MG ZS EV vs Audi Q2

What's the difference?

The MG ZS EV Long Range is a practical small SUV that's easy to drive and the 440km it can travel on a full charge makes it the better choice over the standard range ZS EV. The extra 120km offered by the Long Range version reduces anxiety and is truly useful in covering more ground between charging.

The asking price may seem expensive but electric vehicle batteries are extremely costly to produce and will remain so for years to come.

Remember, too, that the MG4 electric car has an even great range for the same money - the only catch is, it's a hatch and not an SUV.

The Q2 is just fun. It's fun to look at, fun to drive, while it might also be a little harsh and not quite as fast as its BMW competition, it's also a relatively compelling premium car value offering. Just be aware that this is a pint-size SUV best enjoyed by singles or couples.

The ZS EV Long Range has a traditional SUV shape but with a very futuristic looking face thanks to its grille-less nose. That’s because with no radiator needed to cool a combustion engine there’s no need for an open vent or grille for air flow.

MG has used a textured plastic to subtly imitate an old-school grille to lessen the visual impact of a sheet of plastic between the headlights.

I think the effect works although the obvious charging flap could have been cleverly and seamlessly integrated into the nose, in the same way Genesis has done with the GV80 Electric. But the attempt has failed.

The ZS EV Long Range’s cabin looks premium with the sporty seats and red stitching, the landscape screen and digital driver display.

But, while the interior looks great, it feels a little low quality in places such as the vinyl upholstered seats. 

There are some ergonomic issues with the high centre armrest and the raised seating position, too.

Yes! The Q2 is huge fun to look at from every angle. It was one of the first cars in Audi's refreshed range to reflect a new design language, standing apart from its stablemates.

This is evident in its stepped grille design, square light clusters, and neat two-tone roof which extends down the C-pillar at the back (an optional touch, mind you).

Other distinct features include its polygonal beltline which runs down the sides and a neatly squared off rear, which, complete with the little roof spoiler, makes for a dashing, sporty profile.

Controversially, our car also came with a gloss white five-spoke 19-inch wheel with grey inlays and sneaky little Audi Sport logos on them. Perhaps a nod to Audi's rally history.

This little car makes a big statement. It's a lot to take in, but so much more fun than Audi's usual business-first visage.

Inside is interesting. It looked good when it came out, but pre-dates the incredible new Audi interior which resides in the new A1 and Q3. To be fair, it still looks good, but doesn't quite have the wow-factor of its siblings. We suspect some sort of heavy facelift will be in the Q2's near future to address this issue.

While you won't get the new design, touchscreen or materials, the Q2's interior is still a nice place to be, with plenty of high-quality fittings, a sporty flat-bottomed steering wheel, and cool turbine air vents.

It's even packed with Audi's super neat 'Virtual Cockpit' digital dash suite, and all the sleek switchgear from more recent models, so it's not as though you'll be getting an 'old-feeling' car by any means.

The ZS EV Long Range is a practical small SUV and it fit my little family of four, although my kids are both under 10 years old and not at the lanky teenager point yet.

Space on board is good, offering ample legroom for even me (at 188cm) in the second row and adequate headroom back there, too.

I like the large door pockets, the wireless phone charger, and there are two USB ports for the back seats and another two up front.

The second row also has directional air vents and dark-tinted windows. I liked the panoramic sunroof's retractable shade, too. 

SUVS like the MG ZS offer easier access than sedans and hatches thanks to the elevated ride height which means people of my height don’t need to crawl in and out on their knees.

Boot capacity is decent at 359 litres, but not enormous.  

There's no getting around the fact that the Q2 is a small SUV. Very small. Great for two occupants, a young couple seems to be the ideal target demographic.

To that end, front passengers are treated quite well with the standard array of Volkswagen group sensibilities. These include decently sized bottle holders in the doors, a variable-height centre console box, and a neat cupholder cluster up front with a key-shaped slot in the divider. A pleasing touch.

Space is a bit compact. Definitely on par with a hatchback rather than an SUV, and the panoramic sunroof, which is part of this Edition #2, lowers the roofline.

One major drawback is the lack of a touchscreen. The 8.3-inch screen which is included with our car as part of a pack (see more in the price and spec section) is controlled via dial.

This includes Apple CarPlay, which is a bit of an awkward solution. You'll get used to it, but the brand's newer touchscreen designs are notably better.

