MG Windsor EV Review: Spacious, Feature-Loaded Electric SUV with Flaws

MG Windsor EV Review: The electric vehicle segment in India recently witnessed some new product launches from multiple manufacturers in India. JSW MG Motor India recently launched a new EV for the Indian market, the Windsor EV. Apart from the launch, JSW MG Motor India also introduced the concept of battery-as-a-service to lower the upfront cost of owning an electric vehicle. The Windsor EV is huge from the outside, has a great amount of space for the passengers and is a feature-loaded vehicle.

Recently, we got our hands on the MG Windsor EV, and we took it on a short spin on highways and around the city. Here are our thoughts on whether the buyers should consider it or not:

MG Windsor EV Exteriors:

The Windsor EV has a curvy effect all over the exterior. The front profile of the Windsor EV has a connected LED DRL and illuminated logo of Morris Garages, enhancing its presence on the road. The split headlamp setup looks great on this EV, and the top-spec variant has an all-LED setup for the headlights. 

During our night drive experience, we felt the throw of these headlights could have been improved. The lower part of the grill does have a provision for radar for ADAS technology, which might come in future updates.

Coming to the side, the Windsor EV has a length of 4,295mm, a width of 1,850mm, and a height of 1,677mm. The length of the Windsor EV helps in enhancing the cabin space inside. To enhance the aerodynamics, MG Motor played a smart trick and offered flush door handles for a streamlined body. 

The wheels are 17-inch alloys, which offer excellent ride quality on bad and bumpy roads. 

At the rear, the Windsor EV continues to have a connected LED DRL and LED tail lamps. It has a gloss black finish on the bumpers to reduce the visual bulk. Since buyers also consider the boot space, the Windsor EV has a space of 604L, making enough cargo area to store your luggage. By folding the rear seats in a 60:40 split, it can be increased further.

MG Windsor EV Interiors:

On stepping inside, let us talk about the rear seats first. One of the main highlights of the Windsor EV was the rear seat experience. Since the length of the car is more than 4m, the space and the room in the cabin are great. Talking about the seating comfort, the cushioning, leatherette upholstery and the sense of spaciousness enhance the overall experience. The knee room, legroom, and shoulder room are in abundance, and since it has a flat floorboard, three passengers on the rear seats are extremely comfortable. Talking about amenities for the rear seat passengers, the rear seats have a recline of 135 degrees, which makes them extremely comfortable on long journeys.

Now let us come to the front and discuss about the dashboard, a big tablet screen, and the comfort levels. The front seats are very comfortable and you won’t get tired on long journeys. There is a centre floating armrest with cupholders and space below to put your phone or other stuff, thus enhancing the practicality inside the cabin.

Since the MG Windsor EV has a simplistic and clean layout for the dashboard, there is a huge 15.6-inch touchscreen infotainment and an 8.8-inch instrument cluster to display information about the vehicle and other features. Our experience with the huge screen was not bad. 

The touch response was smooth, and we felt a bit of lag while operating it. Lower down, the air conditioning controls were physical buttons, which we have a premium appeal.

However, there were a few things that we didn’t appreciate on the MG Windsor EV. First things first, the MG integrated almost every control inside the screen. Whether it is the adjustment of the outside rear view mirrors or opening the panoramic moonroof, or switching on the headlamps, almost every control is integrated into the huge infotainment screen.

Also Read: Kia Sonet 1000km Review: Feature Loaded SUV, Great Drive with Strong Design

MG Windsor EV Features:

The MG Windsor EV comprises a long list of convenience features for the buyers. For starters, it has 64 colour ambient lighting, a wireless charger, a panoramic moonroof, automatic headlamps, and more. Other features such as rear reclining seats, multiple drive modes, and regenerative modes were also there, which helped in enhancing the driving experience of the MG Windsor EV.

Talking about the safety features, it has six airbags, ABS, ESC, traction control, a 360-degree parking camera, and other safety features. Talking about the camera quality, MG Motor could certainly work upon this and provide a better camera at this price to the customers.

MG Windsor EV Battery and Range:

The MG Windsor EV has a 38 kWh battery pack. The claimed range of the Windsor EV is 331km. During our test, we drove it in the city and on highways, and it returned a driving range of 280-290 km on a single charge. Talking about the motor output, it makes 136 bhp and 200 Nm torque. The performance from the motor is peppy.

Regarding driving modes,  it has four modes on offer. There are Eco+, Eco, Normal, and Sports modes, which can be altered from the infotainment screen. In our test, we mainly kept the vehicle in the Eco mode with the highest regeneration for an effective one-pedal drive system. The performance in the Eco+ mode is quite dull and feels a bit strained.

MG Windsor EV Ride Quality:

The Windsor EV comes equipped with 18-inch alloy wheels. The ride quality from the suspension is on the softer side, and there is some body roll present on hard cornering. However, the bumps do not filter inside the cabin easily, and on driving it on rough patches, the ride quality was very smooth. Further, driving it around 100-110 km/h, the ride becomes a bit bouncy.

MG Windsor EV Price:

At the time of launch, MG Motor introduced the battery rental model to bring down the upfront cost of owning an EV. So under that, the price of MG Windsor EV is ₹9.99 lakh (ex-showroom) and ₹3.5/km as the battery rent. The buyers of the MG Windsor EV have to pay ₹13.99 lakh (ex-showroom) for the base Excite variant. We drove the Essence variant, which costs ₹15.99 lakh (ex-showroom).

Conclusion:

The MG Windsor EV has a decent range, enormous space in the interiors, and is a feature-loaded offering in the market. Further, MG is offering the BaaS has multiple benefits for the customers, helping in reducing the upfront cost of purchasing an EV. It has become a popular option among buyers and has even surpassed the 20,000 sales mark, as claimed by MG. However, the curvy exterior design probably won’t get cheers from the masses, but it is a spacious, economical, feature-loaded and comfortable offering at the price point. 

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