SAIC Motor has officially revealed the MG electric vehicle line-up that will mark the return of the brand to Malaysia. Two models will be rolled out into our market including the MG ZS EV subcompact crossover SUV.
MG ZS EV Malaysia expected pricing, colourways, warranty
What made today’s announcement interesting is that MG Malaysia not only revealed which models are coming to our market but also their variants and expected pricing. Unlike the MG4 which has several variants to choose from, the MG ZS EV will be released into Malaysia in just one variant with an estimated price tag of RM129,000.
Colour-wise, the ZS EV in Malaysia can be obtained in Dynamic Red, Arctic White, Black Pearl, and Monument Silver. It also comes standard with a 7-year / 150,000km vehicle warranty as well as a separate 8-year/180,000km warranty for the high-voltage battery.
MG ZS EV performance, battery, charging
The ZS EV has been fitted with a 130kW (174hp) electric motor that also produces 280Nm of torque. Alongside a maximum speed of 170km/h, MG claimed that its subcompact crossover can go from 0 to 100km/h in 8 seconds.
It has also been fitted with a 51.1kWh battery although the useable capacity is limited to 49kWh and this allows the ZS EV to deliver a WLTP-rated range of 320km. When it comes to charging, this EV can support DC fast charging of up to 50kW while it has also been fitted with a 7kW onboard AC charger.
MG has said that it takes around 54 minutes for the ZS EV to go from 10% to 80% via a 50kW DC fast charger. Naturally, the AC charging time is much longer at around 8 hours.
How does the MG ZS EV fare against BYD offerings?
Since MG pointed out that the ZS EV is “family-sized”, one may think this model could rival the mighty BYD Atto 3. However, we reckoned that the ZS EV is closer to the BYD Dolphin instead.
In general, both Dolphin and Atto 3 have longer wheelbase and wider than the ZS EV although they were not as tall as MG’s offering. The overall length of the ZS EV is also more than the Dolphin but not as long as the Atto 3.
This is how their dimensions looked like when compared to each other:
- MG ZS EV – 2,581mm (wheelbase) / 1,625mm (width) / 1,809mm (height) / 4,323mm (length)
- BYD Dolphin – 2,700mm / 1,770mm / 1,570mm / 4,290mm
- BDY Atto 3 – 2,720mm / 1,875mm / 1,615mm / 4,455mm
In terms of performance, the ZS EV is certainly more powerful than the 70kW (94hp) Dolphin Standard Range (SR) although the latter has more range at 340km. However, the performance advantage was eliminated from the table when compared with the 150kW (201hp) Dolphin Extended Range (ER).
Furthermore, the Dolphin ER not only can travel further at up to 427km but it is also slightly cheaper than the ZS EV. Meanwhile, the Atto 3 SR also triumphed over the ZS EV in terms of performance since it has a 150kW electric motor and 345km of range.
There is also a matter of DC fast charging capability as the ZS EV is the slowest of them at only 50kW. As a comparison, Dolphin SR goes up to 60kW while Atto 3 SR maxes out at 70kW and both Dolphin ER as well as Atto ER go all the way up to 80kW.
When you look at the pricing factor, the Dolphin SR is the cheapest of the bunch with an on-the-road price tag of RM100,530 without insurance followed by the Dolphin ER which costs RM125,530. Since ZS EV has an estimated pricing of RM129,000, that is something that Atto 3 is not able to match as it is currently priced from RM150,430 onwards.
So, it seems that ZS EV may have edged Atto 3 in terms of pricing but one can still be steered away towards BYD’s offering due to Atto 3’s performance, range, and size. In addition to that, BYD also has the Dolphin to entice customers with its value proposition.
