• Lots of space front and rear
• Boot unaffected by EV conversion
• Impressive practicality all round

The ZS EV is one of the more practical small electric SUVs around, thanks to generous space for all passengers. Though it’s slightly too narrow to comfortably fit three child seats across the rear, it will easily take two – and if used for adults, the rear bench is spacious for both head- and leg-room.

The seats are positioned rather high in the interior, and while this does rather make it feel as though you’re sitting on the MG ZS EV rather than in it for some, it does have the added bonus of making entry and exit very easy.

Boot space and storage

As for the boot, it offers 470 litres of space – that’s 70 litres more than the already spacious SEAT Arona, and class-leading for a compact SUV. The opening isn’t as wide as that car’s, though, and the seats don’t fold completely flat.

Charging cables can be stored neatly beneath the boot floor and a split-level boot floor eliminates the hump in the load area that you’d have otherwise.

Is it easy to park?

Despite the cavernous interior dimensions the ZS EV isn’t a big car, so there shouldn’t be any concern when it comes to parking. All models get rear parking sensors and a reversing camera, while top-spec cars get a 360 degree bird’s eye view camera instead.

Safety

• Five-star Euro NCAP result for the EV
• Lots of safety equipment
• Excellent driver-assistance tech

The MG ZS EV takes a five-star Euro NCAP crash test safety rating compared with three for the standard car. This improvement is down to the additional safety equipment you get on the ZS EV. Regardless of trim level, the ZS EV comes with a glut of safety aids bundled under the brand name ‘MG Pilot’.

This package includes adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking capable of detecting cars, cyclists and pedestrians, lane-keeping assist and lane-departure warning, speed limit assist (automatically adjusting the speed limiter for you based on traffic sign recognition) and traffic jam assist, which is capable of steering, braking and accelerating the car in slow-moving traffic.

Watch: MG ZS EV Euro NCAP crash test video