MG ZS EV vs Hyundai KONA- which electric SUV is the real value for money?

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Does MG ZS EV beat the Hyundai Kona Electric? In-depth comparison report

HYUNDAI KONA Electric vs MG ZS EV:
MG Motors completely disrupted the Indian automotive market. 2019, where all the companies were struggling to achieve the target sales figure, MG Hector was one which was selling even in the down market.

In our previous article we had compared all the electric cars available in the year 2019 in India. Now the year is changed, new decade started and a lot of the happenings will be in the coming few years.

MG Motors launched it’s most awaited first electric car in India

The time is right for change! We unveiled the price of the MG ZS EV, India’s First Pure Electric Internet SUV, yesterday at the MG Flagship store. Here are some snapshots. #ChangeWhatYouCan pic.twitter.com/G1IB3wiEb0

— Morris Garages India (@MGMotorIn) January 24, 2020

The company had unveiled the MG ZS EV in India on 05th December 2019 and booking was also started then. Now it was time for the final launch of the electric SUV. On 23rd January 2020, finally MG Motors launched the MG’ first electric car in India.

The demand of MG ZS EV VS Hyundia Kona Electric in India

MG Motors received around 2800 pre-booking in just 27 days. The interesting thing is that, the company had not disclosed the final price of the car during the booking period. Booking period got over in 17the January 2020 only and final on-road price of the MG ZS EV announced during the final launch event.
If talk about the initial response to the Hyundai Kona Electric then, the Hyunai managed to get 120 Bookings in 10 days, 152 bookings in 20 days and in 3 months total reported bookings were 300 after its unveil. So, this figure shows how people in India have shown interest in MG ZS EV.

COMPARISON B/W HYUNDAI KONA ELECTRIC & MG ZS EV

Here in this article we will compare both the electric car on the basis of Powertrain, Price, Performance, Battery, Safety, Warranty, Features offered and other more parameter. In depth and detailed comparison data has been taken from the official sources of both the cars. If you are looking to buy any one of these luxury SUV, then let us help you out will all the details here-

Powertrain of KONA and MG ZS EV

Hyundai KONA Electric delivers the 136 PS power and 395 Nm of torque while the MG’s EV features a 143PS and 353 Nm of torque motor. Both are the FWD and delivers enough power to quickly pull the 05 people sitting inside the SUV.

	Hyundai KONA Electric	MG ZS EV
Motor	Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM)	AC Synchronous
Transmission	Automatic Single Speed Reduction	Automatic Single Speed Reduction
Drivetrain	Front wheel drive	Front Wheel Drive
Max Power	134.14 bhp/ 136 PS	140.7 bhp/ 142.7 PS
Max Torque	395 Nm/134.1 HP/ 136.0 PS	353 Nm/14.8 HP/ 142.8 PS

Price and other specifications

These are the only electric car in India above Rs. 20 lakhs. But the price difference is both the cars are marginal. MG Motor played the better game here in the pricing of ZS EV. Hyundai KONA base variant (KONA Premium) starts at the price of INR 23.72 lakhs where ZS EV’s base variant (ZS EV Exite) comes at a price of INR 20.88 lakhs only. Even MG Motor has given a price discount of INR 1 lakh on all the pre-booked orders (2800 numbers).

Other specification

For the overall size of the car, MG ZS EV is bigger than the Hyundai KONA. ZS EV ground clearance is 205 mm which you get only 170 mm in KONA. ZS EV also offers more interior space as compared to the KONA Electric.

	Hyundai KONA Electric	MG ZS EV
Price	Premium: 23.72 Lakh Premium Dual Tone – 23.91 Lakh	Exite: 20.88 Lakh Exclusive: 23.58 Lakh
Category	SUV/CrossOver 5 Seater	SUV/ 5 Seater
Offered Variants	Premium and Premium Dual Tone	Exite and Exclusive
Color Available	Marina Blue, Phantom Black, Polar White Dual Tone, Typhoon Silver, Polar White	Ferris White, Copenhagen, Currant Red
Wheel Base	2600mm	2579mm
Dimension (mm)	4180x1800x1570 (LxWxH)	4314x1809x1644 (LxWxH)
Gross weight (Approx)	1400 kg	1491 kg
Ground Clearance	170 mm	205 mm
Available Across	Available only in selected cities	Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad and Mumbai
Boot space	332 L	448 litres
Tyre Pressure Monitoring System	No	Yes
Alloy Wheel Size	215/ 55 R17	215/ 55 R17
Front Suspension	Independent MacPherson strut Anti-roll bar (stabilizer link/ stabilizer bar), Coil sprinds shock absorbers	Independent MacPherson strut
Rear Suspension	Independent Multi-link Coil springs Shock absorbers	Torsion beam
Turning Radius	10.6 m or 34.78 ft	11.2 m or 36.75 ft
Front Brake	Disc	Disc
Rear Brake	Disc	Disc
Split Seat Rear	60:40 split	60:40 split
Lights	LED DRLs	LED DRLs

