MG Windsor EV review

Hatchbacks in India are typically less than 4m long, to take advantage of tax regulations and keep the on-road price of the car lower. However, this size regulation doesn’t apply to electric vehicles, which benefit from lower taxes regardless of size. As such, the MG Windsor EV isn’t held back by these size restrictions, and is a fair bit longer than most hatchbacks. This makes for a more spacious back seat and a decent-sized boot, while retaining some of the ‘hot hatch’ styling and dynamics.

Notably, the MG Windsor EV is built on the ‘skateboard’ EV platform, which also allows for a rather uniform cabin size and height. You get plenty of legroom at the back thanks to the length, along with sufficient floor-to-seat height and decent thigh support. The rear seats can also recline up to 135 degrees, which plays into MG’s ‘business class’ branding. 

The actual exterior styling of the MG Windsor EV is extremely subjective - you either love it or you don’t. The bump at the front is one bit that I found a bit odd to look at, and popping it open gives you a limited view into a few of the components including the backup battery and fluid tanks. Everything else looks alright in my opinion, and it’s nice to have door handles that are flush with the body of the car during normal running. When the car is unlocked with the electronic key, these pop out a bit to make it easy to pull open the doors.

Depending on the variant you buy, the MG Windsor EV gets different levels of features and comforts in the cabin. The top-end variants get a massive 15.6-inch infotainment system alongside an 8.8-inch digital instrument cluster, a power-adjustable driver’s seat, 360-degree camera system, infinity view glass roof, ventilated front seats, and more. It’s worth noting here that the sunroof doesn’t open up fully to let you stick your head out or let outside air in, but that’s not really a bad thing.

Electric vehicles are typically heavily tech enabled, and MG is particularly focused on enhancing the in-cabin experience with the help of technology. The MG Windsor EV is no different, with lots of stuff to play around with or benefit from while you drive. Arguably though, the Windsor is a bit too tech-reliant in some ways, which I’ll get into in a bit.

To start with, there are plenty of useful bits, such as a PM 2.5 air purification system to keep air clean in the cabin, as well as a fully functional and accessible 360-degree camera system. It can be manually used through the infotainment system, or activates automatically in certain situations while driving, such as in heavy and slow-moving traffic, or when parking or merging onto wider roads. It largely worked well for me, giving me decent visibility in the blindspots.

The instrument cluster, on the other hand, doesn’t do anything beyond its core functionality, unlike on some of the recent EVs I’ve tested such as the Tata Curvv EV. You get all the info you need about speed, power consumption, charge level, and drive mode - as you would on any instrument cluster - but there are no frills here. MG wants you to refer to the massive 15.6-inch infotainment screen for the frills.

The minimalism outside of the infotainment system extends to the levers as well. There’s no dial or stick to control drive modes; the left lever at the wheel controls this, while the lever on the right controls the wipers. There’s also no power-on button, with the Windsor detecting the key fob and getting on with it as soon as you tap the brake pedal. There is a power-off button hidden below the wheel somewhere, and the parking brake release button is also tucked away on the right. It might sound confusing, but you get used to it soon enough, and the clean look of it all will then stand out.

The air conditioning works either through the infotainment system or the buttons below. The headlights on the MG Windsor EV work entirely through the infotainment system, which admittedly feels a bit strange. This is something you want quick and easy access to via the levers, so it feels a bit edgy to use the infotainment system to control this. However, there is a fairly reliable automatic headlight mode, which worked as expected and meant I didn’t need to manually override it too often, at least during the day.

Infotainment systems rarely ever come as big as the one on the MG Windsor EV, especially in this price segment and for this size of car. On the higher variants, you get a massive 15.6-inch infotainment system, which has built-in 4G connectivity through Jio, and pipes audio to a nine-speaker system from Infinity. 

The connectivity with Jio on the MG Windsor EV also comes with a few other perks if you use other Jio services, such as apps for JioSaavn and the ability to link the car with services you might use on a Jio TV set-top box or Jio Fiber connection at home. You can find most of these additional services through the MG AppStore, which adds a bit of utility and capability to use the infotainment system as a full-blown entertainment setup in certain situations.

The tile-based interface of the infotainment system is nice to look at, and gives you easy access to in-car controls such as brightness, volume, and even how much you want the sunshade to open. Car functions such as the drive mode, regen level, headlights, and 360-degree camera can also be accessed through the system. There is also customisable button on the steering wheel which can be set to activate one of a few functions quickly, such as the 360-degree camera, cycle between drive modes, activate online music streaming, or mute sound quickly.

While the infotainment system is nice, it’s notably missing any built-in navigation service straight away (although you might be able to install one later). Of course, you can get past that and various other connectivity limitations by setting up Apple CarPlay or Android Auto on the MG Windsor EV. Both of these work wirelessly, and I didn’t have any connectivity issues using wireless Android Auto. This takes over the screen, giving you a big and clear view of Google Maps, music playback from your smartphone, and the ability to place and receive calls easily.

