Meet the ZS EV! It becomes the second all-electric SUV to go on sale in India. Alongside, it also claims the title of MG Motor India’s second product offering. The EV arrives in two variants – Excite and Exclusive. The former comes with a price tag of Rs 19.88 lakh, whereas the latter costs Rs 22.58 lakh. Do you think that’s impressive? Get this – the company received over 2,800 bookings for the EV in 27 days. However, only 2,409 bookings will be served for now as they came from these five cities – Delhi/NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru. For the time being, those are the places where MG Motor India will sell the ZS EV. MG has stopped accepting bookings for the ZS EV.

MG has stopped accepting bookings for the ZS EV. And the prices mentioned above are for the bookings it has already received. Those who want to get one now will have to pay Rs 20.88 lakh for the Excite variant and Rs 23.58 lakh for the Exclusive. Do the math and you’ll have to shell out Rs 1 lakh extra now.

Propelling the zero-emissions SUV is a front-mounted electric motor and a single-speed transmission. With 141bhp/353Nm on tap, the ZS EV can hit 100kmph from a standstill in 8.5 seconds. The powertrain gets its juices from a 44.5 kWh battery which, as per ARAI, can help the SUV travel up to 340km on a single charge. Apart from those promising numbers, the ZS EV also secured a five-star safety rating in Euro NCAP crash tests.

As you’d expect, the ZS EV supports fast charging via AC and DC feeds. When plugged into a 50 kW DC feed, the battery can reach up to 80 per cent charge within 50 minutes. Such chargers are available on all authorised MG Motor India dealerships in the cities mentioned above. If that’s not convenient enough, the company can install 7.4 kW AC chargers at home or in office premises. Those can replenish the battery from zero to 100 per cent in 6-8 hours. The slowest charging option is by connecting the ZS EV to a 15amp socket. That way, the car could take up to 18 hours to completely charge.

Like it did with the Hector, MG Motor India has packed the ZS EV with bucket-loads of gizmos. As standard, the EV comes with stuff like 17-inch alloy wheels, automatic projector headlamps, LED DRLs, push-button start/stop, an 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a four-speaker sound system and cruise control. The Exclusive trim ropes in features like a PM 2.5 filter, dual-pane panoramic sky roof, 6-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, rain-sensing wipers, heated and electrically-foldable ORVMs and i-Smart 2.0 connected car features.

The MG ZS EV packs a lot of safety tech too. Everything from ABS with EBD, six airbags, hill start assist to disc brakes on all wheels, tyre-pressure monitoring system and an electronic parking brake are part of the standard kit. Features like ISOFIX anchorages, a rear-view camera, three-point seatbelts for all passengers, rear parking sensors and rear fog lamp are also part of the same list. MG Motor India is offering five years/unlimited km warranty, five years of roadside assistance and five labour-free services with both ZS EV derivatives.

In India, the ZS EV becomes a direct rival to the Hyundai Kona Electric. The latter, which recently bagged a Guinness World Record, offers more range even with a smaller battery. The ZS EV, on the other hand, knocks the Kona Electric out of the park with a much richer list of features. The EV space in India is too small at the moment. But who do you think will come on top between these two?