New Extended Range model has longer legs, more punch – and more to live up to
Why we’re running it: To see how 20% more claimed battery range works with a pokier 241bhp motor
Month 1 – Specs
Life with an MG 4: Month 1
Welcoming the MG to the fleet
In the two years it has been on the market, the MG 4 has made a lot of people happy. It’s ideally sized and priced, it’s more than decent to drive, the cabin accommodation is good (if you can forgive a slightly tight boot) and it generally does what it says on the tin.
As a result of these things – and, very importantly, because its name doesn’t scare people – it has been selling out of its skin. Some of those sales are to private buyers too, as opposed to business buyers who mostly choose EVs for their benefit-in-kind advantages.
In short, here’s an affordable EV that gets chosen for its innate good qualities, not just to save money.
When the chance came to run an MG 4 for a few months, I jumped at the idea, especially since this would be the new Extended Range version with 20% more battery range that promised 323 miles of cruising.
I’ve always thought that to suit my lifestyle an EV’s range has to start with a ‘3’. Then I learned that the Extended Range model also featured a new-spec 241bhp motor that shaved about a second off the 0-62mph time, leaving it at 6.5sec, which is seriously brisk.
The car – a full-house Trophy-spec version in Camden Grey (one of those non-colours I always think are chosen by people who don’t like cars) – arrived with around 5700 miles on the clock, presumably the result of testing by other hacks.
The MG 4’s interior trim materials are of nothing more than average quality, doubtless for cost reasons, but the car showed no ill effects of its busy start in life apart from an odd wear mark on the outside backrest bolster of the driver’s seat. It will be interesting to see how that develops.
To my eye, the MG’s body and paint were fine: modern manufacturing has long since reached a point where panel gaps and paint quality meet my personal standards.
The only sign of use was some wear (I’d estimate 25%) on the car’s four 235/45 R18 tyres, which seem tall enough to give the hubcap-shrouded alloy wheels a fighting chance against the kerbs of Britain. We’ll see.
The Trophy equipment level (standard with the Extended Range model) includes all manner of gadgetry: good stuff like a quick-acting sat-nav, a quality hi-fi, the world’s clearest rear camera
and a heated steering wheel, mixed with a proper plethora of electronic driver aids, most of which are tolerable except the God-awful lane keeping assistance system that grabs at the wheel like a demented driving instructor and must be turned off (via the big central screen; four pushes to get it done) before you drive.
The rest of it I can tolerate. Some of it (city collision warning, rear cross-traffic warning) I quite approve of.
Prices are interesting. MGs are billed as bargains but the Extended Range Trophy still sets you back £36,495, exactly the same money as the even faster but somewhat shorter-range XPower. (I’d have range over extra poke any day.)
Both cost a cool £10,000 more than the entry-level car and are worth it, in my opinion. The top-spec models can’t really be classed as bargains against similar-capability ICE models, but they’re affordable, especially if you’re a PCP customer.
I really liked this car as soon as I started to drive it. Despite a 1750kg kerb weight, it feels wieldy and agile. It has rear-wheel drive, its weight distribution is near 50:50, the steering is nicely weighted and high-geared, and it feels sweetly balanced in bends.
There’s no feeling (as in some EVs) of mass overpowering the tyres. My sole complaint (and I’ll get over it) is that the brakes seem overly light. Even the ride quality is nearly always okay. It’s firm and composed on smooth stuff, but it will do a bit of pitching here and there.
Still, in that regard, this £36k MG is better than my former £110k Audi. How can that be?
Range? The most I’ve been promised so far by the fascia predictor is 360 miles, which is rather more than the WLTP figure. As I sit here, I know the car will deliver 330-340 miles and that’s a big change for me.
I’m now confident on long journeys, free to recharge in public places I know well, although most of the time I can make it home without needing to. And because I’m so far averaging around 4.1 miles per kWh, the car doesn’t always seem to be plugged into a wall somewhere, glugging energy.
Best of all, I find myself choosing the MG for journeys, often in preference to the cars we own, and not for money reasons. It’s fun – not the slightly forced excitement the old MG brand once claimed for the MGB but a deep satisfaction with the comfort, quietness, steering and power delivery.
I know full well that there’s absolutely no relationship between this car and MGs of old. But just now and again, I feel there could be.
Second Opinion
I last drove an MG 4 Extended Range in winter and its, er, extended range failed to fully materialise due to slightly disappointing cold-weather efficiency. The ride and handling also felt a little clumsier than on the Long Range car. I didn’t have the car for very long, so I’m curious to see how it will perform in a longer-term test.
Illya Verpraet
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MG 4 EV specification
Specs: Price New £36,495 Price as tested £36,495 Options None
Test Data: Engine 1x permanent magnet synchronous motor Power 241bhp Torque 258lb ft Kerb weight 1748kg Top speed 112mph 0-62mph 6.5sec Fuel economy 3.72mpkWh CO2 0g/km Faults None Expenses None
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