Used MG ZS EV cars for sale

Is a second hand MG ZS EV a good car?

If you’re expecting MG’s sports car heritage to shine through in the ZS EV… well, you’re going to be disappointed. This is a pretty humble suburban SUV which in fairness does offer an affordable entry point into the electric motoring world. 

Early models came with spectacularly cheap interiors. The old MG ZS EVs are good enough inside, but don’t go thinking that the fancy-looking touchscreen is in any way cutting-edge — the software looks like a 1980s Atari video game. 

The later models got a much improved cabin — still cheap, but better — and a revised touchscreen with slicker, but still fiddly, software. 

Space up front is fine, but space in the back seats isn’t great. The boot gets an adjustable floor, and with a 470-litre luggage capacity it’s still competitive even today against newer designs.

Originally launched in 2019 with a big traditional-looking grille up front, the MG ZS first came with a 44kWh battery pack which gave it a claimed range of 163 miles. Not great, but not bad at the time. It didn’t take MG long to update the ZS EV, and by 2022, it had a more distinctive EV-like face and a choice of bigger 51kWh and 72kWh batteries, offering claimed ranges of 198 miles and 273 miles.

The MG ZS EV is really designed for cost-conscious, eco-friendly buyers who want to find a cheap and efficient way into electric car ownership. On that basis, the MG ZS EV gets the job done.

What to look for when buying a used MG ZS EV

As with any electric car purchase you’ll want to check that the battery is in good health, and there are several good independent battery checking services which can do that for you. A reputable second hand dealer will probably have already had one done, and should be able to show you the paperwork. 

The MG ZS EV seems to have been a pretty reliable car so far, and any problems which have cropped up — mostly small issues with air conditioning or the main electric motor — have largely been covered by MG’s lengthy seven-year warranty. Indeed, even the earliest MG ZS EV from 2019 will still have a couple of years of original warranty to run, and the battery is covered for the first eight years. 

That said, MG finished in 32nd and last place in the most recent Driver Power customer satisfaction survey, with 28% of owners reporting a problem with their car. The ZS EV didn’t make it to the Top 50 Cars To Own list. 

It’s also worth remembering that the ZS EV isn’t a very fast-charging car. Hook it up to a DC rapid charging point and the most power that it can handle is 100kW, and the older version could only manage 76kW. This means more time waiting to charge when you’re on a longer journey than you’d face in most alternatives.

MG ZS EV FAQs