A second look at this car unwraps more about its character and generally unassuming qualities.

Price: $48,990 ($40,365 with full Clean Car rebate)
Powertrain and economy: Synchronous electric motor with 44.5 kWh liquid cooled lithium-ion battery, 105kW/353Nm; consumption 18.6 kWh/100km; claimed range 263km; automatic transmission; front-wheel drive.
Vital statistics: 4314mm long, 1644mm high, 1809mm wide, 2585mm wheelbase. Luggage space 359-1187 litres. 17-inch alloy wheels.
We like: Impressive price positioning, good safety suite, roomy cabin.
We don’t like: Has a lot but lacks for pizzazz; irksome infotainment, lacks the refinement and quality of Japanese and Korean brands..

TAKE a relatively low-profile sports utility for the budget-minded, make it more expensive by implementing an in-vogue drivetrain – stand back and watch the sales skyrocket as it imprints as an unrivalled value proposition everyone’s talking about.

Sounds oxymoronic, right? In essence, though, that’s exactly the back story of this week’s test car and there’s more to it.

The problem with new electric cars is that while they're cheap to run, they can be expensive to buy. The one notable exception has to be the MG ZS EV.

Establishing as the country’s least expensive new electric car has been a life-altering moment for s medium five-seater that, when previously offering just in petrol form, led a reasonably quiet existence.

Now it’s the talk of EV town, the second strongest-selling EV nationally (behind the Tesla Model 3) in August. That’s quite a lift for a conservatively designed car with a driving experience erring more toward the ‘okay’ than outstanding.

 MG itself has always quite transparent about the car and what should be expected of it. And, fair dues, being a bit plain to look at and drive hardly inhibits it from standing out as a great ‘how to’ example for others to pick up on.

 How many of those ‘others’ might come from MG’s home turf remains to be seen. No, not that one. Sure, MG is a famous motoring name, associated with the heyday of British sports cars, but that’s history; now it is part of something new and more promising. Shanghai Automotive, aka SAIC, is a giant of China’s car making industry.

That’s worth noting. To be big in China is something else. It’s the world’s largest new car market, has the most automotive home brands and is now fully immersed – thanks to unsubtle ‘build ‘em or die’ Government prompting – in becoming the world’s leading EV producer.

By 2028 the PRC will have produced more than eight million per annum, based on data trajectory. SAIC is all in. It recently opened a battery factory claimed to be able to produce enough cells for up to 300,000 vehicles a year.

The ZS is an interesting pathfinder. Since relaunch in 2011, MG has concentrated on building value-focused models. The ZS is true to that remit. That’s why the petrol editions are even cheaper.

All the same, it is astounding that the electric edition can be sold here quite so inexpensively.

It’s accepted China holds a lot of ace cards in the creation of electric cars. Crucially, it holds major concessions for raw materials vital to batteries and motors. It makes its own steel and let’s not skim over that labour rates in its factories are lower than would stand almost anywhere else. Yet even if everything was at mates’ rates, the EV drivetrain surely has to be the single biggest cost in this variant. Given that, it is impressive the ZS EV also outfits with a wide span of comfort features plus a suite of active safety systems under the 'MG Pilot' umbrella.

There’s enough kit – even a full-length sunroof - to leave it seeming semi-premium on paper, and while some functions lack for polish, ergonomically and in presentation, it’s great icing for a model designed foremost as an affordable vehicle.

Sure, some pragmatism is required. There’s quite a lot to remind how fine the line is between value and cheap. The ‘leather-like’ seat trim isn’t. It has lower-quality plastics for surfaces that stand little chance of being touched a lack of reach adjustment for the steering wheel is a cost-cutting that forces a tall driver into a slightly weird driving position. The big sunroof has a sheer blind which is great for letting light in, but probably will be less efficient keeping heat out come summer. A solid blind would be better.

You will also need to be good-humoured to accept the quirks of the electronics, assuming it’s normal for the model to behave as this one did, by on occasion emitting warning beeps without ever providing absolute clarity as to what exactly it was alerting to.  Having the digital odometer and electric driving-range readouts on either side of the display in the instrument cluster is confusing. There is nothing to indicate which is which, instead you have to guess or remember which one is driving range. It’s not well thought out.

I fear for the longevity of the charging port cover, the MG badge on the nose. Should a piece so flimsy in look and feel require such a firm push to pivot up and out of the way to reveal the charging ports; Type 2 for AC charging and a CCS socket for fast-charging?

That this element wasn’t better resolved is interesting, given the ZS was designed from the outset to accommodate electrification as well. That’s a surprising statement, because the platform doesn’t allow for a huge battery and the car’s shape is hardly conforming to the sleekness most designers say is hugely beneficial to gain efficiency edge.

That it looks almost identical to the standard ZS on which it’s based might be a challenge for acceptance to some. Sure, there will be some who won’t mind their environmentally friendly electric car flying under the radar. On the other, it’s surely no strength if you want to shout about your eco-credentials.

The tall snout and large frontage remind of the compromise this asks - combustion engines require air flow and a radiator – and, yes, while all batteries and various wiring arrays fit neatly, the motor installation looks a little lost and after-market in a bay designed for a Big Oil powertrain.

The fundamentals are a single electric motor, it’s front-wheel-drive, power being fed by a 44.5kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Output is rated at 105kW and 353Nm with a claimed WLTP range of 263km on a full charge.

Nothing about this is outrageous, but you could validly argue it is very decent for the spend. It’s whether this car delivers a better ultimate value return than the entry Tesla Model 3 at the moment – yes, US-designed, China-sourced sedan is $20k dearer still, but the Musk fan club will point to it nonetheless being the market leader as proof enough of it having an edge - but I think it’s reasonable to say you can outlay a lot more dollars on other EVs besides and achieve less.

