For the benefit of Smokie and anyone else interested.
Have had a white MG ZS EV Excite (cheaper spec - Exclusive is the plastic seat/giant sunroof/more gizmos one) for a year and nearly 12,000 miles.
What is it? Small SUV style FWD electric car - 145bhp, 44.5kWh battery - looks like a mix of old Mazda and Korean styles - inoffensive enough.
Performance: Quick as per most EVs - on paper 0-60 8.5s, on the road warm hatch to 30mph then about the same as a good 2 litre turbodiesel - pulls well to the limiter (96mph indicated) - much better than LEAF/ZOE at fast overtakes.
Handling: Fairly soggy - has 215/50x17 Michelins which grip well in dry but quite a lot of spring travel, under-damped, and torsion beam rear means fast bends on rough roads show up its limits.
Build: Anything you touch is decent material including soft-touch dashboard - door caps/panels/etc usual hard plastic. Well screwed together, doors close with a decent clunk. Panels are quite thin/flexible on roof/doors though solid structure and 5* NCAP
Interior: Excite = cloth seats (unheated), electric mirros (unheated), one-touch windows, infotainment ok - only front speakers and tweeters, and built in Nav is a bit crap, does have AA/A Carplay standard.
MG Pilot: effectively autosteer/brake/lane keeping like Tesla's autopilot but not as good - works well on motorways. Rarely use it though.
Occupants: flat floor so 3 adults can fit across rear bench - no middle rear headrest though. Driver seat lots of adjustability, steering for rake only though I can fit comfortably (which I can't in LEAF as the wheel sits on my lap)
Boot: very good size, adjustable floor - can have a space saver but needs bought separately if you don't want the gunk/compressor.
Range: 120-130 miles winter, 150-170 miles summer driven reasonably quickly - better through towns, worse on fast roads as per all EVs
DC Charging: I rarely use rapid chargers - seems to be variable depending on various factors and luck - 45-60mins empty to 80% is typical - peak charge is around 75kW but this isn't sustained and some chargers seem to struggle to break 35kW - probably still software tweaks to be made.
AC charging: 7kW single phase, so empty to full in ~7 hours (20 hours plugged into a 3-pin)
Overall - decent car - for under £19k 70-plate with delivery miles and metallic is an absolute steal for a family-sized EV (can you even get a Focus automatic for that these days?).
Currently a few of the Exclusive spec variants for £20.5k in stock - adds fake leather, rear speakers, big opening pano roof, heated front seats and mirrors (missed the heated mirrors last winter but never need heaters with cloth seats), some extra safety gubbins inc blind spot monitoring.
MG can manage the numbers unlike Hyundai/KIA/VW - they deserve to get some recognition for their EVs IMO.
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Yes, thanks, a real world factual write up ! See quite a few on the roads around here.
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There are many MGs around here, though not electric as far as I know. I've been in a couple, I like them.
There is an electric charging infrastructure, but it is small localised and inadequate.
I very much look forward to the day when an electric car is viable for me.
I reckon it'd have to have a range of 250 miles or so though. Perhaps that means it'll have to be hybrid for the forseeable future.
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The larger HS looks a decent machine although it only comes as petrol or plug-in hybrid (with 260bhp, 0-60 6.9s) at present.
mg.co.uk/mg-hs-plugin/
Each iteration of new MG brings them closer to Jap/Korean/Euro standard I think.
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A belated thanks for that Lygonos, very useful and informative. it sounds as good as I would have expected for the money.
SWMBO was "a bit funny" with me when I showed the car to her. She said "I didn't know you were looking for a new car".
Well, tbh I suppose I wasn't, but that really caught my eye, and it seemed really cheap.
I've probably missed any bargains around this registration change, and clearly need to do a bit more groundwork before changing, but I may well have a much closer look at them in the meantime so I can be ready to pounce if the offers return.
