MG 5 SW EV Long Range 2021 UK first drive

This is the UK’s first and cheapest electric estate, but with a longer range.

The MG 5 SW EV has been around for just under a year, and in addition to being one of the cheapest EVs around at a starting price of £25,095, it’s also one of just two that come with a practical estate body – along with the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo.

For 2021, MG has added a long-range version of the MG 5 to its line-up, offering 250 miles from a full charge of its 57.7kWh battery, up from 214 for the standard model. The Long Range can also rapid charge at up to 100kW. At a starting price of just £26,495 after the Plug-In Car Grant for the ‘Excite’ trim, that is a pretty good deal when Mazda wants about the same for its much less practical Mazda MX-30, which will do a paltry 117 miles.

Both the standard-range and long-range model get the same 154bhp and 192lb ft motor, giving a 0-60 time of 7.3 seconds. Not a Taycan, granted, but pretty brisk for a cheap family estate. All MG 5s also have a very usable rear seat, 464 litres of boot space and a generous amount of equipment.

You get a choice between the ‘Excite’ for £26,495 or the ‘Exclusive’ for £28,995. All the long range models come with navigation, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, four USB ports, a reversing camera, and the ‘MG Pilot’ suite of assisted driving features. The Exclusive adds heated and electric leatherette seats, automatic air conditioning and heated mirrors. On paper, at least, it almost makes some of the other cheaper EVs look rather expensive.

Almost, because as soon as you get into the MG5, long range or not, you see where the savings have been made. Remember that MG is a brand of the Chinese SAIC and sold in its native country as the Roewe i5 and it makes sense that the resulting experience is just not something you would ever get from one of the more established manufacturers.

You are greeted by a sea of hard, scratchy plastic and vinyl. Some switches feel quite solid, others give the impression they might conk out after a few years. MGs come with a seven-year warranty, so they probably won’t, but the feeling isn’t great.

When you try to adjust the seat down, you also realise that this is an SUV wearing an estate car’s skin, as the curiously high ride combines with a high seat to create a very SUV-like driving position. The seat isn’t particularly supportive in any way and the leatherette is certainly not an upgrade over cloth upholstery.