2025 MG ZS Hybrid+ review: Australian first drive

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2025 MG ZS Hybrid+

The MG ZS is Australia's top-selling small SUV – and after seven years, there's now an all-new model.

As buyers returned to new-car showrooms in the wake of COVID-19 lockdowns – and established brands struggled with stock shortages – the popularity of the MG ZS soared, last year selling more than twice as many examples as the next-best-selling small SUV.

Following similar makeovers earlier this year for the MG 3 hatch and HS family SUV, the ZS has been overhauled with a new look, higher-tech cabin and, for the first time, it is available as a hybrid.

Hybrid models will be the only variants on offer until regular petrol examples arrive in the new year – followed by a successor to the ZS EV by the middle of next year, which will wear a new name and dedicated electric-car underpinnings.

But the upgrades have come at a cost. While cheaper petrol-only variants are coming, the most affordable version of the new ZS Hybrid+ is $13,000 dearer than the old, entry-level ZS, which lacked any form of crash-avoidance technology now standard on the new model.

With the likes of the Hyundai Kona and GWM Haval Jolion closing the sales gap, has the MG ZS done enough to stay ahead?

How much is an MG ZS Hybrid+?

First in the new MG ZS range to arrive are the hybrid versions – marketed under the Hybrid+ badge – available in Excite and Essence trim grades.

The Excite starts from $33,990 plus on-road costs, while the Essence starts from $36,990 plus on-road costs – with MG, at least initially, wiping on-road costs to offer these models for $33,990 and $36,990 drive-away.

That's a lot more than the previous ZS, which started from $20,990 drive-away in its cheapest form – albeit lacking any form of modern crash-avoidance safety technology, as well as hybrid power, and many features now standard on the new model.

The better-equipped ZST – which is fitted with a suite of advanced safety systems, but is still petrol-only – is priced from $24,990 drive-away.

More affordable petrol-only variants of the new ZS are coming, expected to offer a choice of 81kW 1.5-litre non-turbo or 125kW 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engines. Prices for these models are yet to be confirmed.

Still, the new ZS Hybrid+ is in line with the prices of hybrid rivals. The GWM Haval Jolion Hybrid ranges from $32,990 to $38,990 drive-away – before special offers – while a Hyundai Kona Hybrid starts from $36,500 plus on-roads, or about $40,600 drive-away in NSW.

Standard features in the Excite model include 17-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, a 12.3-inch touchscreen with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, 7.0-inch instrument display, keyless entry and start, single-zone climate control, fabric seats, leather-look steering wheel trim, a 360-degree camera, and a suite of advanced safety features.

The Essence adds 18-inch alloys, a panoramic sunroof, heated front seats, a power-adjustable driver's seat, leather steering wheel, and leather-look upholstery.

All colours bar white cost extra, while the Essence is available with a white interior for no extra cost.

How big is an MG ZS Hybrid+?

The new MG ZS is larger than its predecessor – now 4430mm long (up 107mm), 1818mm wide (up 9mm), 1635mm tall (18mm lower) and 2610mm in wheelbase (up 25mm) – which translates to improved passenger and cargo space.

It inherits the latest interior styling from other new MG models, with two large screens in every model – 12.3-inch infotainment and 7.0-inch instrument – and a more contemporary design.

The manually adjustable, cloth-trimmed front seats in the Excite model are tight for larger frames, but the Essence's items are more accommodating, with reasonable comfort, heating, and synthetic leather-look trim.

The driver's seat in the Essence is power-adjustable – although only six ways, so no control of under-thigh support, and it can't be set very low – with manual lumbar, though some testers found it a little too pronounced even in its fully retracted setting.

The steering wheel trim feels plush even in the base model – with leather-look not real leather trim – but as with the old ZS, and unlike most other cars in the class, it only adjusts for tilt, not reach, which makes it harder for tall drivers to find a comfortable position.

Fabric accents are used in key touchpoints in the Excite, upgraded to leather-look material on the centre door panels, armrests and dashboard in the Essence – but MG has imprinted a fake 'stitching' pattern in the hard plastic on the top of the door panels, which looks cheap and is surprisingly sharp to the touch.