I suppose maybe something with a bit more range would be useful if it meant I would be getting rid of the second car but I'm not ruling out the MG at the moment.#
Thanks again!!
Last edited by: smokie on Sun 8 Nov 20 at 13:01
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Bjorn Nyland or @teslabjorn on Youtube has extensive test info on all electric cars and has indeed bought one of these for his in-laws use when back in Thailand. He is constantly testing and evaluating EVs in Norway.
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A pall of mine got one of the first of these MG EVs. He had s few issues with the car not charging overnight, leaving it uncharged in the morning. Not ideal! They seem very good value, although an EV that doesn’t charge doesn’t strike me as good value.
I don’t understand the ‘British EV’ in the title though. There is nothing British about this. Designed, engineered and built in China by a Chinese who stick a ‘British’ label on them.
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>> A pall of mine got one of the first of these MG EVs.
How could he bear it?
;-)
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>> How could he bear it?
It's one of the smaller EVs, so no problem.
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There was an advert on telly for them tonight, filmed in Rhyl. Says something, not quite sure what though
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I went to Ryhl once. There was nothing of interest there, and I can think of no reason ever to go back. Not that my opinion counts for much. I'm sure there are those who see a beauty in it that escaped me.
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>>I went to Ryhl once.
So did I. And I used to think Blackpool (Portsmouth, Margate, Ramsgate, Hunstanton, Skegness) was bad.
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>>I went to Ryhl once
I went often. My Grandfather was a champion chrysanthemum grower and there was an annual competition there.
I quite liked the place.
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Come to think, the place I went to was spelled differently.
;-)
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>> Come to think, the place I went to was spelled differently.
>> ;-)
Rhyly?
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lyhR ? That's what I see in my mirrors as I speed away
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>> Come to think, the place I went to was spelled differently.
>> ;-)
>>
.....Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch......?
(I can see why you used "Rhyl", though).
;-)
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Easy for you to say. My V60 is going there next week for its first service. I won't be going with it as it's being collected.
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...does it have the dealer sticker across the back and rear side windows....?
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For no reason at all, I'm going to see what happens when you try to put that into a sat nav.
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...don't - it's too close to Rhyl!!!....
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It's ok, even if I inadvertently tried to go there the police would stop me at the moment. Every cloud...
;-)
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Full of druggies and perverts now, honestly it is awful. Saw lots of what goes on there when I worked for Victim Support and the NHS Courier Service. I go there occasionally. I sold a chain saw horse on FB to a guy who wanted delivered to a place nicknamed "the reservation"...pulled up in the Volvo, he appeared on his bike, got talking to him (like you do) and he admitted that he thought we were the Police....
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=y210CEYnTGs
The Rhyl advert, some of it was filmed there (the Blue Bridge) and on the Great Orme. There were sightings of the dinosaurs around the area, and I believe one of them was arrested for something or other.
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Robert Llewellyn (Red Dwarf bloke) has a YouTube channel called Fully Charged which is all about EV's.
www.youtube.com/user/fullychargedshow
Here is his review of the MG ZS EV
youtu.be/5kc3soIPQAg
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For the last year I've been working in the despatch department of an MG main dealer. It's a small, family firm so everyone mucks in with everything. We are selling a lot of ZS EVs and have just received our first MG5 estate and HS PHEV.
They seem to sell themselves, mostly to people who've done their research and done the maths. A good proportion have previously owned or still own an older MG, interestingly.
There is a Comfort update available which quells the bongs and tidies up the touchscreen interface. All cars sold since September come with it; older vehicles can have it applied for a fee as it's not deemed essential to the continued functioning of the vehicle.
The only issues we're seeing with EVs so far are owner-inflicted. Door mirror indicator lenses and paint touch-up pens are good sellers.
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The MG5 estate should do for MG what the Octavia did for Skoda - similar price to the ZS and about 25% better range (so ~160 winter, 210 summer miles). 0-60 is ~7.5s which is pretty sharp.
