MG4 or ZS EV (Australia)

[BeamingJim]

Calling on the collective wisdom/opinions of this forum.

Here in Australia, the ZS EV has a discount ($3000) that makes it quite a bit cheaper than the MG4 (which is yet to arrive).

Taking into account on-road costs (WA estimated, in the case of the MG4), and including the EV rebate, the final approximate drive away price of the two models I'm considering are:

MG ZS EV Excite (base model) 50KWH (LFP) - AUD$42,000 (GBP 22,000)
MG4 Essence (mid-spec) 64KWH (NMC) - AUD$48,000 (GBP 25,000)

My use case is typically suburban, low annual kms, mountain biking and the odd trip to pick up stuff from the hardware store (sometimes bulky). Might do a 200km trip once in a while. I would be primarily charging at home from solar. I was leaning towards the ZS based on price and the fact it is LFP.

The kicker is that the discount expires before we get the chance to test drive the MG4 here.

I test drove the ZS EV and thought it felt pretty fun to drive despite being 'slow' on paper. I'm not worried about the lack of features/luxuries in the base model, we don't yet have an equivalent base model MG4 announced.

I realise asking this in the MG4 forum is likely to lead to some skewed poll results , but I'm interested to hear from anyone who has driven/owned both for a comparison, especially any gotchas with the ZS I might not have considered.

 

[okohll]

I've driven the MG ZS as a hire car (not the most recent model probably) and own the MG4. The main benefit of the 4 for me is that it's nicer to drive handling-wise. However for your case if you want to sometimes transport bulky stuff, I'd suggest the ZS. The boot space in the 4 is tiny, the ZS is a bit more normal. The range issue I'll leave, I've no idea what the charging situation is there.

 

[BeamingJim]

I've driven the MG ZS as a hire car (not the most recent model probably) and own the MG4. The main benefit of the 4 for me is that it's nicer to drive handling-wise. However for your case if you want to sometimes transport bulky stuff, I'd suggest the ZS. The boot space in the 4 is tiny, the ZS is a bit more normal. The range issue I'll leave, I've no idea what the charging situation is there.

Thanks. The on road charging situation here is slowly getting better I think.

Handling is also a factor, I've enjoyed a number of RWD performance cars so might get frustrated by the ZS.

 

[okohll]

Well as you say it can still be quite fun but at the end of the day it is front wheel drive and a bit higher off the road.

Out of interest, I just checked and the bike will fit into the 4 with both back seats put down and the front wheel removed, as long as the front seats aren't too far back (I'm 5'8, fine for me). If you've anything more than a handful of shopping bags to transport, putting the back seats down would be a must. Apologies for the crap camera quality.

 

[Robf]

Given your profile I would go for the zs, which I have. Very good ground clearance for those tracks and no problem solar charging LPF to 100%