The back seat is tight. My knees were almost pressed against the front seat, which was set to my own (182cm tall) driving position.

The roofline is low, too, and the descending C-pillar makes getting in and out harder than it needs to be. The middle seat, due to the presence of a tall transmission tunnel is too tight for a full size adult human.

Unlike its Q3 big brother, amenities for rear passengers are light-on, as well. There are no directional air-vents, just a single 12-volt outlet, pockets on the backs of the seats and small bottle holders in each door.

You get a 355-litre (VDA) boot – surprisingly large all things considered, although still smaller than the BMW X2 (470L) and incoming new-generation Mercedes-Benz GLA (435L).

The Q2 is not bad premium car value when you consider a few factors. For a start, this car is pretty much as expensive as it gets with the most powerful engine and several option packs, and only manages to come in at a measly $57,050.

Without the options it's $52,400, but still the cheapest BMW X2 is $47,400, and the most expensive one (i.e. the equivalent to this Audi) is a whopping $69,400.

We don't know how much the new GLA will cost when it lands in Q3 2020, so stay tuned.

Our top-spec car wears 19-inch alloys (up from the standard 17s), a black accented exterior pack, push-button start and keyless entry, LED headlights and tail-lights, front and rear parking sensors, a reversing camera, leather seats (heated front), a panoramic sunroof, and full auto wipers and light function.

The 8.2-inch multimedia screen, 12.3-inch virtual cockpit instrument cluster and flat-bottomed steering wheel are part of a separate 'Technik Package' ($2500), the black interior headlining is a $400 option,  the heated seats are a $600 option, and the premium white paint comes in at $1150.

Sure, it's upsetting some of these are options on the top-spec car, but at least they aren't outrageously priced, and as already mentioned, this car still manages to undercut its primary rival.

Standard safety is okay, although there are some items optioned away which you'll probably want to be adding. More on that in the safety section.

The MG ZS EV has one electric motor driving the front wheels and it makes 115kW of power and 280Nm or torque.

That’s the same power as the petrol MG ZS, but more torque, so it accelerates faster. We’re talking 0-100km/h in 8.5 seconds. 

Sure, that’s not Tesla quick, but being an electric car the acceleration is instantaneous with none of the lag petrol cars have due to turbos or changing gears.

How much can the ZS EV tow? Not much. The braked towing capacity of the ZS EV Long Range is 500kg. But think of it like this: a box trailer can weigh about 250kg and a fully grown Sumatran tiger can also weigh up to 250kg.

So an ZS EV Long range can tow a box trailer carrying a fully grown tiger. That sounds impressive.

For more on what the ZS EV Long Range is like to drive, keep reading.

Our 40 TFSI has a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine which produces 140kW/320Nm. Punchy, about on par with its most direct X2 rival (20i) which puts out 141kW/280Nm from the same sized engine.

The Q2 drives all four wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

The ZS EV Long Range has a larger battery than the standard range ZS EV and this gives it the ability to travel further on a full charge. 

The regular version is fitted with a 51.1kWh battery and the Long Range has a 72.6kWh battery which is pretty big - and that gives this an official range of 440km. 

The standard range ZS EV has a range of 320km. So the Long Range will get you 120km further which could make all the difference in whether you make it to your destination or not.

So, is 440km a lot compared to other electric cars? Well, it’s more range than the Nissan Leaf (385km) or Mini Electric (233km), but not as much as the Kia Niro (460km) and 50km less than the entry-grade Tesla Model 3 (491km).

Put it this way, the 320km offered by the standard ZS EV falls short of what I think is enough. But anything with more than 400km is truly useful and I find anything less than this can bring on range anxiety pretty quickly.

The ZS EV Long Range is fully electric and that means you’ll have to plug it in to charge it. 

You can charge up using a household power point, but it’ll take more than 24 hours to get to 100 per cent. So, a much better idea is to use a fast public charger.

A 50kW charger will take the battery from empty to 80 percent in 63 minutes using a CCS Type 2 port/plug.

As for energy efficiency, MG says that after a combination of open and urban roads the ZS EV Long Range will use 17.7kWh/100km.

I drove our ZS EV Long Range every day and used it for school drop offs, city commutes and some motorway running. And while most of the 156km I travelled was urban-based the trip computer was reporting an average of 20.0kWh/100km.

The 40 TFSI wears a claimed/combined fuel consumption number of 6.5L/100km. Over a week of testing we had a computer-shown 8.1L/100km but an at-the-pump measure of 7.9L/100km on a 104km comparison test loop.

