MG ZS Hybrid+ review

Is the MG ZS Hybrid+ a good car?

The MG ZS is back and (much) better than before. The hybrid powertrain suits this car well and sets it apart from its competitors, in what is fast becoming a vastly overcrowded market. It’s good enough to drive, spacious and economical, but the real selling point is its low list price, which allows it to undercut rivals by several thousand pounds. Even on a monthly finance deal, MG claims it’s over £100 less than a like-for-like Hyundai Kona. That alone should see the small SUV sell in strong numbers – even before the cheaper petrol version arrives in 2025.

How much does the MG ZS Hybrid+ cost?

The MG ZS is back for a second generation and is now hybrid only. But fitting a relatively advanced powertrain doesn’t seem to have impacted the price you pay – the cheapest version costs £21,995, undercutting the base Ford Puma by nearly £4,000, and a Hyundai Kona Hybrid by more than £8k.

That sub-£22,000 starting price is, give or take a couple of hundred quid, what you’ll pay for a mid-level Renault Clio E-Tech – a smaller car that does without the all-important SUV looks. And even entry-level MGs (badged SE) come pretty well equipped, with a 12.3-inch touchscreen with built in sat-nav, plus Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as a reversing camera and a suite of MG Pilot safety systems.

Trophy cars are around £2,500 more, but add heated leather-style seats, a heated steering wheel, rear privacy glass and a 360-degree parking camera. Depending on what your local dealer can offer on a PCP finance deal, it may be worth spending a little extra per month for the Trophy’s niceties.

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The new MG ZS is a perfectly decent car to drive. It’s quick enough thanks to its punchy hybrid powertrain (a petrol version is on the way) and comfortable without feeling too sloppy. A Ford Puma is definitely more entertaining on a bendy back road, but if you want a car to reliably and confidently take you from A to B, then the new MG is more than up to the task.

The way its hybrid system works means that most of the time, it’s the electric motor that powers the wheels. That ensures the ZS feels overwhelmingly electric at low speeds, and you’ll not really notice the engine kick in unless you put your foot down to join a motorway, or need extra grunt on a steep incline. Here, the three-speed transmission acts almost like a CVT gearbox, holding on to gears longer than you might like.

That said, it’s pretty quick for a car of this type (combined power stands at 192bhp and 0-62mph takes 8.7 seconds) and the three levels of regenerative braking allow the driver to choose how much energy to feed back into the battery when lifting off the throttle. But the main advantage of the punchy electric motor and its instantaneous response is just how relaxing and easy it makes the car to drive.

Another thing that makes it quite relaxing is the steering set-up. There’s a level of slack around the straight ahead, which can make the car feel a little bit lazy – especially compared with the always-alert Puma. The flipside is that the MG doesn’t require infinite small adjustments when cruising along, and it feels less susceptible to ruts or ridges in the road surface.

That’s also helped by the well-judged suspension system. While it might feel a little firm to begin with, in reality it does an excellent job of filtering out imperfections and deals very well with larger undulations like those you might find on a motorway or fast A-road. You’ll rarely (if ever) notice crashes from deeper potholes.

The biggest area for improvement, then, is the tyres. Our car was fitted with GitiComfort 225 tyres, which proved really quite noisy at anything more than 30mph. This could be a dealbreaker if you do lots of long journeys; both the Renault Captur and Toyota Yaris Cross are unquestionably quieter.

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The MG ZS is one of a handful of small SUVs that offers full hybrid tech – rather than a mild-hybrid (MHEV) set-up. This should, in theory, have a big benefit on fuel consumption – especially if you spend most of your time in town, shuffling between traffic lights at low speeds.

MG quotes official fuel consumption of 55.4mpg, which is almost five full miles per gallon more than an equivalent Ford Puma MHEV fitted with an automatic gearbox. In the real world, we found the MG ZS easily capable of 45-50mpg, or more if you’re gentle with the throttle.

The company-car friendly MG ZS EV is on its way out, and will be replaced by another model based on the MG4 sometime in 2025. Company car drivers seeking out low Benefit-in-Kind tax rates are therefore advised to wait a little longer, if an MG is top of their wishlist.

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The MG ZS is unlikely to win any design awards – inside or out. That’s not to say it isn’t an attractive car, more that it doesn’t do all that much to stand out from the crowd.

It gets a family-inspired face, closely related to the new MG3 and MG HS, and while it has grown over the previous-generation car, it retains a relatively compact footprint. Base cars sit on 17-inch wheels, but we’ve only driven the top-spec Trophy, which gets larger 18s as standard. 

