charging, that didn't particularly help with no onscreendirections. The i3 was using the CCS connector, so I was left with the Type 2. I tried to ask the i3 owner for help using the screen, but he said he just pushed buttons until he saw a blue light, so I tried something similar ?. I made sure the connector was locked in place, had swiped the card and pressed a button, so off we went to do our shop. An hour later we came back, and the i3 had been replaced by an old BMW (non electric) - my first experience of ICEing. If I was fully into electric ownership I would have reported it. The car had gained about 30 miles of range. Afterwards I understood why, as I was using Type2 and also from looking at the details of that particular charger it can apparently only feed one of the DC chargers at a time.

So instead, i thought I would head to a different fast charging point in the morning before returning the car and I could sit in the car and read the manual etc.. i did that, and had a bit of an experience trying to tell if the car was actually charging or not ? The dealer had said the car has to be locked to charge, so I thought ok, but I want to sit in the car while its charging, and the day before I'd seen the i3 guy doing just that so thought it must be ok. The experience is much easier when the screen on the machine is working, after a short delay as the car and machine communicated it started charging. but then of course to get into the car, I had to unlock the car, so I wasn't very sure if that stopped the charging process. i got into the car and relocked it, but then started wondering if that meant the alarm would be set, so I thought I'll pop the accessories on so I can have some music - but I was expecting some sort of clear feedback inside the car that it was charging. I couldn't see anything so got started on the manual.

The manual says you can see the charging status by setting the ignition to the ON position, but later in the manual it contradicts itself by saying DO NOT put the ignition to the ON position while charging ? Even with the ignition in the ON position, I could't see anything obvious. Eventuallyi discovered that there are two dash lights, one red icon of a plug, which shows that the car is connected to a plug, and an orange one that shows the car is charging. Not the level of detail I was hoping for. Sitting listing to the radio, it eventually (after what felt like quite a short time) auto turns off. Something I wasn't expecting from an electric car. When the system turned off I noticed a much more detailed screen pops up in the drivers display area showing that the car is charging and the percentage charged - that's what I wanted to see. But to see that screen I have to press the START button THREE times?? seriously, surely there's a better way? So I'm sitting there for an hour and eighteen minutes (which to be fair I was impressed at that charge time), regularly starting the car and turning it off again to see the charge status. Now I know that sitting in the car while charging won't be the norm, as I'll either be charging it overnight, or at work, but still this didn't feel right.

I took the car back to the dealer and quite honestly had the worst dealer experience I've ever had. He didn't seem remotely interested in trying to sell me the car. It was like he expected me to hand in the keys and take off. I had to ask him if we could talk pricing. I asked if they'd been able to value the car and they said no, they couldn't give me a value on the car until "nearer the time" ?. i said what do you mean nearer the time? They said that because the car if ordered wouldn't arrive until march/April, they would have to value the car then. I said that's fair enough, but to know if I want to go ahead with a purchase, I need at least an indicative trade in price for the mini to know if it's viable. They said they have no idea how much the car is going to depreciate between now and then so they couldn't. I was pretty much out and disinterested at this point. but I went ahead and asked for prices on the Exclusive. He quite reluctantly did some tapping on a calculator and came back with a monthly price of £350...

That was not at all what I was expecting given the advertisments on MG and this particular dealers own websites. I expressed my dissapointment quite calmly, and thought I'd just enquire. Does that consider the £500 deposit you require? "Oh, no I haven't discounted that" - and then I asked about larger deposits and again made the point about the trade in but it didn't seem to be going anywhere so i just said I'd think about it. I've had no follow up with them at all.

So I like the car, won't be using that dealer, and am currently looking at options. i will only go for the car at a discounted price as it's full RRP puts it too close to other cars I like. I'm also very concerned about this RustGate situation, and given how poor MG appear to be both from a dealer and manufacturer perspective with communication (and the fact I live in Scotland), I worry that this car might be a mistake. I'm still on the side of wanting it just now though.

That was a way longer ramble than I was planning, but it was good for me to get it out!

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. ?

Mark
Click to expand...
It's good to hear your experience expressed like that. In fact I'm going to move your posts to a dedicated thread.
Personally I wouldn't get the MG because I've already decided that I want a 200+ mile car to replace my Ioniq. I'm looking at the ID.3 since I can't afford a Model 3. Any car approaching £40k and no brainer, it's a Model 3. But the ID.3 looks to be nearer £30k, so that would be ok.
 
