MG is not the only important member of the SAIC family; SAIC’s affiliated vehicle companies also include SAIC MAXUS, SAIC Volkswagen, SAIC-GM, Shanghai General Motors Wuling (SGMW), NAVECO, SAIC-IVECO Hongyan and Shanghai Sunwin Bus Corp (SUNWIN). European sales of MG branded vehicles are expected to begin in 2019, but as part of SAIC’s bridgehead, the first step has been to introduce the all-electric version of the MAXUS V-80 van, known as the EV-80. The first customer was a Hamburg-based courier service, and initial deliveries of what is said to be Europe’s first and only fully electric van in its class have gone to customers in Germany and Austria. Other European markets will follow soon, as SAIC Mobility Europe accelerates its Europe-wide growth plans with developments in Benelux, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, France and Spain due to be revealed shortly.
The EV80 has a range of up to 200km and a charging time of just two hours. Although details of SAIC Mobility Europe’s plans for MG have yet to be revealed in full, it seem likely that electric versions of models like the MG ZS will be one of the first steps.