In the cabin, initial impressions are good. With the large digital screens, leather-style seats and a stitched dashboard, this is a car that punches well above its weight, challenging models in the class above for standard kit and perceived quality. However, attempt to get comfortable and you’ll soon notice the high-set driver’s seat and the lack of reach adjustment on the steering wheel mean it’s not without its ergonomic flaws.

There are other parts of the design that don’t feel all that well thought through, too. The silver trim on the leading edge of the centre console and steering wheel is distractingly reflective at times, and on one occasion we caught our finger between the gear lever and the recess it sits within when selecting reverse. Be assured, though, you’re only likely to do this once given how much it hurts.

But the layout is otherwise pretty user-friendly, with shortcut buttons beneath the main screen and configurable switches on the steering wheel that allow quick access to the likes of the regenerative braking system or climate control. 

Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment

MG has been making strides in the sat-nav, stereo and infotainment department over the last few years, and even alongside the contemporary MG 4 EV, the ZS looks and feels like next-generation tech. 

In front of the driver you’ll find a seven-inch digital instrument cluster, which can be configured to show myriad information from energy flow to trip or media info. It’s a little busy in its design; we’d like to see the speed readout a little more prominent, which can be tricky to read at a glance given its positioning in the top left-hand corner of the cluster.

The central screen is vastly more responsive than the one fitted to the MG 4, and it’s clearer and easier to use, too. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are both wired rather than wireless, but the hook-up is easy and it fills the whole screen – a positive and a negative, as you’ll need to hit the home button on the physical shortcut control bar to access things like the climate control. MG claims the Chinese are much more entrenched in voice-activated features – perhaps Europe and the UK have some catching up to do in this regard.

MG has also integrated its iSmart phone app on the ZS, which means you can monitor many of the car’s functions, and even pre-heat or cool the cabin, from your device. Doing so, we’re reliably informed, only uses the car’s high-voltage (1.83kWh) battery and will never start the engine.

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If you’re judging a car on practicality per pound, then the MG ZS Hybrid+ makes a pretty decent fist of things. This is a small SUV priced on par with city cars and superminis. As such, there’s a decent amount of room inside, and a usable boot.

While there are some ergonomic issues up front (see the Design, interior and technology section), you’ll easily fit adults up to six feet tall in the back, with ample headroom and enough knee room to be comfortable. The side windows are big, and the light headlining keeps things nice and airy. 

The boot is actually five litres smaller than before (at 443 litres) with the rear seats in place – with MG blaming the need to package a bulkier hybrid system under the floor. However, fold those seats down and you’ll uncover a total of 1,298 litres, which is 82 litres up on the old car and on par with the Ford Puma, but a little shy of what’s available in the latest Renault Captur.

The MG gets hooks, tie-down points and small nets to secure loose items, and the moveable boot floor means you can prioritise either maximum volume or a flat load bay depending on how you want to use the load space.

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MG came flat bottom in our 2024 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, which is a pretty damning result for the reborn Chinese-British brand. It finished last in each of the powertrain, exterior, ride and handling, safety features and reliability categories, although this was before the maker introduced its new hybrid tech which should (we think) see it jump up the rankings in several areas. 

The MG ZS hasn’t been tested by Euro NCAP yet, but the MG 4 was awarded a full five-star rating when it was reviewed in 2022. The ZS comes with loads of safety kit as standard, including the firm’s MG Pilot tech, which includes the likes of active emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, plus cross-traffic alert and lane-departure tech.

Some of the tech can feel a little intrusive at times – the speed-limit warning is loud and the lane-keeping aid can be a bit sensitive – but it’s relatively easy to switch off if you prefer a quieter life.

MG ZS alternatives

The small SUV segment is a hotly contested area of the new-car market, with almost every mainstream manufacturer selling something that resembles a compact crossover.

The Ford Puma is probably the most popular of the bunch – and for good reason. It’s the best car in this class to drive, and while the engine range is limited, the maker’s EcoBoost technology fits the Puma really well. Practical features like the hidden Megabox in the boot mean it’s well suited to family life, too.

Another favourite small SUV of ours is the Renault Captur. Again, clever features like the sliding rear bench make it a great choice for those with kids, while the option of various hybrid powertrains allows you to keep a lid on running costs. 

Other choices include the Toyota Yaris Cross and Nissan Juke – the latter of which is built in the UK and sells in huge numbers. Cars like the Vauxhall Mokka, Peugeot 2008 and Hyundai Kona offer plenty of powertrain choice, including zero-emission electric options should that be of interest.