Stuart Wright said:
It's good to hear your experience expressed like that. In fact I'm going to move your posts to a dedicated thread.
Personally I wouldn't get the MG because I've already decided that I want a 200+ mile car to replace my Ioniq. I'm looking at the ID.3 since I can't afford a Model 3. Any car approaching £40k and no brainer, it's a Model 3. But the ID.3 looks to be nearer £30k, so that would be ok.
Click to expand...

i had just assumed as the creator of the forum that you would own the MG EV!

I do like the look and sound of the ID.3 and with the additional range you can get with that, i think it's going to be the vehicle of choice for many.

Also, absolutely with you on the Model 3 comment, I suppose even the Kona is close enough to model 3 pricing that i would probably go Model 3 too if i was looking there.

The MG for me, feels like it will be a gateway car, if I can get it at the bargain price then i think it will be the perfect gateway into the electric world. As long as it doesn't rust ?
 
Portgordon said:
i had just assumed as the creator of the forum that you would own the MG EV!
Click to expand...
That's a fair assumption. I was inspired to create the forum after seeing how good the MG ZS EV is (and what a bargain it is) at an EV fair at the national motor museum. And I own www.AVForums.com too, and I don't own all the kit that's discussed there, so provided I know enough about the subject, I feel I can talk legitimately about it.
 
BC466154-9D6B-4789-B12D-EC87C0D827E0.jpeg

I did have a chuckle when I got into the mini the other day and saw I had 142 miles range with 3 bars left on the fuel gauge. At that point i’m normally thinking “I should fuel up”.
It’ll definitely be a different way of thinking about range and journey planning, but that’s all good and I’m sure I’ll get into it quickly enough.
 
I found the item about sitting in the car during charging very interesting. I had asked the dealer about this and was told that it was not possible because the car had to be locked whilst charging.
The handbook does not help!
For a short charging stop I would like to be able to sit in the car and monitor the procedure..........it appears that it is possible. Where did the 'press start button three times' come from?
 
Scriv said:
I found the item about sitting in the car during charging very interesting. I had asked the dealer about this and was told that it was not possible because the car had to be locked whilst charging.
The handbook does not help!
For a short charging stop I would like to be able to sit in the car and monitor the procedure..........it appears that it is possible. Where did the 'press start button three times' come from?
Click to expand...

You certainly have to lock the car to initiate the charge, so you can do that while standing next to the machine to make sure the screen on the charger tells you it's charging. Then once it's charging you can unlock the car and get in, as far as I know the car kept charging at this point, but I've read some comments that suggest the experience might be different depending on the type of charger you are using. I was using CCS for a fast charge, I believe it keeps charging even after unlocking (still needs to be locked to initiate the handshake though). I believe the experience may be different when using AC or Type 2, in that they may stop charging when the car is unlocked.

The three presses.... So like you the dealer had said that the car has to be locked to charge, so when I was in the vehicle, i was locking the car also. Sitting there, with the stereo on, but the equivalent of the "engine not running", the car kept going to sleep (radio automatically turning off etc.).

if I remember the sequence correctly:
1) Start Button First Press = Wakes the car and can listen to the radio again
2) Start Button Second Press (without foot on the brake so as to not start the power to the motors) = Equivalent of ACC position, so the dash lights all come on and it goes through some of its diagnostics, but it does not show you the status of charging.
3) Start Button Third Press = Manually turns the car off again. Radio, heating etc. all go off, but the central screen in the drivers dash now shows a picture of the car and the charging status (percentage charged, time on charge etc..). This screen then helpfully disappears again after a minute or so.

So, very bizarre but to get to the informative charge screen you have to turn the car off, which will likely mean turning it on first. And because all the screens timeout / disappear, you find yourself repeatedly starting / stopping the system.

That was just my first and only time trying it, so it may be I was missing something, but like you I took the time reading the manual and it offers only contradicting guidance!
 
It's like the software designers have never used an electric car.
From the perspective of someone who has used an Ioniq for years, you absolutely need to charge while sitting in the car, getting your stuff from inside it etc.
 
Last edited:
Mark,
So you are saying that the third press of the Start Button produces the percentage charged state information?
That's something else I had been looking for!

I must just add that I am enjoying the (almost) single pedal driving experience of the MG.
 
Scriv said:
Mark,
So you are saying that the third press of the Start Button produces the percentage charged state information?
That's something else I had been looking for!

I must just add that I am enjoying the (almost) single pedal driving experience of the MG.
Click to expand...

Correct (y) (turns everything else off though)
I really enjoyed the one pedal driving too! Really looking forward to it.
 
Many thanks for your prompt response and information. I shall enjoy having a chat with the MG dealer next week!
 
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