Back in an MG!
 

Well I finally have an MG back on the drive but sadly it's not a ZT..............
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It's an MG ZS.................EV! Yep, I am a petrolhead that's now converted to electrons. I'm very well aware it's not a 'real' MG and that makes me a little sad however it's actually a really nice little car. Performance is very good, probably slightly quicker then our ZT 190 was and so far the range is fine, in fact we've not yet managed to use more then 50% of the battery. Best of all my wife's 60 mile cross county commute to work now costs on average just £1.60 in electricity!

I know that a lot of people don't believe electric is the future but it really is. Once you've driven more then a few miles in an EV going back to fossil fuels feels like stepping 20 years into the past. EV's are so smooth and easy to drive it's actually really relaxing. That said I still have the big V6 powered SLK and the mighty Sterling on the drive so I can still get my petrol fix when needed :D

Congratulations on your new MG, looks lovely. I know a number of people who have the ZSEV, all of whom love it and are surprised at the waves they get from other MG owners. We have a 1.5 ZS exclusive and I have to say it's a very good car.
As to it not being a 'proper' MG? Some say any MG not built in Abingdon isn't a proper MG. Others that the last proper MG was the MGC and that the. ZR, ZS and ZT were not real MGs.
It says MG on the front in a rather attractive grill and it says MG on the rather snazzy boot handle on the rear. It's great fun to drive and puts a smile on your face, it's an MG:D

I agree with Simondi,
Why isnt it a real MG?
Its an original design by the people who have the rights/own the MG-brand so whatever they make is a true MG.

Its more an true MG then my ZTT which is basicly a rebadged Rover ;)
My other MG, a MG Midget, is basiscly a rebadged Austin Healy Sprite. :D

Not build in the UK?
So are are many classic MGs assembled in South africa, Australia, Italy and probably more countries ;)

The prewar T-type owners dont see the after war T types as real MGs
The after war T-type owners dont see the MGA as a real MG (forgot why..)
The MGA owners dont see the MGB\midget as real MGs cause the have no chassis anymore....
And so on and so on... :D

I like it. Best colour too.
I also agree (with a hint of sadness that the end of an era brings) that electric cars are the future, but I think some fairly radical improvement are needed to the range and/or charging infrastructure before they can replace the ICE entirely. I'm sure it will happen one day though.

I had a look at the ZSEV when it was on display in a city centre somewhere, looks really nice inside, only downside for me was that the boot wasn't quite big enough for my needs. Out of my budget anyway for the moment unless a really great price comes up for a lease one. I did briefly consider a lease deal on a Hyundai Ioniq EV, but again lack of load space put me off.

I suppose it could be a 'real' MG then.......I just struggle to think of anything post 2005 in that way! That said it does have a few quirks and things that give it some character like my MG's before and it does make me smile to maybe it is ;)

Still getting over just how cheap it is to run, we're now on an EV only tariff which means power for 10 hours a day and then all weekend at 8p/kwh which is less the half what we were paying before so all of our electricity is now a lot cheaper not just that going into the car. At the weekend we went for a drive and ended up doing 34 miles round rural Norfolk, got back and stuck it on charge and it took 10kwh to get it back up to 100% which means our afternoon of driving around cost just 80p!!!!! I think that's even cheaper per mile then when I started driving back in '92.

I still like good old petrol engines (diesels not so much) and really like driving my SLK with it's big V6 however once you've driven a few miles in an EV getting back into a car powered by fossil juice really does feel like stepping back in time. Range is still the obvious issue however charging stations are popping up all over the place now. When we first started looking at EV's a few years back there were only 2 on my 250 route to see my Dad in Somerset, before we picked up the ZS I checked again and there's loads of them now. The MG will take up to 80kw so it basically means a single half hour stop will be enough to cover the journey, not a massive problem because having Mrs Guru and 2 children we always make at least 2 stops anyway each normally lasting at least 45 minutes.

That said we're hoping to get up to Scotland again either later this year or next spring and for that trip it will be the Sterling as I wouldn't fancy having to stop 5 times to charge plus it just be nice to take the old girl on a decent trip.

Thats definitely one of the attractions. If you can run an EV as a daily driver you can save enough to indulge your guzzler more on high days & holidays :¬)

Indeed, I was chatting to a mate who's got a very nice Focus RS and has just ticked over 29k in it. He reckons he's used about £6500 worth of petrol. Same mileage in the ZS would be around about £750 in premium electrons :D

Good morning: personally i consider my ZTs (i have four off) to be a sports version of a 75 and the most reliable day to day cars (i have done 25k every year since 2008) i have ever owned: really like them. Never had an Abingdon built car - just don't interest me. Triumph any day of the week!

I would like to pick on your point of 'not a real MG' this phrase gets talked a lot about and some people get real passionate about it. Its funny as the people who get passionate about the new Chinese's MGs being not real drive either a ZR, ZS or a ZT. in my book these aren't real either.

MG was started in 1924 and up until 1930 was morris garages ltd then 30 to 52 it was MG car company ltd then after that it was a whole load of different companies. so the only 'real' mgs are from 1924 to 1930.

True, maybe it's a matter of perspective. I grew up in the 80's so was used to MG's being rebadged Austins however I remember once a few years back I was out painting the house when someone stopped to give me a load of grief about not owning a 'real MG'. At the time we had an RV8 which I thought was pretty real but apparently not real enough! From my perspective I struggle to see the new Chinese MG's as being real however maybe owning one will cure me of that?