The door pockets can hold two 600ml drink bottles – and there's a decently sized glovebox, as well as an umbrella pocket on the passenger side of the centre console – but the main centre console storage box is small, and the movable divider in the dual cupholders is fiddly.

One gripe is the lack of any sort of spring or damping on the centre console box lid, so open it quickly and it will bounce back on its hinge, then shut itself, bouncing back on the main centre console surround again.

Amenities in the Excite include keyless entry and start, single-zone climate control, one USB-A and one USB-C port, and a 12-volt socket, but there is no wireless phone charger. The Essence adds a panoramic glass sunroof, heated front seats, and sunglasses storage, among other smaller items.

With my 186cm (6ft 1in) tall frame seated behind my driving position, there's plenty of head room and knee room on offer, but the design of the seat base means there is little to no space to slide your feet under the front seats.

Middle passengers will need to straddle a hump in the floor, and seating three occupants abreast is best only for short trips, but family buyers will appreciate large windows for kids to see out of, and two outboard ISOFIX anchors plus three top tethers for child seats.

Rear amenities include bottle holders in the doors, air vents, and one USB-A port, but there is no fold-down armrest with cupholders, and map pockets are only fitted to the Essence grade.

MG claims 443 litres of boot space with the rear seats up, or 1457L with them folded, which makes for one of the largest cargo holds in the class.

The boot floor adjusts in two positions, and there are lights, bag hooks, and netted side pockets in the load area – but no spare wheel, just a puncture repair kit.

There's no power tailgate either, and our test car's tailgate needed a powerful slam for the tailgate to latch with the car. Even applying a normal amount of force to close the boot would leave the latch partially open.

Does the MG ZS Hybrid+ have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto?

Standard across the MG ZS range is a 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen, offering wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto – no wireless connection, and oddly through the USB-A port only – plus embedded satellite navigation, and AM, FM and digital DAB radio.

The system's graphics are clean, and the display is reasonably quick to respond, but while there are physical hotkeys for volume – as well as turning the air conditioning off and on, and activating defrosters – many of the car's functions run through the screen.

Among them are the climate controls. Owners can set one of two star-icon buttons on the steering wheel as a climate shortcut – then moving the joysticks up and down for temperature, and left and right for fan speed – as well as other functions such as the vehicle settings menu.

The star buttons can be pressed in Apple CarPlay, but while the menu will activate in the background, nothing appears in the screen. You can hear the fan speed change as the joystick is moved, but there is no graphic on the screen to indicate what's being changed – until you press the home button to return to the native MG software from smartphone mirroring. It's a bizarre issue that could be very easily fixed.

Ahead of the driver is what MG calls a 12.3-inch instrument cluster, but it is just a 7.0-inch display – with similar software to the previous ZS, showing fuel use, tyre pressures, hybrid battery charge, seat belts and other metrics – flanked by digitised speed, RPM, fuel and temperature readouts.

It is clear and easy to navigate, but annoyingly, any activation of the driver-assist systems – such as lane-keep assist – will change the display from whatever menu the driver set it to (such as fuel economy) and show a graphic of the car in a lane.

The six-speaker sound system delivers average sound quality, while the resolution of the cameras is also acceptable, if nothing to write home about.

All models benefit from a year's free access to the MG iSmart app, with remote vehicle tracking, control of its locks and lights, cabin pre-heating, and more. A paid subscription will be charged after the first year.

Is the MG ZS Hybrid+ a safe car?

MG says crash-testing of the new ZS is underway in Europe with Euro NCAP, which has aligned most of its protocols with ANCAP in Australia and New Zealand. It's unclear when the score will be released.

The closely related MG 3 was recently handed a three-star ANCAP rating – just missing the bar needed for four stars.

What safety technology does the MG ZS Hybrid+ have?

The MG ZS is fitted with most safety features available on other cars in its class, and some of them better calibrated than similar systems in earlier MG models.  

The lane-keep assist can be a touch too intrusive at times, but we found it to be reasonably smooth in most scenarios – particularly compared to rivals from GWM and Chery – and the lane-centring assist technology is better at holding the centre of the lane than other MGs.

