MG Motors developing low-cost EV for the urban consumers: expected specifications, features

MG Motors plans on launching low-cost EV for India 

Morris Garages aka MG Motors is taking the Indian EV space seriously after tasting decent success with the MG ZS EV. Moreover, MG Motors India has acknowledged the price-sensitive and demanding Indian market and has given a heads up stating intentions to introduced budget-friendly tailor-made EV products in the near future (source: CarToq). 

MG Motors is currently developing an EV to cater to the Indian market as well as surrounding markets inside the Indian subcontinent. MG plans on introducing a new EV based on the SAIC-GM-Wuling Global Small Electric Vehicle (GSEV) platform. This GSEV platform is currently deployed in multiple Chinese market cars and underpins cars such as the Baojun E100, E200, E300, and E300 Plus, as well as the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV. These vehicles are compact two-door vehicles with short overall lengths and tight turning circles. These EVs are hence a perfect urban runabout solution. 

MG Motor India president and managing director, Rajeev Chaba, had earlier revealed a plan to introduce an "electric crossover based on a global platform" by 2023 and "a mass-market EV for all the emerging markets," with "customised for range, and Indian regulations and customer tastes." 

The upcoming EV from MG Motors will be linked closely to the Hongguang Mini EV on which the EV is likely to be based. The car has been codenamed the E230 and will inherit most traits from its Chinese counterpart. However, MG Motors India is likely to introduce a substantial number of changes to better suit it to the Indian market. The first one being is a longer wheelbase which could consequently also mean a five-door model instead of a three-door model. This can be reasoned by looking at the ill fate that three-door models have had in the past in India as well as most Indian buyers don't want to give the second row of seating for 2/3 people and prefer to have a dedicated rear door for its access. 

Another big change can be expected in the battery department, where the Indian subcontinent model could see a larger 20kWh battery pack instead of the smaller 9.3kWh battery or a 13.9kWh units that the Hongguang Mini EV gets in China. This could result in a more respectable 150km of range. The expected pricing on this vehicle can be guessed to be between Rs 10 lakhs - Rs 15 lakhs; perhaps, MG Motors might surprise buyers by introducing the new EV product at a price that sits below Rs 10 lakh. 

MG Motors might also justify the rather high pricing for such a small car to the general public by offering cutting edge features such as - ABS, EBD, rear parking sensors, advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), Internet of Things (IoT) features, automatic parking, voice commands, and two or more airbags. Other goodies like a large infotainment screen, a good speaker system, sunroof, ventilated seats, powered seats, etc might also be offered to sweeten the deal.