MG (Morris Garages) Motor has announced its first electric car, the ZS EV, in India. It follows the company's Hector SUV that was also launched in India earlier this year. While the prices and availability of the MG ZS EV haven't been revealed yet, it is expected to be priced around Rs 20 lakh-mark.
The electric car is seen as a viable competitor in the electric vehicles segment in India going up against the likes of the Hyundai Kona, which was launched earlier this year for Rs 25 lakh.
MG claims that the ZS EV can travel for 340 kilometers on a full charge and uses a liquid-cooled NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) battery from CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited) which is the world's third-largest battery provider for electric vehicles. The battery is rated at 44.5 kWh and is capable of providing 353 Nm torque and 143 ps horsepower. The ZS EV can go from 0 to 100kmph in 8.5 seconds.
MG Motor has also partnered with various companies for its services like the charging station that's being deployed by Fortum and eChargeBays across the five cities the ZS EV will initially be available in.
The car comes with a charging cable and an AC fast charger for recharging the vehicle at homes and offices. However, the quickest way to recharge the ZS EV is the 50kW charging solution that's being installed in public places and at select MG Motor showrooms. It can recharge the car from 0 to 80% in under 50 minutes. This is comparatively faster than the AC fast charging solution, which can take anywhere between 6-8 hours for a full charge.
Additionally, Fortum revealed during the announcement that it is targeting one public fast-charging bay for every five kilometers in cities and one every 25 kilometers on highways.
MG ZS EV is fitted with a PM 2.5 filter inside, which ensures that users breathe clean air while driving and traveling in the car. The car also has a sunroof, which covers around 90% of the total roof area and can be controlled via voice commands, just like on the MG Hector.
Inside, the MG ZS EV has an 8-inch touchscreen powered by the iSMART EV 2.0 system, which monitors the car and allows intuitive controls for users to interact with the vehicle. The iSMART EV 2.0 has received some graphics upgrades for its interface and is powered by a six-core processor.
The dashboard displays details like charging information, weather updates by AccuWeather, CO2 saved and can play songs via pre-loaded Gaana app. It also allows users to search for the nearest charging station and displays it via TomTom maps. It also comes with an embedded SIM and can also connect to your home Wi-Fi. However, due to telecom regulations, the car cannot create its Wi-Fi hotspot.
Users can interact with the car via 100+ voice commands that let them perform basic functionalities like playing a song or searching for the nearest battery charging station in case the car is running out of juice.
We'll know more about the MG ZS EV as we near its official launch date, which is pegged to be sometime in January 2020. MG Motor also hinted that it would showcase more electric vehicles from its catalog during the Auto Expo 2020 in February.
