Ford Explorer vs MG ZS EV

The Ford Explorer costs £1,690 more than the MG ZS EV. For that premium it adds 29 kW faster peak rapid charging. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Ford Explorer comes out ahead overall.

The MG ZS EV is £1,690 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £176 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the MG ZS EV comes out roughly £1,610 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 183 miles for the Ford Explorer and 199 miles for the MG ZS EV - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The MG ZS EV goes roughly 16 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 25 minutes in the Ford Explorer and 36 in the MG ZS EV, so the Ford Explorer loses less time at each stop. So the MG ZS EV stops less often while the Ford Explorer stops for less time - pick on which you would rather do.

The MG ZS EV is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 63 mm narrower than the Ford Explorer. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 591 mm of total clearance for the MG ZS EV and about 528 mm of total clearance for the Ford Explorer.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the Ford Explorer and 90% for the MG ZS EV. That gives the MG ZS EV a modest edge in retained real-world range. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation. The Ford Explorer has the longer battery warranty at 8 years, versus 7 for the MG ZS EV.