MG have updated the MG4 & Company Car & Van got to try one recently. At launch it was an EV that almost everyone loved so we were hoping that MG hadn’t changed much especially with the way it drives. The good news as we found out is that the majority of updates are inside the cabin & with larger batteries being offered & these changes have made a very good car even better.
What’s new ?In the cabin MG have replaced the Mk1’s smaller screens with larger a 10.25-inch driver display & a 12.8-inch central touchscreen. More good news is that physical buttons make a welcome return for the climate, volume & de-misting controls. Plus you now get a better centre console layout with extra storage & a relocated gear selector. And the quality of the fixtures & fittings & cabin material look & feel more upmarket & on trend.
Model choice & price
Choose from three MG4’s;
Premium Long Range Automatic £29,995
Premium Extended Range Automatic £32,995
XPOWER Automatic £33,995
Premium Long Range Automatic £29,995
Premium Extended Range Automatic £32,995
XPOWER Automatic £33,995
ColoursNew paint colours are available, including basic Arctic White. Plus metallic Piccadilly Blue, Ealing Green, Black Pearl, Camden Grey or Cosmic Silver. And a tri-colour Dynamic Red. Extended Range & XPOWER also come with a black two-tone roof except in Black Pearl format.
Performance
Top speed in Comfort & Long Range is 112mph, with the 0-62mph dash taking 7.5 seconds in the Standard Range, 6.2 seconds in Long Range or 3.8 seconds on XPOWER, which will go onto a top speed of 124mph.
Specifications
All versions feature MG Pilot, rear privacy glass, rear parking sensors, 18” alloys, LED daytime running lights, automatic climate control, a leather style multi-function steering wheel, V2L, a wireless phone charger, Apple Car Play & Android Auto connectivity, keyless entry, DAB radio, SatNav & heated front seats.
SafetyExtensive. MG Pilot comes with Adaptive Cruise Control, Active Emergency Braking with Pedestrian & Bicycle Detection, Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning System & Emergency Lane Keeping, Traffic Jam Assist , Intelligent Speed Limit Assist with traffic sign recognition, Intelligent High Beam Assist, a Driver Monitoring System, Blind Spot Detection, Forward & Rear Collision Warning, Active Rear Cross Traffic Alert & Door Opening Warning.
Batteries, driving modes & regenerationThree batteries are now offered. A Premium Long Range 64kWh battery with a 280 mile range. A Premium Extended Range 77kWh battery with a 338 mile range or on the dual motor XPOWER a 64kWh battery which comes with a 251 mile range.
There are five logical driving modes; Normal, Sport, Comfort, Snow or Custom with 4 regenerative braking modes; Auto, 1, 2, or 3. As ever Eco offers the best economy & coupled to Level 3 braking mode will give you more miles. Sport with auto braking offers the most fun & you’ll see your MG4’s best performance in this setting.
ChargingAll versions offer 7kW AC charging , with DC charging of 154kW on Long Range, 144kW on Extended Range or 140kW on the XPOWER. On home chargers a 0-100% charge will take 10.5 hours or 12 hours for Extended Range. Visit a rapid 150kW charger & a 20-80% top up will take 25 minutes on Long Range models,, 30 minutes for the XPOWER or 40 minutes on Extended Range versions.
PracticalityUp front, there’s decent head & leg room, whilst in the rear leg room is fine, but the swooping roof line does eat a little into head room. The cabin is quite narrow & shoulder room especially in the rear suffers, meaning that there’s really only enough room inside for four adults. The rear seats fold flat 60:40 which increases the boot space from 388 litres to a very useful 1,164 litres. The boot floor lifts up to reveal a storage space for your charging cable.
Cabin storage is impressive with huge door pockets & glove box, twin central cup holders, space under the floating console, twin USB’s & a 12v socket. Rear passengers get storage pockets on the back of the front seats, a single USB & their own large door pockets,
On the roadThe MG4 Mk1 had amazing agility, it’s the best MG to drive by quite some way. The good news is that nothings changed. Whatever MG have added, including heavier batteries hasn’t dulled the cars performance at all. Whether it’s to do with the thin battery, the 50:50 weight ratio or the cars lightish components, or a combination of all, it’s still a nimble & enjoyable companion, something that most electric cars still struggle with.
In town the cabin is quiet & the light steering makes for easy process. On the open road it handles well hugging tight corners & dealing nicely with any undulating roads.
Speed up or drive on the motorway & you’ll notice some road noise entering the cabin & that it’s a little less refined at higher speeds. But none of this is unexpected. Indeed in Sport mode you can have some serious fun with the cars rapid acceleration & great road manners.
Comfort We couldn’t fault the updated seats which were comfortable, nor the new instrumentation layout & everything we tried worked well including connecting to Apple CarPlay easily & wirelessly. The relocated gear wheel is now easier to reach, the newly designed centre binnacle is more practical & the larger screens make it an easier car to get on with.
As far as visibility goes, front is good, rear not so good, with the small, curved, rear window to blame. Despite this the cars on board tech such as the 360 degree camera & the smallish turning circle make parking relatively easy. And despite its low set-up MG engineers have given the updated model a decent suspension system which won’t hide all road imperfections, but is better than before.
ProsThe updated MG4 is better equipped, comes with longer driving ranges, has a much nicer cabin, better infotainment & a rear wiper on all versions ! But most importantly it’s still brilliant to drive.
Cons7kW AC charging & 150kW DC charging aren’t as good as others offer.
VerdictSubtle interior updates & larger batteries with longer ranges have definitely improved the MG4, which was our 2023 Car of the Year. More good news is that even with the addition of heavier batteries, it’s still one of the best budget EV’s to drive. Price wise it’s incredible value too. Smiles all around from us especially in Ealing Green.
MG faces increased competition from a plethora of Chinese brands, so this mid-life refresh is very welcome 4.5/5
