2021 MG ZS EV the cheapest ever electric car in Australia following big pre-launch price cut

Is this the first step in affordable electric motoring? MG surprises with incredibly sharply priced ZS EV.

MG Motor Australia has revealed its post-launch pricing for the halo ZS EV – now by far the most affordable mainstream electric car on sale in Australia.

The ZS EV is priced from just $40,990 plus on-road costs, or $43,990 driveaway, undercutting its nearest rivals – the Nissan Leaf ($49,990 + ORCs) and Hyundai Ioniq Electric ($48,970 + ORCs) – by a significant margin. The nearest small SUV competitor is the Hyundai Kona Electric, which costs $60,740 + ORCs.

Unlike the facelifted ZST petrol model, the new ZS EV wears the brand’s older styling language, although unlike other ZS variants with this design, it brings the brand’s updated active MG Pilot safety suite with auto emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring and lane-keep assist. The interior has also been updated with some but not all fittings from the updated ZST.

The ZS EV's interior has its own appointments, unique from either the regular petrol ZS or updated ZST.

The ZS EV has a 105kW/353Nm electric motor, with a 44.5kWh battery good for a WLTP-rated 262km range. The brand says this range can extend up to 370km in urban scenarios when making full use of energy regeneration.

It charges via the most common European-standard Type 2 charging cable, at a maximum of 85kW from a DC fast charger, or 7.2kW on AC power. The brand says the ZS EV can charge in 45 minutes on DC power or around seven hours on AC power.

Boot and interior space are also not compromised in the electric variant, with the battery being placed under the floor and between the axles.

MG was able to reduce the cost of the ZS since its pre-launch pricing significantly, but with the catch of the brand’s normal seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty being reduced to five years for this variant only, with a separate warranty for the battery for eight years or 160,000km.

The ZS EV offers three drive modes and three levels of regenerative braking.

The lithium-ion battery in Australian-delivered cars has also been upgraded from Chinese domestic market models with an upgraded cooling system specifically for hot-weather climates.

MG stated it wants to be the price leader on EVs in Australia and New Zealand and has predicted an ambitious 3000-unit target for the 2021 model year. The brand’s Australian CEO, Peter Ciao, said that number would be made up primarily of private customers, and while he said there was significant interest from Australian government fleet customers, all customers would pay the same sharp pricing.

The ZS EV joins the brand’s expanding range of models, with more to follow in the next year as the brand plans to make inroads in more market segments.