MG to bring HS plug-in hybrid to UK in 2020

MG is planning to introduce a plug-in hybrid MG Motor HS next year as parent company SAIC has elected to import the model to the UK, a company spokesman has confirmed to Autocar. 

Set to arrive towards the end of next year, the MG eHS 500 was revealed and went on sale at the Guangzhou motor show in China last month. It will rival models such as the Peugeot 3008 PHEV and Vauxhall Grandland X PHEV, both of which are due in UK showrooms in the coming weeks. 

Details of what exactly the car heading to the UK will share with its Chinese counterpart remain undisclosed. However, the home market eHS features a 166bhp 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine and a 121bhp electric motor, combined and put through a ten-speed automatic gearbox for a system output of 301bhp. That's unlikely to change, and would make it the most powerful MG to launch since the V8-powered SV sports car of 2003. 

MG claims the figure, combined with a torque output of 354lb ft, will enable the family SUV to complete the 0-60mph sprint in around 5.8sec.  MG cites a battery capacity of 16.6kWh which, it claims, provides up to 47 miles of range on electric power alone. No comparable economy figures are quoted, but expect it to be favourable for company car users thanks to significantly reduced Benefit in Kind tax. 

We’ll see the first UK examples of the MG eHS towards the end of 2020, with most customer cars due to be delivered early in 2021. If Chinese price increases are anything to go by, expect a base price of around £25,000.