MG ZS EV vs Renault 4

The MG ZS EV costs £6,300 more than the Renault 4. On the headline specs that premium buys little measurable advantage - the two are closely matched on range, charging and space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Renault 4 comes out ahead overall.

The Renault 4 is £6,300 cheaper to buy. The Renault 4 is cheaper to charge, roughly £144 a year versus £192 for the MG ZS EV, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Renault 4 comes out roughly £6,540 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 199 miles for the MG ZS EV and 208 miles for the Renault 4 - effectively matched, and both well below their WLTP figures because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 30-36 minutes.

The two are within 13 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 604 mm of total clearance for the Renault 4 and about 591 mm of total clearance for the MG ZS EV. The Renault 4 also turns in a 0.4 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 90% battery health for the MG ZS EV and 84% for the Renault 4. 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 Renault 4 has the longer battery warranty at 8 years, versus 7 for the MG ZS EV.