Interest in the MG ZS electric vehicle has been so great in Australia that pre-orders have now closed ahead of a November launch, the Chinese car maker said on Friday.
The sporty all-electric crossover is tipped to be one of the most value-packed EVs on the Australian market, and one of the lowest price at $46,990, which explains why it has garnered so much interest.
MG have been keeping mum on how many orders it has taken so far (although a recent press release from the company revealed that 3,000 orders have been taken in Europe).
Danny Lenartic, director of product and marketing for MG Motor in Australia said in a note my email that: “Since first announcing the arrival of the MG ZS EV, we’ve seen strong interest from customers across the country in our first ever electric vehicle offering.”
“We set a goal for our presale numbers and thanks to strong customer demand from Australia and New Zealand, we are pleased to have sold our initial allotment of our ZS EVs, demonstrating the increasing desire for electrically powered vehicles,” he said.
In the lead up to the ZS EV’s November launch, MG have been testing the vehicle on Australian roads, as spotted by one of our readers in January.
Now, MG has shared several more images of the MG ZS EV testing out in the wild, adding that with approximately 262km driving range on a single charge it will make a good “budget” choice for drivers wanting to make the switch to zero emissions driving who need a city runabout.
This range will be sufficient for road trips using DC networks such as that being rolled out by the NRMA and Transport NSW, or the Queensland Electric Super Highway, or Victoria’s regional charging network.
The all-electric MG ZS EV was first unveiled in China at the Guangzhou Auto Show in November 2018, and although MG Australia has not officially announced local specifications and non-introductory pricing, it is understood that the longer-range version with 428km range will not make it here, at least initially.
The MG ZS EV is built on Chinese parent company SAIC’s electric drivetrain technology that also underpin its Roewe and LDV/Maxus electric vehicles.
SAIC has a goal to electrify all its car models by 2025, and already has at least 5 electrified models available in China under its Roewe badge.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.