Still, given the amount of fun I was having behind the wheel, under 9.0L/100km is not a bad result.

On the downside, the Q2 requires top shelf 98 RON unleaded petrol to fill its 55L tank.

At first, the driver’s seat felt overly high and the lack of reach adjustment in the steering wheel made finding a good driving position harder.

But, the ZS EV Long Range is comfortable and easy to drive, while its size and ‘electric zippiness’ makes this little SUV perfect for narrow city streets and tight car spaces. 

Some EVs have break-neck acceleration and minimalist cabin controls which can feel weird, but the ZS EV Long Range’s cabin looks just like a regular combustion engine car’s and the motor has the same power as a petrol ZS’s engine.

That said, the instant acceleration of their ZS EV Long Range is fun and great for moving quickly out of car space, merging and overtaking when needed.

As with all EVs, passengers who are prone to motion sickness might find the acceleration and heavy deceleration a bit much. My family didn’t complain but the photographer who filmed the video above found it a bit much while looking down at his screen.

The Q2 is exactly as fun to drive as it looks from the outside. It's light, springy, athletic, and compelling behind the wheel.

The 40 TFSI 2.0-litre engine is super willing compared to lesser engines in Audi's range, where turbo lag can be a real issue.

It can be a tad sluggish off the mark, where the moment of turbo lag conspires with the start-stop system and dual-clutch auto to make for a jerky start, but it's far better than the 1.4-litre engine in the 35 TFSI.

That said, once you're going, peak torque arrives from 1500 rpm, at which point the lively Q2 is primed to rip through its seven gears with avid enthusiasm. It even sounds good, with a satisfying rasp working its way into the cabin at higher revs.

Handling is stellar for an SUV, too. In fact, the Q2 drives more like a hatchback, even more so than the new Q3 which shares similar characteristics.

Quattro all-wheel drive helps it keep traction, in the corners and off the line, where an enthusiastic prod of the accelerator would otherwise have you spinning wheels.

At no point did this compact SUV feel out of its comfort zone, with little suggestion of understeer when pushed.

Handling is nice, too. Audi's steering calibration is sporty and dynamic, with its lightness at low speed firming up to increase confidence when you're travelling a bit faster.

We used the Q2 as a guest wildcard / camera car on a recent premium SUV comparison test, and all agreed it was the most fun to drive.

The suspension is firm, adding to its sporty allure, but this attribute also combines with the gigantic wheels to make for a harsh and noisy ride on chopped up suburban streets – where this car will spend most of its life.

It's a known cost for having such entertaining handling characteristics, but one which premium buyers should be aware of. This might be an Audi, but it's strongly in the sporty camp, rather than the luxurious one.

Active safety is an interesting topic on the Q2. The plus side is you'll be getting freeway speed auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection, front and rear parking sensors, and a high-res reversing camera as standard across the range.

The 40 TFSI grade also gets blind spot monitoring, but to make it truly impressive you'll have to tick the 'Assistance Package' box.

It's well worth it. The $990 cost nets you lane keep assist with lane departure warning, active cruise control, auto-dipping high beams, auto parking, and hill hold assist.

The Q2 has the expected electronic traction, stability and brake controls, and comes equipped with six airbags and dual rear-seat ISOFIX child-seat mounting points.

All Q2 variants carry a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating as of 2016, and carries a space saver spare wheel under the boot floor.

The ZS EV Long Range is covered by MG’s seven-year/unlimited kilometre warranty. The battery is covered by a seven-year unlimited kilometre warranty, too. 

Servicing is recommended by MG at 40,000km/24 month intervals.

According to MG the first service costs $295, then the next is $810, then $295 for the third, $810 for the next and so on. That’s about $233 a year over six years which is excellent value.

Audi persists with a three-year/unlimited kilometre warranty. This is consistent with its BMW rival, but now Mercedes has significantly upped the premium market game with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which will cover its incoming GLA.

Perhaps the worst part is VW will cover many of the same components with a five-year warranty on its T-Roc (closely related to the Q2). Worth thinking about.

Audi does thankfully cover the Q2 with an impressive capped price servicing program, provided you bundle it in at the time of purchase.

You can choose it as either a three-year package ($1580) or a five-year plan ($2140). You'll need to return the Q2 to a service location every 12 months or 15,000km.