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.
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It's news to me that there are now three battery options for the MG4. This is good news for buyers who can choose the best one for their needs - though personally I would aaccept one of the shorter range, cheaper and lighter variants.
Of more concern is the high depreciation suffered by nearly all EVs (not just MG), expensive insurance and seemingly some quality issues with this brand. Hopefully this long term test will expand on these aspects.
I realise that most people buy cars using a PCP, where depreciation risk is controlled by the manufacturer. But still MG's finance example quotes a £475 monthly payment which I'd find hard to accept!
Expensive insurance, you're grasping at anti BEV straws. Maybe 80 pound difference, if any, so around a tankful. Quality issues with MGs, any evidence, try reading whatcar where the MG ZS beat the Hyundai, Vauxhall, Jaguar and Audi BEV's regarding reliability. Afterall they've got a 7 or 8 year warranty.
Totally agree, except depreciation of a 35K car to 20K seems much more palatable than a 70K car to 20K! Then again you would be mad to buy a new EV as a personal purchase - buying a 2019 Audi Etron for 22K or a 2019 iPace for 20K seems much more sensible subject to the usual caveats about battery deterioration, motorway range etc...
Ipace list in 2019 was 58k so a 4wd Jaguar with that sort of performance a deprication of 38k over 5 year seems fair. Plus over 5 years you'd have a road tax saving of around 2.5k, petrol saving of 8k so around 6k a year over 5 yrs.
You'd certainly be mad to buy a ICE Porsche Paramera V6 hybird in 2019 what with all those service charges and clutch wear and tear, battery deterioration.
JLR don't saturate the market like BMW and Audi seem to. That's wealth the IPace depreciated less than the Etron I suspect. If you buy new their cars are a good buy if you buy used I'd go BMW or Audi