2023 MG 4 electric car review

July: MG 4 driven in Australia at last

Even in pre-production, UK spec, the MG 4 hatch proves the long wait for a good, affordable electric car may well be over.

June 2023: MG 4 Australian pricing

MG has confirmed full Australian details for its MG 4 electric hatchback.

January 2023: MG 4 review – first international drive

It’s a long time since we’ve associated the octagonal MG badge with anything resembling a performance car, the brand’s mid-2000s Chinese buyout seeing its roadster past steamrollered by a bunch of affordable SUVs and – more recently – EVs.

A fine way to actually make money and give the venerable MG name a future, but not the way to keep its more traditional enthusiast audience alert.

But now the two worlds can gently collide. You’re looking at the MG 4, a pure EV rather than a petrol-powered car that’s had some batteries squeezed into it.

Designed with a more global audience in mind, there’s been a focus on European development to help it perform better in the corner of the world MG’s legend first began.

With the right price, it could be a big hit here in Australia too.

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JUMP AHEAD

• How much is it, and what do you get?
• How do rivals compare on value?
• Interior, comfort, space and storage
• What is it like to drive?
• How is it on fuel?
• How safe is it?
• VERDICT
• Specifications

How much is it, and what do you get?

We don’t have local pricing just yet, but our friends in the UK have some very enticing offers.

The MG 4 range comes with two trims and two battery options, with the lower of each combining for a tantalising £26,995 entry point – around $47,000.

In terms of performance, that gets you 125kW/250Nm from a single, rear-mounted motor hooked up to a 51kWh battery for a 350km combined range figure.

Equipment for this base SE trim is strong, with LED lights, 17in alloys and a 10in touchscreen incorporating Apple CarPlay and Android Auto all as standard.

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Roughly $5000 more gets you an SE Long Range, with the same equipment list allied to a larger 64kWh battery and slightly punchier 150kW motor, which means 450km of claimed range as well as the ability to charge slightly quicker, the maximum DC rate increasing from 117 to 135kW. Though neither figure is truly class leading.

Another $5000 again gets you a Trophy Long Range. Performance is unchanged, but kit improves, with a heated steering wheel and seats, native satnav, electrically adjustable seats, that bold twin spoiler and a 360-degree parking camera among the additions.

The 150kW single motor MG 4, a rival for the BYD Atto 3 and MG ZS EV, is expected to launch first with a price from as low as AU$45,000 and driving range of 350 kilometres, climbing to 450km for the long range variant.

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How do rivals compare on value?

MG’s own ZS EV crossover could end up close on price, and will offer more practicality but slower charging. If the MG 4’s size suits you, it’s the newer, more vibrant option of the pair. Perhaps a tougher foe is the BYD Atto 3, which came highly recommended in our affordable EV comparison, it offers 480km of range, a large 440-litre boot and a boldly styled cabin for under $50,000.

An entry-level Nissan Leaf, Mini Cooper SE or Hyundai Kona EV almost sneaks under $50,000, too, but each will do so with a much smaller battery than even the base MG 4.

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Comparisons

Best Electric Cars Under $65k: Affordable EVs Rated

Welcome to part one of three price-based EV buying guides, this one focused on the most affordable electric cars available in Australia today

9 Dec 20226

Interior comfort, space and storage

This is a swish and forward-thinking interior and a big step on from other MGs.

The steering wheel is large and sits ahead of a surprisingly effective square digital instrument display, while most of the switchgear has been hoovered up into a standard 10in touchscreen that sits at a useful height in the centre of the dashboard.

There are pluses and minuses. The placement shouldn’t avert your eyes too much from the road, but trying to adjust the climate control temperature using unfeasibly small arrow icons just might.

Count this as one of several very prosaic functions best kept for voice control, and luckily telling the automated voice on board that you’re ‘a bit warm’ or ‘a bit cold’ is enough to adjust things.

Advertorial: Should you become an all-electric family? MG may have the answer

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Smartphone integration is standard across the range, though, and the luscious widescreen display is at its most convincing when it’s relaying your apps to you rather than its own software (even the fisheye reversing camera is a bit naff).

While sweeping lots of buttons into the screen might give an MG 4 driver déjà vu of all their toys being unceremoniously tidied away as a kid, it also provides abundant storage room between the front seats.

The octagon-shaped cup-holders are sweet too, though feeding the smartphone connectivity through a traditional USB socket – leaving the USB-C port for charging only – seems an odd move but one that’s probably easily fixed with a model year update.