However, the adaptive cruise control is not very smooth in keeping a set speed, coming on and off the accelerator in a lurchy motion, while on one occasion the blind-spot monitoring technology tried to prevent a lane change as it thought it detected a car in the adjacent lane, but in fact it was another lane across. A hard yank of the steering wheel overrode the system.

As with many new cars, the traffic sign recognition technology includes an overspeed chime that beeps once the car exceeds the limit it has detected, even if it has misread the sign. It can be switched off, but it re-activates every time the car is restarted.

The ZS does not feature a driver-facing attention monitoring camera – a good thing as this technology in the larger HS is overbearing and quick to beep at the driver if they look away from the road for more than a few moments.

Six airbags are standard, but there is no front-centre airbag to prevent head clashes in a severe side impact, and while there is a 360-degree camera and rear parking sensors, there are no front distance sensors, which would be handy in tight parking spots.

How much does the MG ZS Hybrid+ cost to run?

The MG ZS Hybrid+ and its high-voltage battery are covered by the brand's new 10-year/250,000km warranty, whichever comes first – the longest in the new-car market.

It is up from MG's previous seven years of coverage – though it has dropped its unlimited-kilometre assurance – and beats Mitsubishi's 'five-plus-five' coverage, which offers five years/100,000km that is extended to 10 years/200,000km if the vehicle is serviced through Mitsubishi dealers for the length of the warranty.

Service intervals are set every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first – a welcome improvement over the 12-month/10,000km intervals of the related MG 3 Hybrid+ hatch.

Prices amount to $656 over three years/45,000km, or $1232 over five years/75,000km, with the most expensive of the first five capped-price services costing $432.

It is one of the most affordable cars in the small SUV class to service over that period, cheaper than a Toyota Corolla Cross ($1250 for five years/75,000km) – from a brand that has historically offered low servicing costs.

It is more expensive than a Honda HR-V's $995 quote for five years, but Honda offers 12-month/10,000km intervals – so long-distance drivers will find servicing costs to rack up quickly.

Over five years/75,000km of scheduled maintenance, a Hyundai Kona Hybrid costs $2575, a 1.5-litre Chery Omoda 5 costs $1400, and a GWM Haval Jolion Hybrid costs $1550.

The latest ZS is too new to appear on our go-to comprehensive insurance quote calculator.

Is the MG ZS Hybrid+ fuel-efficient?

The MG ZS Hybrid+ claims fuel consumption of 4.7 litres per 100 kilometres in mixed driving – split from 0.9L/100km in urban areas (no, that's not a typo), and 6.9L/100km in extra-urban and highway conditions.

We spent the most time behind the wheel of the Essence grade, which returned indicated fuel use of 5.3L/100km in a mix of conditions – city commuting, flowing suburban and extra-urban roads, highway driving and some more spirited testing of the car's performance.

In optimal conditions, we saw the indicated fuel consumption fall below the 4.0L/100km mark – impressive for an SUV of this size and weight.

As we'll explain in the next section, the ZS Hybrid+ uses its electric motor to do most of the heavy lifting on the road – particularly at speeds under 80km/h – allowing the engine to remain off for longer and saving fuel, thus the remarkable urban fuel-use claim.

However, the 1.5-litre engine in this hybrid requires 95-octane premium unleaded petrol, and it is less efficient at high speeds – so it may not be an ideal partner for drivers who cover long distances on the motorway.

A total driving range of 770km is estimated from our on-test fuel-use readout.

What is the MG ZS Hybrid+ like to drive?

The MG ZS Hybrid+ leans heavily on its electric motor for propulsion and can pull the vehicle from rest to over 80km/h on battery power alone, running for longer and delivering better electric-only punch than key hybrid rivals.

The engine will eventually turn on to generate electricity, and it is smooth for the most part – though there are some moments where a light tap of the accelerator pedal will see the engine scream at high revs to get charge into the battery.

MG claims the ZS Hybrid+ can accelerate from zero to 100km/h in 8.7 seconds. We smashed that time, recording 7.7 seconds on satellite timing equipment – which is genuinely brisk for a small SUV, and not far off a Suzuki Swift Sport turbo hot hatch.

You may notice that 128Nm from the engine, plus 250Nm from the electric motor do not add up to 465Nm. MG says its overall number is an estimation based on the gearing of each power source, with combined peak torque occuring at 50km/h in second gear.

