Tata Nexon EV vs MG ZS EV: Battle Of India’s Popular Long-Range EVs

The Tata Nexon EV and MG ZS EV are two of the most popular long range EVs in India. Both offer thrilling performance, can comfortably do a Mumbai-Pune trip, and are practical family SUVs. But which SUV should you pick if you’re in the mood for some fun - the Tata or the MG? We pitted both the models for a detailed performance and range test. 

Specifications

The MG ZS EV is 14PS and a whopping 108Nm more powerful than the Nexon EV. The MG also has the larger battery pack that’s much quicker to juice up using a fast charger. Can the Nexon EV beat the ZS EV despite its power disadvantage?

Performance Test

*MY2020 ZS EV tested 

The Nexon EV has two forward drive modes: normal Drive and Sport. Power is limited in drive mode whereas in Sport, you’ll get the full 129PS and 245Nm. 

In drive, the Nexon EV does 0-100kmph in 16.80 seconds, which is a full 8.44 seconds slower than the ZS EV. This gap reduces to 1.22 seconds when you dial the Tata to sport, which is not bad. Even in our kickdown acceleration runs, the Nexon EV is considerably slower than the ZS EV in drive. However, the gap between both models is less than a second when you shift the Tata to Sport.  

Range Test

*MY2020 ZS EV tested

Naturally, the Nexon EV, being the less powerful model here, is much more efficient than the ZS. In our city runs, the Tata returned 9.35km/kWh, which is 1.5km/kWh more than the MG. On the highway, the MG manages to close this gap to 0.88. That said, the ZS EV can travel much further than the Tata thanks to a larger battery pack. 

Verdict

The MG ZS EV is the faster model in this test. Despite it being less efficient, it is capable of travelling further thanks to a larger battery pack. That said, the Nexon EV, despite being slower in Drive mode, offers similar performance when driven in Sport. You might not be able to travel further thanks to the smaller battery pack, but the Nexon EV is the more economical model to buy if you’re interested in making the shift to pure electric.