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MG Windsor EV Review - Cloudy With A Hint Of Financial Wizardry
MG Motor's journey in India has had a few ups and downs. The firm came to India in 2017, when its parent company, SAIC took over GM's Halol production facility in Gujarat. Two years later, the British marque had its first car on sale in India, the MG Hector SUV.
Over the following years, the firm launched the ICE-powered Gloster and Astor SUVs along with the B-Segment ZS EV electric SUV and the tiny yet extremely quirky Comet EV.
Now, with a recent partnership with JSW signed, sealed and delivered to ensure it remains in the country, MG has once again dipped its hand into its Chinese parent company's array of EVs and has launched the Windsor EV in India at a rather startling introductory price of Rs 9.99 lakh (ex-showroom).
MG recently invited us to the capital to drive the new Windsor EV and here are our thoughts after spending a day behind the wheel of the firm's latest electric challenger.
MG Windsor EV Review: Exterior Design - Cloudy Elegance
The MG Windsor EV, at first glance, looks like an oversized version of the quirky Comet EV, without the blocky lines of its smaller sibling. Instead, the MG Windsor adopts the silhouette of an MPV, while still maintaining the 5-seater aesthetic of a regular car on the inside.
Like the Comet, the new Windsor EV has a layered look to its front end, thanks to the LED lightbar-style DRLs that stretch across the front end of the new electric car.
The LED headlights sit lower on the front bumper and are connected by a strip of black plastic with the Morris Garages nameplate on it. The MG logo is illuminated as well.
The MPV-inspired design of the new Windsor EV can be best seen when you look at it from the side. You can see the gently flowing front windscreen blending into the glass roof (a first for a mass-market car in India) of the Windsor EV.
Move lower on the sides and you see the blacked-out pillars as well as the door handles, which pop out when you need to get in and out of the car but stay flush otherwise when you're on the move to help with the range. The Windsor EV rides on a snazzy set of 18-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels.
Also seen are quite a few pieces of chrome trim including the strip that runs across the sides of the Windsor and joins up at the rear, that add to the bling factor of the new EV. The charging port for the Windsor EV can be found above the left wheel arch.
Move to the rear of the Windsor EV and you find the roof-mounted spoiler which houses a glass antenna for the radio. The rear windscreen gently slopes into the previously mentioned chrome strips that meet up at the back.
Lower down you find the MG badge and the Windsor EV badging which are split by the connected LED taillights. Open the boot and you gain access to up to 604 litres of space, which is more than enough for a weekend's road trip of luggage for the family and a bit more.
MG Windsor EV Review: Interior & Features - Minimalist Excellence
Step inside the all-new Windsor EV and you're greeted by a cabin that is both luxurious and minimalist at the same time. The cabin features quite a bit of soft-touch plastics along with quite a few gold highlights (dash, steering wheel, air-con vents and more) as well a wood finish on sections of the dashboard and the oversized front armrest section.
The dashboard is dominated by a set of displays that sit atop it. These include the minimalist 8.8-inch rectangular driver's display that gives you the basic readouts required to keep you informed on the move.
The centre of the dash houses a class-leading 15.6-inch touchscreen infotainment system that supports wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The infotainment setup also includes a 9-speaker audio system from Infinity to play your favourite tunes.
The infotainment screen, which features customisable themes is also where you access the 80+ connected car features through MG's i-Smart suite. The screen also is home to the MG app store which is powered by Jio and allows you access to a variety of apps including games, music streaming and OTT movies and shows as well as multi-lingual voice recognition (English, Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu).
Experiencing these on the go in the MG Windsor is quite an opulent experience. The front seats are ventilated and the driver's seat offers 6-way power adjustment (another segment first).
However, the rear seats are the actual place to be if you're travelling in the Windsor. The seats offer multiple levels of reclining with a maximum of 135 degrees on offer for those wishing to travel in business class on the streets.
There is also quite a bit of storage on offer including inside underneath the driver's armrest, the lower section of the dash and on the door cards. There are cupholders on both the front and rear armrests allowing you to store your morning cup of joe with ease, no matter which seat you find yourself in during the morning commute.
