10,000 km with my MG ZS EV: The good, the bad & the ugly

If I have learnt one thing from driving the MG ZS EV its that, people evolve and make better machines.

BHPian DrZhivago recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The Chinese Journey

The first time I came up close with a Chinese car was in the 2000s. It was in the middle east and it was at a mechanical workshop with my Dad and these guys specialised in servicing Cadillacs. Right next to this place there was this AC/Electrical workshop and there I saw a plain white car which looked boring and in one look I knew it was the Chery. Chery had by then got in a few small cars into the Middle east and they were dirt cheap so it sold quite decently initially. I don’t remember the exact model of this vehicle but I went ahead and checked out the car and it was brand new from the looks of it so I was like what is this doing at a 3rd party electrical workshop? The mechanic there told me something which stuck with me for years. “These chinese vehicles come with 5 year warranties and all but look at this Chery, its less than a year old and the AC stopped working right after delivery and the dealer fixed it up thrice but it always fails so the owner got it to us and even we cant do much. Its that bad.”

Cut to: Its 2019 and I am hearing good things about the MG ZS EV and I told my brother about this Chinese vehicle in a half joking manner. We had a running joke between us wherein I always encourage him to Upgrade to a Great Wall or Chery or Changan instead of the Mercs and Lexus/Toyota which he prefers. Now he is someone who is good with knowing evolving technology so he was like we should give EVs a serious look. Thats when I started reading up and studying these Chinese brands and I was blown away. Yes, the Tesla is the holy grail but from my reading then the likes of BYD and all are true pioneers and they are bound to be the new Toyota and GM I understoodt. A decade or more back I looked down upon all these brands and here I am contemplating getting an EV from them. I told myself that I used to look down upon Korean vehicles growing up because they were built poorly and there was even an incident I know wherein an Asia motors van had its steering coming off during a highway drive. But look at the Koreans now, they are at par with the world leaders in automobile engineering. So I kept reading and following up the ZS EV on the TeamBHP forums and got an understanding that its fairly decent but still I couldnt take the EV plunge. I waited.

A lot of things happened in between 2019 and 2022 and we all know how crazy it was so I wont go there. In March of 2022 I finally decided to test drive the new MG ZS EV in Trivandrum and the dealer was fairly quick in getting me a test drive even though they were swamped from their talks. I was floored. Anybody would be in awe the first time they drive an EV and I was no different. The first thing I noticed was that everything seemed sturdy and gave off an European vibe, except for the Rotary gear which somewhat felt flimsy. I was comparing it against the Jaguar XFs rotary gear shifter and I was nitpicking. I made my Dad also test drive it and he too loved it. I told my Brother who wasnt in town and he told me if I liked it then we should proceed with the booking because the waiting period was getting long they told me. I booked it. And then begins the drama.

“The delay is because of chip shortage sir, all bookings are delayed.” This was the usual reply from the dealer and I was growing tired of it and it all seemed to be a smokescreen. This was in November and I could see others getting vehicles and in other cities there were steady deliveries. I contacted MG and told them that its way past by delivery time which was promised at the time of booking and they just redirected me to the dealer and thats one thing I hated. I stopped complaining. Then suddenly one day I was asked to pay upfront for a White ZS EV if I wanted it and it should be quick. I was feeling cornered. I have heard of horror stories of people who paid upfront without seeing or inspecting the vehicle so I declined. Also my preferred color was Silver. I somehow sensed by then that the dealer wont give me a vehicle because I wont be playing the game by their rules.

A Week before new years I decided to use my contacts. I know quite a few people due to the nature of my work and I called up an auto journalist in Kochi who is a friend and he is someone who I like for the way he advises people looking to buy new cars. When I told him about my ordeal he told me its strange because there is absolutely no shortage of ZS EV’s. Within a minute he got me in touch with the Dealers in Kochi and their team was like Sir if you had booked it with us earlier your car would have finished its second or third free service by now. I felt bad. I dont like being lied to. Nobody does. The dealer I booked with earlier was not giving me the vehicle on purpose I felt. I made a second booking and cancelled my previous booking and they were not worried about me cancelling the booking either. I made the booking before new years and I was given a choice of colors I could choose from and I chose silver. The vehicle came from the factory within a few days and my friend did a proper PDI for me and the dealer was very helpful and open about everything. I just had to wait for a particular number to be allotted and finally a day before our Republic Day I got the ZS EV Delivered and it was a 200KM Drive home. I didnt want to do a long drive this soon since I was truly a noob with EVs, all anxious and a bundle of nerves. I felt like a kid. Again,

