MG will supply up to 3000 electric car chargers for regional Australian hotels and resorts over the next three years, with between 300 and 1000 planned for the next 12 months.
Peter Ciao, MG Motor Australia CEO, described the move as a “local contribution” aimed at making it easier to take electric vehicles deeper into regional or rural areas.
“MG’s next few years, our strategy is building MG as a local brand. What’s a local brand? We need to do some local contribution,” Mr Ciao said.
The chargers offer either 7.7kW or 11kW depending on whether they’re supplied with single- or three-phase power, and are capable of charging an MG ZS EV in between four and seven hours.
They’ll be supplied to three-star hotels or resorts, which can apply to be part of the program using an MG Australia web form.
“The reason for this strategy is to offer access for people who drive EVs, access to regional or rural areas that they feel that they couldn’t get to in an electric vehicle – and now they can,” said MG Australia product director Danny Lenartic.
Tesla and Porsche have both invested in networks of destination chargers at hotels, wineries, and restaurants around Australia.
Unlike public DC charge networks such as Evie or ChargeFox, these destination charger networks are generally made up of slower 7.7kW or 11kW AC wall boxes.
MG currently offers the HS Plug-In Hybrid in Australia, along with the pure-electric ZS EV.
The HS PHEV debuted early in 2020, followed by the ZS EV in the middle of 2020. The ZS remains Australia’s most affordable electric car, with a drive-away price of $44,990.
An updated ZS EV is due in Australia at some point in the next six months.
The brand is pushing to increase sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles, which it argues suit Australian motorists thanks to the flexibility afforded by their petrol engines.
“We have found the term hybrid has often been misunderstood,” said Peter Ciao.
MG ZS EV update
Rather than the current Plug-In Hybrid branding, MG will use “+EV” badging in an attempt to better communicate how its PHEV systems work.
“Referring to our vehicles as +EV, we wish to make it clear that this vehicle has two independent drive systems: one EV, one petrol,” Mr Ciao said.