Performance figure of Hyundai Kona and MG ZS EV

As we all know that electric vehicles have always been good performer than the IC enging vehicle. But here we have to compare the performance of two different electric cars only. Talking about he maximum speed the KONA takes a lead here and goes up to the maximum speed of 155 km/h whereas the MG beats it with a speed of 140kmph. The speed of both vehicles are electronically restricted to the above number. MG ZS EV is 1.2 seconds faster than the Hyundai KONA in 0-100 km/h race.

	Hyundai KONA Electric	MG ZS EV
Max Speed	167 km/h	140 km/h
Acceleration	0 – 100 km/h in 9.7s	0 – 100 km/h in 8.5 seconds
Drive Mode	Eco, Comfort, Sport	Eco, Normal, Sport
Transmission	Single speed reduction automatic	Single speed reduction automatic

Battery and Charge time comparison

The battery range and it’s charging both are the key parameters as a marketing point of view because it’s always related to the final cost and performance of an electric car. MG ZS EV offers the bigger battery, but not the range as like Hyundai KONA. 340 Km of ARAI certified range of ZS EV is very much fine for all, but if you mostly travel on long route then Hyundai Kona will be the best choice for you. MG has collaborated with a Finland based company “Fortum” to set up the 50kW DC fast charger at its dealership.

Charging time

Both cars have a similar setup for charging. Hyundai offers a 7.2kW AC wall charger which takes around a little bit more than 6 hours to be fully charged while the MG has a 7.4kW AC charging unit that takes less time to charge i.e. only 6 to 8 hours. By using the 50kW DC fast charger, the MG ZS takes almost 50 minutes to be charged 80%, whereas the Kona Electric takes around 57 minutes, which is 7 minutes more.

	Hyundai KONA Electric	MG ZS EV
Battery Type	Li-ion Polymer	Li-ion
Battery	39.2 kWh	44.5 kWh (ultra high density battery)
Battery manufacturer	LG Chem	CATL
Battery Range	452 km, certified by ARAI. Kona Real range: 324km in city at average speed 17kmph. 295 on highway	340 km, certified by ARAI.
Charging	2 Ports, fast charging as well as AC charging	2 Ports, fast charging as well as AC charging
Charging time	AC 7.2kW wall box Charging (0-80%)– Approx 06h 10min. 2.8kW portable charger fitted into 15amp 3pin socket (0-100%): 19 hrs. DC Charging (0-80%)– Approx 57 min.	AC 7.4kW wall box Charging (0-80%)– Approx 06h. Portable charger fitted into 15amp 3pin socket (0-100%): 18 hrs DC Charging (0-80%)– Approx 50 min.
Fast Charing (0-80% with 50kW charger)	57 minutes	50 minutes

Safety features offered in KONA and ZS EV

The Hyundai is a well known brand and also known for its quality cars in the world. For the safety point of view KONA and ZS EV offers all the standard safety features like 6 airbags, Hill Assist, ABS +EBD, ESP. But MG ZS EV goes ahead with the front and back seat-belt reminder. Heated ORVMs are another safety and convenient feature in the ZS EV.