It's a fairly bland thing externally but a cabbie doing 30k miles/year is going to save a stack, and the interior looks a tad better than the ZS.
mg.co.uk/files/2020-09-39/MG5_INTERIOR_STEERING_SUNLIGHT_WEB.jpg
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>>
>> It's a fairly bland thing externally but a cabbie doing 30k miles/year is going to
>> save a stack, and the interior looks a tad better than the ZS.
>>
I had a minicab ride in a Prius+ yesterday. Very, well, uneventful, which I suppose is what you want from a minicab ride.
If you regularly wanted to carry more than four passengers, and two of them weren't too tall, this would be the business.
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>>If you regularly wanted to carry more than four passengers, and two of them weren't too tall, this would be the business.
The hybrid London cabs seat 6 in the back comfortably and can come with a huge glass roof which is nice for sightseeing.
They're about 70 grand I think (over £800/mth lease) so not for your typical Uber driver.
www.levc.com/tx-electric-taxi/
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Called by the local hospital today to return the FiL's 24 hour ECG recorder. I parked near the entrance whilst I waited for Mrs RP to return from the drop off point. Whilst I was there two of these electric MGs turned up in convoy to park in the Disabled Bays...there are loads around here (the hospital is nominally in Rhyl !)
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Ok Its caught BMWs strange recent grill disease, the rest however looks pretty sharp and very close to its concept car. Love the long dash display floating on the flying buttresses.
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>> It has bumcheeks for a front grille....
>> Ok Its caught BMWs strange recent grill disease
Apparently to a recent car review of a BMW, the Chinese are a fan of large grills, hence why the MG is the size it is.
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>> Who designed this?
>>
>> It has bumcheeks for a front grille....
Where does the electric plug in go?
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>>Where does the electric plug in go?
Innuendo - the Italian word for suppository (ISIHAC).
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>> Innuendo - the Italian word for suppository (ISIHAC).
I'd heard another version of that.......
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>> Where does the electric plug in go?
Behind the grill.
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 12 Nov 20 at 14:09
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>> Where does the electric plug in go?
It's shown in the YouTube clip that I posted further up.#
youtu.be/5kc3soIPQAg?t=908
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>> Who designed this?
>>
>> It has bumcheeks for a front grille....
That's the way it is.
BMW owners and drivers like that sort of thing.
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>> BMW owners and drivers like that sort of thing.
Thats a pretty sweeping statement, I am, I don't, and mine isn't.
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 12 Nov 20 at 14:09
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Update:
Back in November ordered a replacement to the ZS EV
A long range ZS EV (73kWh vs 44kWh, 250 miles vs 150 miles) in Trophy spec ('leather' seats, pano roof - same as Exclusive mentioned in the original post)
Due on Monday.
£26,650 via new-car-discount.com - £32k if you ordered one today from them (£34.5k list price) which gives you an idea how the prices of everything have gone up.
Haven't checked any others, but Cazoo are offering me £18,200 for my current ZS at 32mths old and 36k miles. £2k less than I paid for it new.
Last edited by: Lygonos on Mon 8 Aug 22 at 23:14
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Presume you got the Affinity discount in Nov but now now?
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>>Presume you got the Affinity discount in Nov but now now?
Suspect it was a fleet price as never had to confirm any details to qualify for Affinity.
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>>ZS EV
>>Due on Monday
Nice! Hope you enjoy Doc!
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>>Nice! Hope you enjoy Doc!
Cheers - wasn't sure when it was arriving - paid £240 for a pair of front tyres only 3 weeks ago (was down to 2mm - rears still at 5.5mm) - ah well!
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A week and 400 miles in.
What a fantastic jump it is going from "150" to "250" miles of range.
Driven carefully that's Edinburgh to Aberdeen and back without any anxiety.
The rear suspension seems a tad firmer (good) and the tyres have gone from 215/50x17 to 215/55x17 (also good) - whether they have added extra soundproofing or it's due to a more sensible set-up it seems even quieter on the go.