The MG Windsor EV’s looks can be deceiving given the obvious size advantage, but this is a hatchback at heart. Of course it’s a large hatchback, and fortunately has the power to actually carry itself capably in typical driving conditions. The 38kWh battery and motor deliver up to 134bhp of power and 200Nm of torque, which is considerably more than you’ll get from comparable ICE-powered hatchbacks.

For this review, I had access to the MG Windsor EV for a few hours in and around Gurugram, and started out with a fully-charged car. While I usually drove on the ‘Normal’ drive mode, I did switch to the Sports mode on fast highways and slightly hilly roads. I also had energy regen at the highest level.

The instrument cluster usefully provided a real-time view of power consumption, giving me a clear picture of just how much I was pushing battery consumption while varying drive modes and driving behaviour. That said, I didn’t find too much difference in performance between the normal and sports drive modes, although the latter did seem to consume a fair bit more power. 

The ‘Eco’ drive mode, which I switched to for the last 40-odd kilometres of my drive, was noticeably more tame for the car and easier on the battery, but still had enough power to pull off overtaking or cruise at reasonably high speeds. Eco+ is ideally used only if you’re really low on charge, since it limits the performance considerably and sets the top speed at 80km/h.

Cruise control was rather convenient, especially on the highway. The ability to adjust cruise speed using the buttons meant I could effectively speed up or slow the car down without even tapping the pedals, only focusing on steering. It felt quite ‘auto-pilot’, and worked well on the wide and fast Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.

MG claims a range of 331km per charge on the Windsor EV, but my admittedly fast and throttle-happy driving style delivered a fair bit less than that. I drove for around 170km in total across city, hilly, and highway conditions and different modes, which dropped the battery to around 24 percent. Regen was set to the highest level, but there weren’t many opportunities to really gain anything there. 

All of this suggests that I’d have likely got around 230km, which might go up to around 250km with more conservative driving and regular use of the Eco mode, which is fine for city driving.

Perhaps the biggest talking point around the MG Windsor EV is its ‘battery-as-a-service’ program, which the company markets as a way to ‘rent’ the battery separately from the car. MG announced the price of the car starting at Rs. 9,99,990 onwards for buyers who are opting for this program, with the cost of the ‘rental’ being Rs. 3.5/km, with running calculated through telematics.

However, it’s worth pointing out that it isn’t really a rental service, and is instead a financing plan that bases monthly or yearly payments on actual usage, rather than on the cost of the battery and car itself. Given that the battery cannot realistically be separated from the car, you’re still buying both, with the effective value of the battery coming in through a loan that you repay through a usage-based - but very much pre-determined - plan.

These payment plans can be set up either with or without a minimum usage guarantee of 1500km per month, and depend on various factors including your credit score. For example, the plan from Bajaj Finance comes with a minimum usage guarantee per month and no additional charge for extra kilometres. This would be advantageous to those with heavy running, since you’ll be paying for 1500km at Rs. 3.5/km (Rs. 5250 per month) regardless of how much you drive.

There are four financiers you can go with for these programs, and all have different credit score expectations, costs per kilometre, minimum running guarantees, and charges for running above the guarantee. All of this will be tracked by MG and the financiers through telematics in the Windsor EV.

A couple of other points worth noting - the car can still be repossessed if the owner stops making payments for the BaaS program. The owner will, of course, receive the proceeds of the sale after the repossession process, after recovery of the outstanding dues. You can also opt out of this program and pay off the cost of the battery at any time, or even opt for the company’s 3-60 guarantee, where MG assures a buyback value of up to 60 percent of the value of the car within three years of purchase (depending on the condition. 

Additionally, you do have to pay for the cost of charging or electricity consumption separately, over and above the cost of the BaaS program. That said, MG is offering one year of free public charging to buyers of the Windsor EV, through the eHub by MG app. If you choose to skip the BaaS financing programs, the MG Windsor EV starts at Rs. 13,49,800 (ex-showroom).

For a detailed explanation as well as answers to FAQs, check out this comprehensive explainer on the MG Windsor EV’s Battery-as-a-service program from our sister publication Autocar India.

The MG Windsor EV is a surprisingly good car, and is arguably the most practical and well-priced electric vehicle you can buy right now. It’s a hatchback in every practical way, but is longer and more spacious than your typical hatchback. While the exterior styling is a hit-or-miss depending on who you ask, this car is rather fun to drive and quite well equipped for typical city running and the occasional long drive on the highway, if you can plan for the range and charging effectively.

While there might be small things to complain about here and there, and driving range isn’t the best in the segment, the Windsor EV is a rather practical and capable EV hot hatch that gets the pricing right. It’s chock full of tech too, especially that absolutely luxurious 15.6-inch screen.