	Hyundai KONA Electric	MG ZS EV
Hill-start/descent assist control (HAC)	Yes	Yes
Electronic Stability Control (ESC)	Yes	Yes
Virtual Engine Sound System	Yes	No
ISOFIX (to fix child car seat)	Yes	Yes
Anti Lock Breaking System (ABS)	Yes	Yes
Tyre pressure monitoring sensor	No	Yes
Seatbelt Reminder	Front	Front+Rear
No. of Airbag	6 (Driver, Passenger, Side impact & Curtain)	6 (Driver, Passenger, Side impact & Curtain)

Other convenient features comparison

Both the cars are loaded with lots of features and so the comparison goes very much in parallel. The extra or unique features MG ZS EV offers are- 8 inch touch screen infotainment system which is smaller in the KONA, dual panoramic sunroof, PM 2.5 air filter, heated ORVM and Internet connectivity in the cabin. Hyundai KONA offers the paddle shifter to control the re-generative options.

	Hyundai KONA Electric	MG ZS EV
Push button start	Yes	Yes
Electric driver seat	10 way adjustment	6 way adjustment
Cruise Control	Yes	Yes
Infotainment System	7 inch touch screen system with voice control	8 inch touch screen system with i-SMART support
Connectivity	Anroid Auto and Apple car play	Anroid Auto and Apple car play
Smart Key	Yes	Yes
Power Steering	yes	yes
Power Windows Front	Yes	Yes
Power Windows Rear	Yes	Yes
Battery charge status indicator	Yes	Yes
Drive Type	FWD	FWD
Sun-roof	Electric sun-roof	Dual-panoramic sunroof
Air Conditioner	Yes	Yes with PM2.5 particle filter
Pedal Driving	One Pedal driving	No
Regenerative braking	Yes	Yes
Heater	Yes	Yes
Electric Parking Brake	Yes	Yes
Parking Assist	Reverse Parking Sensors, Rear Camera with Dynamic Guidelines	Reverse Parking Sensors, Rear Camera with Dynamic Guidelines
Heated ORVM	No	Yes
Heated and Ventilated seats	Yes	No
Internet Connectivity	No	Internet inside

The warranty offered on KONA and ZS EV

The company has come with a new program ‘MG eShield’, which provides privately-registered customers with a free-of-charge 5-year manufacturer warranty for unlimited kilometres on the car and 8 years/150k km warranty on the battery.

It also offers 24×7 the road side assistance (RSA) for a period of 5 years for a privately-registered cars. First 5 services will also be labour-free under the MG eShield scheme. MG ZS EV also comes with maintenance packages starting at INR 7,700 for 3 years.

Buy-back option for MG ZS EV

Apart from introducing the MG eShield, the company has made the alliance with CarDekho.com, to offer a pioneering 3-50 plan. Under this plan customer gets the buy back guarantee from the CarDekho.com by paying a stipulated amount at the time of purchase of ZS EV. CarDekho.com shall provide guaranteed buyback to ZS EV customers at a residual value of 50% upon completion of three years of ownership.

But for the Hyundai KONA the buy-back option is not available now.

	Hyundai KONA Electric	MG ZS EV
Battery Warranty	8 years/ 160000km	8 years/ 150000km
Vehicle Warranty	3 years/ Unlimited km Warranty 3 Years Road Side Assistance	5 years/ Unlimited km Warranty 5 Years Road Side Assistance (with MG)
Buy back option	No	Yes

MG ZS EV delivery and waiting period

The company will start the delivery of the ZS EV by 27th January 2020 in India. First the pre-booked orders will be fulfilled. The AC 7.4 kW wall charger already fitted to the pre-booked people home or offices. The current waiting period of the MG ZS EV is 3 to 4 months (source: official twitter page of MG India).

My Words (HYUNDAI KONA Electric vs MG ZS EV)

MG Motor’s ZS EV is a direct rival to the Hyundai KONA Electric in Indian market and the competitive price of ZS EV makes it more preferable choice because there are not much difference in the performance of both the cars. Let’s have a look on the sales figure of the HYUNDAI KONA last year (2019)–

June	July	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
25	17	88	47	50	53	12

So, after launch the Hyundai KONA Electric could not do much and even struggling to sell at least 50 units every month. But, MG ZS EV received 2800 number of advance booking only in 27 days. So, definitely the ZS EV proved itself a disruptive product in the Indian market. To hold the market Hyundai need to come up with the new offers on KONA. Otherwise, once TATA Nexon EV (expected price stated by company officials: 17 Lakh) comes in the market, then it will be hard for the Hyundai to sustain in the market.

Look at this exclusive reports of HYUNDAI KONA Electric and MG ZS EV:

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