More pokey at higher speed: the previous car would drop from 100% to 80% power after 60mph while this keeps up 100% past 8X.
New motor is more efficient around town/suburban speeds (much the same on Mway) - lower nominal torque output but revs faster so more power - old one redlined at 10,200rpm - I expect this one is closer to 14,000rpm at Vmax.
Not a fan of vinyl/leather seats generally and these ones don't alter that opinion - microfibre seats on our 145k FRV show no signs of wear and are perfectly ok to sit on in winter.
In saying that, the new ZS has an app that lets you pre-heat/cool from your phone as well as monitor functions (and locate the car if the Alzheimer's is kicking in)
£26,650 from online broker - bargain!
Sold the old one to Cazoo - 69 plate white Excite ("Jock" spec) with 37.5k miles - 15 minutes after they arrived £18,250 landed on my account.
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Pal of mine bought a Golf sized ID3 ...a long wait. I’ve not travelled in it, or even know it’s range, but living in a terraced house he charges it up at local supermarkets and has had mixed fortunes when it’s needed charging on longer holiday journeys.
Glad you like your new MG EV Lygonos..that price seems excellent value. Not that I know much about EV prices.
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>> ..that price seems excellent value. Not that I know much about EV prices.
Have a look at prices for all cars if you haven't checked recently - RRP for the lowliest Astra is almost £25k!
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I ordered an ID3 in December for which I am still waiting. Price 29,700 Nearly new model with exactly the same spec. on Autotrader today £43,990. The car market is in chaos.
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>> on Autotrader today £43,990. The car market is
>> in chaos.
Price asked and price sold are not the same thing.
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Absolutely but even if you were to take five grand off that price its still a stupendous markup on the price paid.
It the first time in my life I have known where normal cars are actually appreciating in value.
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A 'fine example' here for a smidgen under £40k:
heycar.co.uk/vehicle/volkswagen-id3-2021-150kw-family-pro-performance-58kwh-5dr-auto-6447e47a
Last edited by: Dog on Mon 22 Aug 22 at 16:26
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Not bad but a year older and 6500 miles moreon the clock than the one I was looking at . I would guess the original price of that car was around £26000. Absolutely crazy.
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And on the flip side, there was I seriously hoping that prices for older 911s would drop like a stone.
Hasn’t happened.
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I saw a couple of reviews of the new MG4 EV last night on YouTube.
Looks a very nice and well put together car.
Only 3 models to chose from, which simplifies things:-
SE (51kWh battery)
SE Long Range (64kWh battery)
Trophy Long Range. (64kWh battery)
The 64kWh battery gives a range of up to 281 miles.
Prices start at £26,000.
More info here
www.mg.co.uk/new-cars/mg4-ev
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 2 Sep 22 at 13:13
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Funny enough I also just looked at this as we need another EV.
Might buy this one - any ideas what is the best model?
I'm leaning to the SE long range.
It adds only 2.5K on the base for 13KWh extra of battery and a stronger motor. That's not a bad price per KWh added.
The trophy adds things like heated seats and steering, electric seat adjustment, 4 more safety warning features and that horrid spoiler on the rear that takes 10miles off the range. I think I could live without the extra features.
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In the favour of the SE 51kWh is the battery is a LiFePO one - lower energy density than the NMC of the 64kWh cars, but happily sits at 100% charge for long periods, much safer if punctured, and very resistant to degrading.
64 will almost certainly be the bigger seller for now, though it is likely a 77kWh version will be unveiled at the end of the year.
A dual motor MG4 is due next year with ~450bhp and 0-60mph in under 4 seconds.
Has been unveiled in China as the Mulan Triumph Edition
www.pistonheads.com/news/electric-vehicles/behold-the-450hp-mg4-triumph-edition/46147
Last edited by: Lygonos on Sat 3 Sep 22 at 00:43
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MG - Chinese-built British EV - No FM2R
