Words: Bertrand D’Souza
The MG Windsor is a great example of how beauty is not just skin deep. The Windsor is a successful product, it has found widespread acceptance as an EV in a rather short time span, and all this despite looking like its designers forgot its face from its base. What has kept interests high is MG Motor’s Battery as a Service facility, the lifetime warranty, the space, practicality and quality which exceeded everybody’s expectations. Ignore the way it looks, and you knew you brought a winner home. Now MG Motor has extended that winning streak by adding the Windsor EV Pro to the range which among other things, adds a larger battery pack so you get higher range along with Level 2 driver assistance systems.
The EV Pro is equipped with a 52.9kWh battery pack, which MG claims is good for over 440km of driving range. After a short drive between Guwahati and Umiam Lake which is near Shillong in Meghalaya, I can vouch that around 350kms on a full charge is easily achievable. On this particular highway you have several steep gradients and on the return leg, downhill runs on smooth dual carriageways. The uphill gradients do take a heavy toll on charge depletion; we left Guwahati with 98 percent charge and that dropped to almost 65 percent by the time we concluded the 90km run to Umiam Lake. On the return leg we barely exhausted around 12 percent charge, with the recuperation system working overtime to retain and recover charge. In the plains, where most metros thrive, and where conditions are ripe for an EV, 350km on a full charge should be a piece of cake for the Windsor EV Pro. What also gets better is that you can now charge the EV Pro using a 60kW DC charger, where the 38kWh battery pack could only be charged using up to a 45kW charger. This is good news for those wanting to take the plunge, especially since the number of DC fast chargers offering charging speeds of 60kW and higher have been multiplying rapidly, especially in metro cities.
Power and torque outputs don’t change, all you get is a larger battery pack, which in ICE terms is like getting a larger fuel tank. The EV Pro delivers 130PS of peak power and 200Nm of peak torque which is the same across all variants. Like any electric vehicle, power delivery is quick and seamless, though you have to exercise caution when stepping on the throttle at times since the suspension does not entirely support this instant burst of torque. You get four driving modes, and recuperation levels change based on the driving modes, in addition to selectable brake energy recuperation levels. Uphill I used the Eco+ mode which throttles the throttle substantially, and while returning I selected the Normal mode with brake energy recuperation on high.
The Windsor EV Pro also brings Level 2 ADAS systems to the table, though these aren’t available in the 38kWh variants and are being pegged as a value addition for the Pro version. There are several features ADAS L2 adds to the safety stockpile, but you tend to switch several of them off (Brake Assist for example), and barely use the others. Several functions are non-intrusive, but they are critical and step in at the right time.
Another important but absolutely redundant feature added is Vehicle to Vehicle or Vehicle to Load feature. With this you can power multiple appliances—coffee maker, hot plate, your laptop, cameras etc using the energy from your Windsor. You lose an insignificant amount of energy while doing this, though I have serious doubts about who would actually use the feature. MG says its even useful while going camping, but I have even more serious doubts about the Windsor’s capability of reaching those camping grounds.
The Windsor EV Pro is a good addition to MG’s EV range. The ability to travel further is definitely better for those who don’t want to keep charging their vehicles regularly and are also keen on heading out on longer trips, given that the infrastructure supports them. It’s practical for urban usage, comfortable and its features, quality of materials and also the interior design (though I abhor the large infotainment display) enhance the Windsor’s value proposition further. It was launched at an introductory price of ₹17.49 lakh ex-showroom, which has gone up to ₹18.10 lakh ex-showroom after 8,000 bookings, which is still a good price. The Battery as a Service proposition has the Pro retail at an even more enticing ₹12.49 lakh (with battery rental charged at ₹4.5/km). And even though I’m no fan of EVs, I have to agree that the Windsor makes a good case for the buyers looking for electrification.
