The ZS EV was one of the first affordable electric SUVs in Australia and sold in real volume, which means there are plenty on the used market. There are also three quite different cars wearing the same badge.
The packs Australia got
| Variant | Years | Usable kWh | Claimed range | Real-world consumption |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excite / Essence (1st gen) | 2021–2022 | 42.5 (44.5 gross) | 267 km | 19.3 kWh/100km — modelled |
| Standard Range | 2022–2025 | 49.0 (51.1 gross) | 320 km | 16.1 kWh/100km — modelled |
| Long Range | 2023–2025 | 68.3 (72.6 gross) | 440 km | 16.3 kWh/100km — modelled |
The first-generation car is the one to be careful with. A 42.5 kWh usable pack at a modelled 19.3 kWh/100 km is about 220 km of real-world range when new — and after four or five years of capacity loss, noticeably less. For a second car doing school runs that is perfectly serviceable. For anything involving a highway, it is tight.
No floor to measure against
MG publishes no minimum capacity percentage. The warranty covers manufacturing defects for 7 years or 150,000 km. Gradual capacity loss is not covered and no threshold is published.
There is also a conflict in MG's own published pages on the distance limit for cars retailed before August 2024 — one says unlimited kilometres for non-commercial use, another says 150,000 km. We are not going to guess which applies to a given car. If you are buying a ZS EV from that period, get it in writing from MG. Full detail: MG battery warranty in Australia.
Watch for the 10-year claim
MG advertises a 7-year unlimited-kilometre vehicle warranty, extendable to 10 years and 250,000 km with dealer servicing, and a widely-circulated Australian comparison site repeats those figures as if they were the battery terms. They are not. The high-voltage battery is capped at 7 years and 150,000 km, and a seller quoting 10 years and 250,000 km for the battery is quoting the wrong warranty — probably innocently.
What to check before you buy
Which pack — 42.5, 49 or 68.3 kWh usable, a 26 kWh spread
Measured State of Health, which here is the only capacity information in existence
Cell voltage spread
Date of first registration, which determines the terms and whether the car sits in the conflicting window
Real-world range at current capacity, particularly on the first-generation car
Capacity data verified 13 September 2026. Consumption figures marked "modelled" are EV Database estimates rather than physical tests.