New MG ZS EV shown off in Chinese ES5 guise
The all-electric MG ZS will return in 2025 with an all-new look and a new name
New pictures have emerged of the upcoming replacement for the MG ZS EV, which won’t look like the hybrid-powered MG ZS that was revealed in August. Instead, the successor to the MG ZS EV will be an all-new, all-electric small SUV based on the award-winning MG4 hatchback.
It’s not due to be unveiled until early next year – some five or six months after the new ZS. However, we spotted the car undisguised on patents filed with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) earlier this year, and Auto Express reader Paul Davies even spotted a camouflaged prototype waiting for a rapid charge point in Liverpool in the summer. MG’s Chinese social media feeds announced the new car would be unveiled globally on 15 October.
As the images show, there’s a very clear family resemblance with the MG4, as well as the MG Cyberster electric drop-top, although the front end isn’t quite as sharp on the SUV, and its headlights are much slimmer. It also gets black plastic cladding on the wheelarches and side, plus a set of roof rails to give more of an SUV look.
That said, just as on the MG4 and Cyberster, there’s a large chrome MG octagon badge on the nose, and the front bumper features an air intake to help cool the motors and batteries underneath. Meanwhile the rear has a full-width light bar with Y-shaped tail-lights, the same as the MG4.
According to the MIIT filing, MG’s new electric SUV measures 4,476mm long and has a wheelbase of 2,730mm – 162mm and 149mm longer, respectively, than the outgoing ZS EV. At 1,849mm wide and 1,621mm tall, the new model is also wider and lower than the car it replaces.
One important detail that’s not included in the MIIT filing is the car’s name. MG’s UK product boss David Allison has told us that it will not be called the ZS EV, but stopped short of revealing its official moniker.
Allison revealed he’s hoping to give the new compact electric SUV a starting price under £30,000. For comparison, potential rivals like the Kia EV3 and Volvo EX30 run from nearer to £33k, while the Hyundai Kona Electric is priced from just under £35k.
But we’re still some way off pricing being confirmed, with Allison saying: “Inevitably by the time we get to it, there's probably going to be two or three other cars that have come out at the same time, maybe from some brands that don't even exist in this market right now because it's ever changing, isn't it? So we've just got to keep a very close eye on who's doing what, how they're doing it and look to where we can see some opportunities.”
We already know the new electric SUV sits on the same Modular Scalable Platform (MSP) as the MG4, and should therefore be available with the same selection of battery/motor combinations as its sibling too. That means the longest-range version should do over 300 miles on a single charge, and there’s potential for all-wheel-drive variants too.
MG mid-size electric SUV also coming in 2025
MG’s UK product boss also confirmed to Auto Express that the same MSP platform used for the successor to the ZS EV will serve as the underpinnings for a larger, mid-size electric SUV as well. Both cars are currently undergoing testing at Longbridge in the West Midlands, he told us.
The brand’s second, currently nameless electric SUV will also go on sale in the UK in 2025. In effect, it’s a replacement for the MG Marvel R that was sold in Europe, but never came to British showrooms.
Allison told us: “For people who are looking for a bigger EV, certainly bigger than the ZS EV replacement, I suppose this would be the next natural step up and it would be the biggest one that we do.” We expect it to rival EVs like the Skoda Enyaq, Renault Scenic and forthcoming Kia EV5.
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