MG ZS EV Long Range – range and charging

The MG ZS EV Long Range is an electric SUV and is priced from $55,990 plus on-road costs – or $8000 more than the standard-range version. It features an 120 kilometres of claimed driving range over the standard model. The stated range of the MG ZS EV Long range is 440km.

Note that drive-away pricing will vary between each state and territory. While the ZS EV Long Range benefits from more range, the trade-off comes with reduced power from the electric motor – 115kW and 280Nm against the regular ZS EV's 130kW and 280Nm.

While the stated range is 440km, there are various factors that may cause that figure to drop. Just like a car powered by a petrol or diesel engine, carrying additional weight or towing a trailer or caravan will have an effect on the energy consumption.

Weather conditions can also come into play. For example, if it's extremely cold, then your electric vehicle's battery has to work harder to power and warm your car. This higher drain on the battery can impact your car's range, especially in sub-zero temperatures.

The type of road surface can also be a contributing factor. Hilly terrain will mean the electric motor is working harder than it would on a flat stretch of road. And that results in a greater draw on the battery. The good news here is, the car can regenerate some of that energy and feed it back into the battery when driving downhill.

We recently drove the MG ZS EV Long Range on our most recent episode of Drive TV where we visited some remote areas of central New South Wales. The area and time of year – winter – provided the perfect platform for testing the MG's claimed driving range. Driving in severe cold and travelling at higher speeds on a variety of surfaces and terrains came at a cost in terms of driving range.

Rather than reaching the claim of 440km, we lost around 60-70km of range on this journey. And since we were driving through regional towns and rural areas, this was far from ideal, as there was only one 50kW charging station within 200km.

Conversely, we have driven the MG ZS EV standard model at various times throughout urban areas, and have come close to it claimed figure of 320km.

The MG ZS EV Long Range packs a 72kWh battery pack – up from 50.3kWh in the standard ZS EV – providing up to 440km of claimed driving on a single charge (according to Europe's WLTP test cycle).

MG says recharging the ZS EV Long Range to 80 per cent using a 50kW DC charger takes 63 minutes – or nine minutes more than the standard ZS EV.

On our journey, we spent a little longer at the charging station (around 75 minutes).

That depends on where and how you're charging your electric car.

MG offers a wall box, which can be installed at your home, Available in both a 7kW single-phase and an 11kW three-phase configuration. The MG Charge Hub is compatible with all EVs that use a Type 2 charge point.

The wall box costs $1990 for the 7kW or $2090 for the 11kW. Installation costs are additional.

As reported previously by Drive, around 70 per cent of EV drivers have solar, and for those drivers, almost all of their charging happens during the middle of the day, which means their marginal cost of electricity is $0.

When charging during off-peak hours, electricity prices are below $0.20/kWh.

If you're using public chargers, then it's important to plan ahead and know where your closest charging station is located. Thankfully, a lot of public electric car charging is still free, including the NRMA’s network of more than 50 stations in New South Wales, although the NRMA recently confirmed it would start charging customers to use the service from next year.

Prices vary for different charging stations. To give you an indication, Evie stations charge 40c/kWh for fast DC charging (up to 50kW), while at a Chargefox, it'll cost you 0-30c/kWh for standard AC chargers (up to 22kW).

There are various ways you can preserve your range. Employing cruise control means you're maintaining a steady throttle input, rather than rapidly accelerating.

Changing the drive mode to 'eco' will drop the power, but keep your range steady, while pumping up the tyre pressures slightly can create less friction on the road. Less friction means less resistance and less resistance means less energy being used.

Changing your driving style can also help in eking out driving range. Avoid excessive acceleration and let the car coast downhill or on flatter sections of road which will provide a level of energy regeneration, all of which can help maximise driving range.