However, that is where some of the cracks start to appear in the hybrid system.

For one, put your foot down and the car will not initially call on its maximum reserves. It will use EV power to start with, before turning on the petrol engine a few seconds later and giving you a second push into the seat, like activating nitrous in a car-racing video game.

But the biggest issue is the car's willingness to run its battery close to flat before turning the engine on.

Hybrids from rival brands will rarely let their batteries deplete below 40 or 50 per cent, always ensuring there is enough performance left in reserve for an overtake. But the MG ZS (and MG 3) will drop the battery below 15 per cent charge.

Put your foot down in this state, and the car will struggle to muster more than about 45kW – not the 158kW on the spec sheet.

While we experienced it most frequently on a hilly country road in the ZS, in the related MG 3 hybrid – which MG has confirmed carries the same power management software – we've had it happen in a 50km/h zone, after the car used up all its electric power to climb a hill, then when asked for a burst of power to overtake a car, felt like it had the handbrake on.

It would prove particularly troublesome if the driver attempts to make a tight gap in traffic ahead of oncoming cars, but puts their foot down to find the car offering little power.

There is no way for the driver to manually call on the engine, and unless they're looking at the battery charge screen on the instrument cluster, no warning of when this will happen. For that reason, until MG fixes the software, we would strongly recommend interested buyers to wait for the petrol-only model and skip this hybrid.

An MG representative said the brand’s “global team” is “working on software updates to enhance the hybrid system,” but it’s unclear what these will entail.

Elsewhere in the driving experience, the ZS is pleasant, if not top of the class.

It is not the most supple model in the class, feeling a little firm over potholes around town, but a touch unsettled and 'floaty' over undulations at higher speeds – but it is certainly not too stiff to live with, and strikes a good balance.

The steering is light enough at low speeds, but it gets unnecessarily heavy the more lock the driver winds on, and it's not the most confidence-inspiring at speed.

Body roll is kept in check in corners, but the tyres on both models – Kumhos on the Excite, and Gitis on the Essence – do not offer a whole lot of grip in faster driving, especially compared to the quality European-branded rubber on other MG cars.

The Essence pulled up from 100km/h in 40 metres on our precision measuring equipment – below average for a car like this. Rivals need closer to 38m, and it’s halfway to the circa-42m utes need to stop from 100km/h – and it was easy to spin the wheels in wet weather.

Occupants are isolated from the outside world reasonably well, aside from some tyre roar on coarse-chip country roads. All-around visibility is also good.

The transition from the electric motor's regenerative braking to the 'friction' disc brakes is well calibrated, with three levels of 'regen' to choose from.

Can an MG ZS Hybrid+ tow?

The MG ZS Hybrid+ is limited to a 500kg towing capacity, both braked and unbraked.

The line-up quotes payloads of 460kg to 470kg, which are the maximum masses of passengers, cargo and accessories each variant can carry before it is deemed overloaded, and therefore illegal to drive on the road.

These figures would cover five circa-90kg passengers and some luggage, or four passengers and far more in the boot.

Should I buy an MG ZS Hybrid+?

The MG ZS Hybrid+ is a compelling upgrade for one of Australia's top-selling new vehicles.

It is more expensive than the previous model, but there is plenty of equipment for that price, a roomy interior, a 10-year warranty for peace of mind, and the hybrid system is smooth and punchy when in its element.

Compared to its rivals at the lower end of the small SUV price spectrum, it's certainly worth a look – and taking on a test drive on roads familiar to you.

But its inconsistent power delivery means we would skip the hybrid – and wait for the petrol-only models to arrive early next year.

How do I buy an MG ZS Hybrid+? The next steps.

The MG ZS Hybrid+ is arriving in showrooms now, ahead of the petrol-only models early next year.

The next step on the purchase journey is to contact your nearest MG dealer at this link to check stock levels. You can also find MGs for sale at Drive Marketplace.

We strongly recommend taking a test drive at a dealership before committing because personal needs and tastes can differ. We'd also recommend test-driving the Hyundai Kona Hybrid as it is the reigning Drive Car of the Year Best Small SUV Under $50K.

If you want to stay updated with everything that’s happened to this car since our review, you’ll find all the latest news here.

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