Adding to the spacious feel of the interiors is the large glass roof that lets in quite a bit of light and is the first of its kind to be offered for a mass-market car on sale in India.
Other highlights of the MG Windsor's cabin include leatherette upholstery, a wireless phone charger, multiple charging ports (1 USB A, 2 USB C and a 12V socket), LED reading and luggage lamps, rear AC vents, an air filtration system and an ambient lighting setup with 256 different colour options.
In terms of safety, the MG Windsor sports 6 airbags, ESP, Hill Start Assist, Hill Descent Control, LED cornering and rear fog lights, TPMS, disc brakes for all four wheels and more.
MG Windsor EV Review: Specs & Dimensions - Big In All The Right Places
The MG Windsor EV measures 4,295mm long, 1,850mm wide, 1,677mm tall and features a 2,700mm long wheelbase. The MG Windsor EV offers 186mm of ground clearance.
The MG Windsor EV uses a single PMSM motor which produces 134bhp and 200Nm of peak torque which is sent to the front wheels via single-speed automatic transmission.
The motor draws power from a 38kWh lithium-ion battery pack (LFP chemistry) that delivers a claimed range of 331km on a single charge (which translates to around 250km in the real world).
The battery pack of the Windsor supports 45kW fast DC charging which allows for a 0-80% charge up in 55 minutes. Charging times with the included 3.3kW and 7.4kW AC chargers are 13.8 and 6.5 hours respectively.
The battery pack on the Windsor EV is offered with a lifetime warranty. Unlike other EVs, where the cost of the battery is included in the initial cost, the Windsor EV offers the Battery as a service. In simpler terms, you have to pay a rental fee of Rs 3.5 for every kilometre you travel in this new EV, which is why MG was able to offer it with that eye-popping Rs 9.9 lakh (ex-showroom) price tag.
MG Windsor EV Review: Driving Impressions - Cloudy Comfort
On the go, the MG Windsor is a comfortable place to be. The leatherette-upholstery draped seats are comfortable and the generous amount of room on offer for those at the back makes the rear seats the place to be.
There are three driving modes on offer with the Windsor EV - Eco, Normal, and Sport - with the performance levels increasing (slightly) as you switch up from Eco to Sport. The single-motor front-wheel-drive setup offers quick and smooth acceleration and makes driving, especially in the city a trouble-free experience.
The steering also weighs up as you from Eco to Normal and then to Sport. In city driving conditions, Eco is the mode to be in, as far as the steering is concerned, with the low weight and quick response allowing you to weave through traffic with ease.
The Windsor EV's suspension setup (McPherson strut at the front and a torsion beam at the rear), despite the heavy weight of the car (thank you batteries) has been tuned for comfort. This allows the Windsor EV to glide over bumps and ruts while not being too soft that you roll about when you have to take turns.
The Windsor EV gets disc brakes on all four wheels that provide more than adequate stopping power. However, braking would be better if you upgraded the stock tyres which are quite skinny (215/55) to keep rolling resistance levels down for better range.
MG Windsor EV Review: Final Thoughts & Verdict - Cloudy Elegance With A Side Of Financial Bamboozlement
The MG Windsor EV is the first new vehicle from the marque under its new partnership with JSW and its third bite at the electric apple in India. As an electric car, the MG Windsor EV makes a lot of sense, providing a good range and a very liveable experience (especially those back seats) that makes it perfect for a family living mostly in the city at a truly exceptional price.
While that scarcely believable initial price is why we expect customers to come enquiring about the Windsor EV at an MG showroom, just how many will end up going for it when the fact that the battery has to be rented is properly revealed, may just make or break the car on the sales charts, despite the implied benefits in the overall running costs.
What we would recommend is buying it outright and with prices ranging from Rs 13.5 lakh to Rs 15.5 lakh (ex-showroom), as at those pricepoints, the Windsor EV is still an attractive option for the family looking to go down the EV route for the first time
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