MG Motor India which had introduced its first electric crossover model – MG ZS EV – in India in January 2020, has introduced a mild update to the all-electric SUV which, as per the company, saw 3,160 bookings in the 2020 calendar year.

The 2021 MG ZS EV, introduced in two variants – Excite and Exclusive – is priced at Rs 20.99 lakh and Rs 24.18 lakh, ex-showroom, respectively. the e-SUV has been revised with a few critical changes coming on board. First of all, the company has improved and evolved the HT (hi-tech) 44.5kWh battery pack that now delivers a certified range of 419km instead of 340km of the outgoing model. MG Motor India is confident about customers being able to retrieve anywhere between 300 and 400km in real-world driving conditions.

The company has further raised the ground clearance to 177mm in order to expand the ZS's appeal in more markets than the five key metro cities in India – Delhi-NCR, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad – where it was being sold so far.

A result of the raised ground clearance is that the battery pack height from the ground has been upped to 205mm and therefore, the 2021 MG ZS EV will be offered across 31 cities in India including places like Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Kolhapur, Puducherry and Vijaywada.

According to Rajeev Chaba, President and Managing Director, MG Motor India, “We are proud to introduce the evolution of the ZS EV in a short span of a year, reiterating our commitment to the EV space. To extend our customers a superior ownership experience, we are building robust charging infrastructure in India along with our ecosystem partners."

The MG XS EV comes equipped with an all-electric drivetrain with a PMSM motor that develops 143bhp and 353Nm of torque. The car is claimed to do a 0-100kph sprint in 8.5 seconds. The motor and battery pack are both IP-67 rated and the e-SUV being sold overseas has also received a Euro NCAP 5-star rating.

In India too, the MG ZS EV offers six airbags, ABS with EBD and brake assist, and electronic stability control as active safety systems.

Five-way charging support
With EVs still in their nascent stages, MG Motor India is doing its bit in accelerating the adoption curve of these zero-emission vehicles.

The company is working to strengthen the charging support for the crossover and has devised a five-way charging infrastructure support for the ZS EV:
- The ZS comes with an on-board charger
- MG is setting up fast AC chargers at customers' homes / offices
- Installing DC chargers at its dealerships
-  Tying up with charging infrastructure companies such as Exicom, Umicore, Tata Power and Fortum
- And offering Charge-on-the-go roadside assistance service

The company also claims to be working intensively in the areas of second-life battery management and sustainable battery recycling.

The updated model also gets an enhanced tyre size to now offer an aspect ratio of 215/55 R-17.

MG Motors India is offering 5-5-5-5 MG Shield support on the ZS EV with five free services and five years of free roadside assistance. The company is also offering a battery pack warranty of 8 years or up to 150,000km.

In the April-December 2020 period, MG Motors India sold a total of 868 ZS EVs. 

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