Before starting the 200KM drive from Kochi to Trivandrum I pestered the ZS EV thread on our forum by asking childish questions like will my ZS cover 200km on a single charge. I just couldnt believe in real world conditions this EV could do it even though people were doing much more. I was scared. All the users here on the thread assured me I was good to go and still I was nervous. I was a fool. The vehicle covered the distance with much charge left when I got home. I understood I could easily get 300KM+ range on a single charge and even more. I felt happy.

The next morning when it was time to charge the vehicle at home I was full of doubt. I was using a normal 16A plug point and its where I must thank fellow Tbhp’ian @das_ren_auto as he was the one guiding me and I am forever grateful. He suggested I get a Bolt EV charging device for better protection and I got that and also got the 7kw charger installed at the office and everything was going smooth. But then, something happened.

It was night and I was got into the MG and started it. I was at home. I saw the dreaded HV battery error and I was like why? I could put the vehicle into D and R and all that. I was able to drive it. I didnt risk it. I called up the Service center the next day and they asked me to bring it in. The place was like under 5KM from my home but that drive scared me. After the initial smooth drive with the warnings flashing, the vehicle suddenly went into limp mode and then I stopped the vehicle by the road and the service manager who is a really good guy sent a mechanic who reached me in no time and he took over and drove the vehicle while it kept going into limp mode and back. I was distraught. It was barely one month and the first service had just got over the other day.

That afternoon they called me from the service and told me it seems to be a rat bite and showed me photos of their inspection. I too inspected the floor where the car was parked and I found a wire cut and it was shocking because it felt like it was cut violently like bitten off and I don’t have pets and the compound is safe. I now had to claim insurance and wait. I waited and it took me a month to get back the vehicle after they changed the wiring harness and all. The part delivery was slow and the contact given by a fellow Bhpian @Speedmeister really helped me. I am again grateful. TeamBhp membership sure does have its perks I understood. From that point, where I got the vehicle back I made it a point to get a rodent repellent coating and also got the spray. The vehicle did many long drives and some of them were high range drives and the vehicle took on the terrain pretty well. It crossed the 10,000KM line and I had another surprise waiting, albeit not a pleasant one.

After I got my 10k km service booked something happened. I got in the vehicle one morning and was driving when barely after a klick the Parking Brake error started flashing along with the HIll Hold Assist failure sign. I got back and drove it the next day to the service center. It was driving normally but the warnings flashed. I was disappointed as to why this keeps happening just when I was getting a hang of the vehicle. They kept the vehicle under observation and reset the module and the error disappeared but I was worried because I heard about some issues like this on a Kerala MG ZS EV owners whatsapp group wherein the error showed up and the hand brake got stuck and they replaced the entire hand brake assembly. So I told the service guys about this and they talked with MG and told the replacement cant happen since it wasn’t stuck and this was more like a software error of sorts as its not showing up even after multiple test drives. I got the service done and started driving it with a bit of scepticism because I was scared of this EPB issue. Slowly I understood it must have been a software issue and I let it go and started enjoying the vehicle.

Now, as I come to the end of the 10k KM update I would like to list some of my dislikes and not my likes even though my likes outweigh the slight issues I found.

• I read much about how bad the rain sensing wipers are and I thought I could live with that but boy was I wrong. Its utterly horrible. I mean how hard can it be to get that right?
• The cars A pillar blocks my view when doing turns on winding roads and at times I feel vulnerable and have to move about to get a view. I havent seen people mention this and I was surprised when I first faced this on a winding road.
• This has been mentioned again but the sound system is really underwhelming for a vehicle in the 30 lakh bracket. It’s below basic if I have to be honest.

Lastly, this write up is an exercise to document my thoughts for posterity and nothing more. If I have learnt one thing from driving the MG ZS EV its that, people evolve and make better machines. What a journey its been for Chinese vehicle manufacturers who have certainly impressed me with their builds now. I hope they keep getting better because who doesnt like better cars? God Speed

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