Comparisons

Best Electric Cars Under $65k: Affordable EVs Rated

Welcome to part one of three price-based EV buying guides, this one focused on the most affordable electric cars available in Australia today

9 Dec 20226

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The seats are comfy and the steering wheel adjusts for height and reach, while there’s reasonable (if not vast) room for rear passengers, who might struggle comfortably tucking their feet under the seats ahead. They also have to squabble over a single USB.

The boot behind them isn’t massive, either; MG quotes luggage capacity of 363 litres seats up, 1177 litres seats down, but a high floor makes it seem cosier. And there’s no frunk space.

Overall, this is a nice place to spend time – and an airy one, especially for those up front.

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What’s it like to drive?

The basics

Ah, the MG 4’s trump card. Yep: more so than its low entry price, this is a car that stands out for its sense of fun.

The electric car market isn’t completely devoid of thrills, but they tend to come at much higher prices and with much bulkier performance figures.

This car’s trick is to feel light on its feet and deft in its reactions; at 1685kg in Long Range form (or 1655kg for the entry car), it constitutes ‘light’ in the world of EVs, but it’s still stocky for such a small hatchback. MG has developed an ultra-slim battery pack to keep weight as low down as possible.

And here’s a rear-wheel-drive EV that actually feels it; more exuberant cornering will have the rear tyres squealing or even briefly relinquishing traction. It’s a budget electric car that’ll indulge weeny slides, but only on the driver’s command. Fun-to-drive MGs are back.

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If you’re worried its focus is skewed too much towards sharpness, then being able to toggle through five drive modes – including a configurable Custom setting – should ease your concerns, but in truth the car feels perfectly judged in Normal. And without the ability to alter its fixed-rate suspension, there are no great shifts in character between its modes anyway.

The brake pedal is too soft, though, whichever of the regen levels you have selected, and it does ruin the fun a little. As does an over-zealous lane-departure system that’s easily triggered on narrower lanes – and which can’t appear to be turned off.

Still, people are buying these things as everyday transport, so that’s probably more relevant than we care to admit. On which note, the MG 4 rides reasonably plushly on most road surfaces and will cruise well at motorway speeds if you can ignore some fairly audible roar from its tyres.

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It's brisk, too.

MG hasn’t given the 4 neck-snapping acceleration off the line, saving its best work for 40km/h upwards. Perhaps its best trick is how much power is still in reserve at the fringes of the speed limit, where the car makes light work of last-minute overtakes or lunges down slip-roads.

The caveat is we’ve only driven the higher-powered Long Range version, but given both versions share a 250Nm torque figure, it’s unlikely this verdict will alter for the cheaper car. In fact, its 7.7sec 0-100km/h time is 0.2sec quicker owing to its skinnier weight.

The upshot is that everything we’ve experienced here bodes very well indeed for the high-performance MG 4 ‘Triumph Edition’ that’s promised with 330kW/600Nm thanks to a motor at each axle. Perhaps it’ll be a true return to form for the MG performance car.

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How is it for efficiency?

In European WLTP testing, the MG 4 offers 350km of range in its entry form, or 450km with the Long Range battery option.

With up to 135kW charging on offer you’ll be able to hike from 10-80 per cent of charge in around 35 minutes on a quicker DC socket.

A 7kW home wall box will get you from 10-100 per cent in 7.5 hours with the MG 4’s smaller battery, or nine hours for its larger option.

All MG 4s charge quicker than the brand’s previous EVs.

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How safe is it?

The MG 4 is yet to be tested by ANCAP, but the good news is it’s put in a five-star performance in the European NCAP test.

Given it sits towards the budget end of the market, that’s admirable.

You get a decent suite of safety systems as standard, too. MG Pilot is fitted to both SE and Trophy specs and includes active cruise control, pedestrian and bicycle detection, speed limit recognition and lane-keep assist. Just beware the latter’s keen nature.

Trophy spec adds blind-spot detection, lane-change assist, rear cross-traffic alerts and a slightly intrusive bong whenever someone opens a door – you, the driver, included.

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VERDICT

MG appears to have come of age here.

Anyone still struggling to compute the brand morphing from a maker of cute Sixties sports cars into electrified family cars ought to find solace in how smartly the MG 4 handles.

Everyone else, meanwhile, can simply marvel at how much tech and safety is available for a relatively low price.

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2023 MG 4 EV specifications: Dual-motor, all-wheel drive

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