All you need to know about charging MG ZS Electric SUV | Charging time & Cost to Charge

MG may sound English, but since the bankruptcy of the British sports car manufacturer, the brand name has been owned by a Chinese car company for almost fifteen years. In 2017, MG 'new style' compact crossover first set foot in Europe with the ZS; and now the electric variant is also available in India.

This guide presents you the key specifications and everything that you need to know about charging your MG ZS Electric SUV.

Key specifications of MG ZS EV

MG ZS EV feature a battery pack of 44.5 kWh with 263 kilometres of driving range. However, the range varies in different driving conditions with an average around 220 kilometres.

For the test, we started the EV with its full charge and came back at ~ 224 km when the battery became empty. Important to note that the MG EV gave us a warning of low battery at 50 km and 30 km remaining; and the whole trip was with an average consumption of 18.3 kWh per 100 km.

Other key specifications:

Top Speed : 140 km/h    |   Total Power : 105 kW (143 PS)
Total Torque : 353 Nm   |   Euro NCAP safety rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

How to Charge MG ZS EV | Charging port location & Connector type

The MG ZS Electric SUV features a CCS2 combo (DC + Type 2 AC) connector at the front side. But it normally can’t be spotted immediately; it is hidden behind (part of) the grille, which folds up only when you try to connect the charging cable.

Open the front grill, plugin the charging cable and start charging using your RFID or mobile app. 

 


Good to know: The ZS EV starts charging only when the car (doors) are locked; this is a safety mechanism; so, don’t get alarmed or call the charge point operator before checking whether the vehicle is locked 😊.

How long does it take to charge a MG ZS EV

The MG ZS EV can be charged at at any possible charging point, be it from a regular wall sockets at home / office, dedicated charging stations, AC public charging stations on the streets or at DC fast chargers along the highways.

MG ZS EV contains an on-board charger of 6.6 kW and can handle up to 76 kW of DC charging. How fast the MG can charge depends on the charging station used and the existing battery capacity (SoC) of the car at the moment (among many other minor parameters). 

The tables below show all possible options for charging. 

What is the best AC charging station MG ZS EV

As you see in the above table, the maximum charging speed at AC supply is limited by MG ZS EV’s onboard charger capacity of 6.6 kW. Thus, it is best to buy a 7.4 kW charger for your home/workplace; the charging is not going to be faster even if you buy 3 phase chargers such as 11 kW or 22 kW. 

In case of DC fast charging, the car has a maximum speed limitation of 76 kW; so connecting to ultra fast rapid chargers (such as 175 kW or 350 kW) is not any useful.

How much does it cost to charge a MG ZS EV in India?

There is no uniform pricing scheme in India (yet); different eMobility providers invoice their customers at different schemes (on a combination of per kWh consumption, start tariff and parking per minute rates). Above calculation was made with the pricing model of Fortum - New Delhi.

Also here the costs are indicated for the full charging of the battery from from 0-100%, which may rarely happen. For example, if you plug-in for charging at 30% of battery you may deduct 30% from the below indicated costs.

Charging location	Assumptions	Charging cost
At Home	Electricity per unit = Rs. 6	Rs. 267 [= 44.5 x 6]
At 7.4 kW AC public stations (Type-2 connector)	Start Price = Rs. 15  Price per kWh = Rs. 13	Rs. 593.5 [15 + (44.5 x 12.9)]
At 50 kW DC public stations (CCS2 connector)	Start Price = Rs.49  Price per minute = Rs.15 > 80% charge = 42 minutes	Rs. 679 [= 49 + (42 x 15)]

Cost of running MG ZS EV - in comparison with similar petrol & diesel SUVs

Assumptions: The EV is used 50 km per day and charged at home (domestic electricity rate of Rs. 6 / Unit   | Cost of petrol: Rs. 80/litre   |   Cost of diesel: Rs. 70/litre

Description	MG ZS EV (charge at home)	Similar Petrol SUV	Similar Diesel SUV
Mileage (Range / Total electricity consumption for a single charge)	5.06 km/unit  (= 225 km /44,5 units)	16 km/litres	21 km/litres
Cost of electricity (or) fuel per km (Fuel rate /mileage)	Rs. 1.19  (=6 / 5.06)	Rs.  5.00 (=80 / 16)	Rs.  3.33 (=70 / 21)
Cost of running MG ZS EV per day (50 km per day)	Rs. 59	Rs. 250	Rs. 167
Cost of running MG ZS EV in 5 years (5 x 15,000 km per year)	Rs. 71200	Rs. 3 Lakhs	Rs. 2 Lakhs

In short: The charging cost of MG ZS electric vehicle is 64% cheaper than fueling a similar diesel SUV ; and 76% cheaper than a similar petrol SUVs, in a period of 5 years. 

Not to forget the fact that the electric vehicles cost much cheaper in maintenance as well. So overall, the total cost of ownership of EV is economic (especially when you charge at home) and can save you a lot of money in comparison to regular petrol/ diesel vehicles.

Hope this post answered all your questions about charging MG ZS Electric SUV. Did I miss anything? Or do you have any specific question? Let me know, I’d be glad to answer.