MG Windsor EV Pro Review: More Wind in the Sail!

Ever since the MG Windsor EV was launched in India, it has been the centre of attention. It brought with it a unique design, an exhaustive list of features, innovative methods of buying a car, like Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS), and all of it came with a price tag that positioned it as the perfect choice of car to buy under Rs 20 lakh in India. It wasn’t a surprise that the Windsor won the prestigious ‘Best of 2024’ at the autoX Awards and that it would become the best-selling EV in India for seven consecutive months! Now, MG aims to take it up a notch with the new ‘Pro’ variant of the Windsor EV. We drive it in the jaw-dropping beauty of Shillong and find out what it’s all about.

MG Windsor EV Pro Review: What’s Different?

The first thing I want to mention is the price, as it will give you an idea of how popular this car is. JSW MG Motor India had launched the Windsor EV Pro at an introductory price tag of Rs 17.5 lakh (ex-showroom), which was to be valid for the first 8,000 customers, and mind you, 8,000 units in the world of EVs is a big number. Surprisingly, the introductory price had to end the next day as the bookings crossed the 8,000 mark within 24 hours! So now, the price is up by Rs 60,000, and the car costs Rs 18.10 lakh outright and Rs 13.10 lakh + Rs 4.5/km as part of the BaaS scheme.

What you get for this price tag is, honestly, not a very big change. It is still a substantial one, however, as it brings a marked improvement in your everyday usage experience. The big change is the larger battery pack that the Pro variant gets – now a 52.9kWh LFP unit, as opposed to the 38kWh LFP unit in the ‘regular’ Windsor EV variants. As a result, the claimed range has gone up from 332km to an impressive 449km per charge. As per MG, the car takes about 9.5 hours to fully top up with a 7.4kW AC charger and about 50 minutes from 20 to 8 per cent with a 60kW DC fast charger. Since this was just a first drive, we could not perform a range test as per our standards.

Also Read: MG Windsor EV Excite, Exclusive, Essence and Essence Pro Variants Explained

However, given our earlier experience with the non-Pro version of the car, we believe that the Pro should easily cross the 350km per charge mark in real-world conditions. Interestingly, MG is offering a lifetime warranty on the battery, but do note that it is only applicable for the first owner.

The other big additions are the inclusion of level 2 ADAS features, a powered tail gate and your biggest tell that it is a Pro variant of the Windsor EV – new 18-inch alloy wheels which can be seen on the Hector as well. On the inside, the interior theme is now Ivory white and black and lastly, the Windsor Pro now supports Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) and Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) which is essentially means that you can power up appliances through the charging port of the car through an accessory that would set you back by Rs 5,000, or you can transfer charge to another car through an accessory cable who’s price is yet to be finalised but MG says should be about Rs 20,000.

MG Windsor EV Pro Review: What’s the Same?

Everything else about the car remains the same. This means everything we love about the car, like the 135-degree reclinable lounge seats at the back, the impressive 9-speaker audio system, ventilated front seats, ample storage areas around the cabin and the sheer size and space that you get for your money on the inside continue to impress. This also means that the massive 15.6-inch touchscreen infotainment system, which is in equal measure impressive and yet cumbersome to use as almost all functionalities of the car are operated through it, also remains.

What remains to be talked about is the ride and handling, which also, thankfully, continue to be thoroughly impressive. With the larger battery pack, MG has had to fine-tune the suspension and reinforce the structure of the car at a few places to accommodate the slight increase in weight. Once on the move, you will barely notice any difference in the way the car is to drive. This means it continues to be a fantastic handler that hides its weight rather well.

MG Windsor EV Pro Review: Worth Checking Out?

The MG Windsor EV was already an impressive package on all fronts. While I believe there was an opportunity to bump up the feel-good feature set or the performance a couple of notches higher since it has the ‘Pro’ in its name, it is hard to argue against what MG has brought to the table. Especially when you consider that despite the longer range, the Windsor EV Pro still manages to undercut the Rs 20 lakh price tag. So, the answer is yes, it is worth checking out. Moreover, it is a highly recommended option in the price bracket and worth consideration, irrespective of whether you are in the market for an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) powered car or an EV.