<This post has been moved from medium.com where i had originally published>
PS: Within minutes of publishing this, I have been corrected on the ORVM gap. Thanks to Rupam & Vivek. Corrected it inline below.
First impression is the best impression they say, lets see if that’s the case with my brand new MG ZS EV 2022. I clocked 100KM within 24 hours of receiving the delivery and rubber met the road on many expectations that had built up. So, its best to record here before driving too far in the memory lane.
Instant pickup, joy of driving without engine noise & automatic transmission and low cost of driving are first things everyone talks about hence I will not detail about them. They are all true though.
Sale & Delivery experience from MG Rajajinagar, Bangalore was very good. No complaints whatsoever.
- Overall build quality feels good & sturdy. Except for in the EV specific front grill & charging port door which is wobbly and feels like plastic
- Dashboard display has apt info, is very neatly organized & takes very little time to get used to
- Maps seem to be really good, even calls out warnings on speedbreakers & curves
- Infotainment system is very good in terms of organization of apps, layout etc. It takes a little time to get familiarized due to the large volume content.
- Wireless mobile charger is a huge plus and works really well. Other cars I have seen with wireless charger has alignment issues but in MG I could just throw the phone and it starts charging.
- Map pockets & bottle holders are large and really useful. I am sure to use them and be thankful when on long trips
- The mobile app is fantastic. Except for a little slow load at certain times, everything about the mobile app is very good. Very informative & handy to track, control and monitor the car.
- Light & wiper controls are inverse of that of other normal Indian cars.
- Cruise control has a very weird design that I haven’t seen in any other car. Its a lever underneath the light control lever. Not sure if that design is good or bad but is different & weird.
- Arm rest in the door is placed a little too low, a little higher would have made driving more comfortable
- There is something about the seat that doesn’t hit a home run. I haven’t yet been able to figure out a position that I can call fully comfortable
- Tilt & telescopic steering adjustment is a huge miss. Even the tilt has very limited range, so having to drive with steering lower than my preference.
- A constant display of outside temperature in either the dashboard or infotainment would have been good
- Mirrors (ORVMs) retract when car is locked but there is no control to close when driving. These are super necessary when driving in narrow roads. Correction : ORVMs can be retracted by pressing down the adjustment knob.
- Glove box light, cooling in glove box, reading lights for rear seats, sun glasses holder & puddle lights are few other basic features that are present in most other cars in this price segment & that one would expect but are not present. These are a big miss.
- There are tons of silly issues or what seem to be software bugs.
- Audio source (including off) is not remembered/reset when parked and FM radio turns on by default when car is turned on
- Drive mode is reset when parked and defaults to Normal
- Mute on map’s voice is reset when parked
- Regen setting is not remembered and defaults to 3
Due to these bugs, starting a drive gives a feeling of a pilot starting a flight with check lists. Start the car -> turn the radio off -> change the drive mode -> turn off voice in maps -> clear for take(drive) off.
Overall, my first impression has been good and have totally enjoyed the drive. The missing features / hardware will surely be a shortfall that hopefully will be included in the next version. But the software bugs are surely something that has to be fixed and I will work to bring to MG’s attention.
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