On the subject of charging, MG quotes 6.5 hours for a 100 percent charge at home, with an 80 percent charge at a fast charger in 40 minutes. Re-energising from a state of charge so low it was urging me to find some supply to around 60 percent took around 35 minutes on a public fast charger; so, not the quickest in that regard. The car is better-sorted for relating its on-the-move energy usage than how it’s faring when hooked for replenishment; it ticks the basics and little more. Deep-diving geeks might wish for more, but the average user should be satisfied.

Despite it being large enough to look handy for long-distance driving, impression is that using it as an urban runner is more preferable for getting anywhere near the claimed optimal energy use outcomes.

In open road cruising the efficiency noticeably lessens, in part because the car doesn’t get to use its KERS (yes, someone at MG’s a big F1 fan) regenerative braking as often but mainly because, I’d suspect, it has a fair bit of relatively unaerodynamic and reasonably solid mass to move. By chance, the most prolonged 100kmh zone drive was also undertaken on a cold day – it faced sleet and snow for a little while – and, as the air temperature fell, so did the range expectation. 

Like all electric vehicles, the ZS EV pulls away quickly from a standing start thanks to the almost instant torque. With a 0-100km-h time of 8.2 seconds, it’s nippy but no blazer. It holds open road pace but loses some momentum on ascents. Sport mode adds some zing, of course, but it’s all in all more sedate than sizzling. No problems there, given the buyer type.

The driving feel in the highway zone feels sensible but there’s nothing in the dynamic that particularly tries to live up to the old MG sports car image. It feels stable and corners neatly, but what it appreciates more than anything else is a relaxed driver.

The steering is too light in its regular mode and artificially heavy when you select the Sport setting, braking performance is not brilliant and, being low-resistance types, the tyres do trade off on some grip. MG would have done well to undertake a suspension retune as priority for the mid-life refresh. As is, it is blighted by a busy and unsettled ride and loses comfort over lumps and bumps. Pitted rural coarse chip brings out some harshness and refinement falters at 100kmh, where the electric motor is less hushed than in urban operation and there’s some surface and wind noise to contend with.

The requirement for a bit more polish in those areas is far less obvious when it sticks to town. There the drivetrain responsiveness is smooth and willing and even in the highest of the three regenerative settings, the deceleration is smooth and controlled. The excellent visibility and tight turning circle are also more appreciated.

The temptation to run it as a family bus for short, inter-urban zipping around is obvious. Even though it’s a medium model, most other EVs within coo-ee are based on physically smaller cars. So, by comparison, the MG will seem impressively spacious.

A colleague with kids reckons the back seat is not quite wide enough to accommodate three chunky child seats, yet it might be okay for large teens as there is generous legroom across all three positions thanks to the flat floor. The doors also open wide to make it easy to get in and out and, because of the big windows and the relatively upright seats, there's decent visibility looking forward or out the side. The view to the rear for the driver is hindered by thick pillars, but the car has reversing aides to cover that.

Boot space sets no outright records, but with the back seats in use it is easily large enough for the shopping or other urban errands and the seat backs fold if you need to load longer or larger items. It’s not a flat-load floor because the batteries are housed under the rear seat. The cargo space is deep because there’s no spare wheel; just a tyre-repair kit. It lives under the boot floor with the home charge cable.

The interior layout is very similar to the petrol editions, with the rotary gear selector the main differentiator. The big focus point is the eight-inch touchscreen that has the usual multi-functional operability spanning ventilation and heating, the native nav, phone hook-up and audio or the alternate hosting of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto projection.

That’s all you could ask for … but, sadly, the operability isn’t. The screen feedback speed isn’t great, the interfaces are awkward and the overall reliability of some of the functions, particularly the satellite navigation, seems haphazard. Funny, it’s something a lot of reviewers seem to note and yet, when I mentioned it to the dealership where the car was delivered to, they acted as though no-one had ever commented.

So there’s work to be done and let’s hope the incoming facelift might well sort things out – though none of these matters are deal-breakers, some are unnecessarily irksome.

Still, if you’re happy with what if offers, then it simply sells itself. It was remarkable for MG to release the ZS for less than $50,000; eligibility for the Clean Car discount just sweetens the deal so much more.

That rebate-gained sticker is way below what you’d pay for other equivalent-specced and sized electric SUVs, the closest being the Hyundai Kona/Kia e-Niro, and even undercuts smaller EVs, like the Renault Zoe, Nissan Leaf and Mazda MX-30. True, those more expensive cars are all generally more fulfilling to drive and might have better resale values, in which case they might not cost you that much more in the long run.  

Yet, if you just want electric, and don’t mind a few rough edges … well, no contest. How long has it been since an MG was acclaimed as a winner, right?

This make’s biggest concern is presumably that a competitor – meaning, basically, another Chinese brand - will come up with something as good if not better and sell it here for less. Everyone is talking about BYD and what it could bring to our market, perhaps through a direct-selling model, but it’s just one of many that conceivably ‘could’. After all, China now has more than 80 car brands knocking out electric vehicles.  

All that is needed is a desire by more of them to make product in right-hand drive and tailor it to the tastes and requirements of volume-relevant markets (the UK or Australia, basically) that NZ traditionally piggybacks off.

Meantime, even if you decide there’s not a lot about the ZS EV that marks it out as a truly great car, it’s hard not to see that there’s much that makes it a truly great opportunity.