MG 4 EV is Surprisingly Good But…

A week spent in the MG 4 yielded a bag of mixed feelings. It is a lot of car for the price, as are most Chinese cars, but there were highs and lows.

The range includes Excite, Essence, Long Range, and X Power, with an array of battery and charging options. Our single motor Essence 64 is midrange, well equipped, and has range up to 435km. At a fairly slim 1672kg, the MG 4 is a lightweight in the EV world. Most EVs with a range above 400km weigh close to 2000kg.

As always, we are left wondering how they do it for the price. (see offers HERE)

The base model was recently on sale for $30,990 drive away as the Chinese brands jostle for superiority in the market. This is good news for new buyers but terrible news for existing owners. Heavy discounting cuts deeply into the price of 2^nd hand cars. If $8000 is shaved off a new car, why would anyone pay nearly as much for a used one?

Looks

MG 4 strikes a pose with a chiseled front end and heavily sculptured back end, but all of the hard work is done by the lighting arrays. The rear lights have a naff design along their top surface which projects far beyond the body work.

MG 4 is a smallish hatch but has a lot packed in to a tight space.

The 5-door hatch is a mix of the conventional and the futuristic. It looks classy but will it age well?

Inside

A couple of digital displays sit comfortably within the dash without dominating the cabin. The little screen on the steering column looks like a gaming console yet has all the data a driver could want.

The infotainment system is a different matter. The screen can often be sluggish to respond, and contains the settings for ADAS and other features. It also displays CarPlay/Android Auto (via USB) but ours never worked despite repeated efforts. There are few other buttons and controls so waiting between inputs is not only annoying and inconvenient, but totally out of place in a modern interior.

Heated front seating is covered “PU Leather and fabric”, fake leather and real fabric to you and me. Saying that there is plastic upholstery just doesn’t sound sexy enough.

The centre console is sculptured, and without the huge centre tunnel for mechanical components, is deep with loads of storage, 2 USB slots, a dial for “gears” and the park brake lever. (note: the gear dial is also slow to respond)

Rear seat space is bijou if the driver is tall, but the cargo hold is a decent 363L, Hoorah!

The simple interior has an impressive look and feel. Surfaces feel good quality and apart from the appallingly nasty dash mat (in the bin with it and its unfinished fraying edges), are good quality.

The boot has an adjustable 2 level floor. Rather than making the entire space one large area, you are better off storing all the cables under the floor with the divider set on the top position. Otherwise, the very many containers will use up almost all of the floor space and you finish up stacking the cable caddies on one side to make room for your shopping.

Above: This Week’s VIDEO Car Review – 2024 MG 4 The best EV for the price – Alan Zurvas Review

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ABOVE: MG 4 range

Inside

A couple of digital displays sit comfortably within the dash without dominating the cabin. The little screen on the steering column looks like a gaming console yet has all the data a driver could want.

The infotainment system is a different matter. The screen can often be sluggish to respond, and contains the settings for ADAS and other features. It also displays CarPlay/Android Auto (via USB) but ours never worked despite repeated efforts. There are few other buttons and controls so waiting between inputs is not only annoying and inconvenient, but totally out of place in a modern interior.

Heated front seating is covered “PU Leather and fabric” (fake leather and real fabric to you and me). Saying that there is plastic upholstery just doesn’t sound sexy enough apparently.

The centre console is sculptured, and without the huge centre tunnel for mechanical components, is deep with loads of storage, 2 USB slots, a dial for “gears” and the park brake lever. (note: the gear dial is also slow to respond)

Rear seat space is bijou if the driver is tall, but the cargo hold is a decent 363L, Hoorah!

The simple interior has an impressive look and feel. Surfaces feel good quality and apart from the appallingly nasty dash mat (in the bin with it and its unfinished fraying edges), are good quality.

The boot has an adjustable 2 level floor. Rather than making the entire space one large area, you are better off storing all the cables under the floor with the divider set on the top position. Otherwise, the very many containers will use up almost all of the floor space and you finish up stacking the cable caddies on one side to make room for your shopping.

The Drive:

MG 4 has 1-pedal driving. There is no button for it so you have to save that function in 1 of the 2 “star” memory buttons on the steering wheel.

Smart cruise control is activated by entering the drive menu after which the usual steering wheel cruise controls work normally. Lane functions are similarly fettled but alerts should be. The over-speed is by far the worst because speed sign recognition is rarely correctly. The menu option must be re-silenced every time you start the car.

For example, the speed sign system will often think you are in a 50kph zone instead of a 110 zone. Worse still, few systems can distinguish whether the school zone is active or not, so out of school hours it will still bong if you’re above 40kph.

Bongs also go off whenever a new suburb is encountered while ever the navigation is displayed.

Modes include a sportier drive mode.

For an entry level car, the handling is great. Steering feels responsive, though I was never able to get exactly the right driving position. The steering wheel reach needed just a little more “out”, and the front of the seat a little more “up”.

MG 4 has 150kw/250Nm, good for a frisky 7.2 second 0-100kph.

For the stats on other MG 4 models, you can download the specifications Below:

MG 4 X Power MG 4 X power 22024 MG X Power Specs

MG 4 22024 MG X Power Specs

Suspension is MacPherson Strut at the front and 5-multi-link at the rear.

Entry level rear suspension is often the cheaper Torsion Bar type, especially in Korean and European small cars, but MG has gone all-out on making MG 4 as good as it can possibly be.

Unlike previous MG models, MG 4’s drive is indistinguishable between from most of the Japanese, Korean and European entry level cars, and the MG slaughters all but other Chinese brands on price. Established brands are in deep strife, they just don’t know it yet (or are ignoring it).

A Euro-brand executive once told GayCarBoys that “MG makes great second-hand cars.” In other words, the stock was not of good quality and not up to new car standard. Well, the buyers have spoken and that brand is no longer in the “Top Ten”, and MG is. In fact, MG and GWM are both in the Top Ten replacing brands like Honda and VW which have slipped out of contention.

Adding more salt to the wounds, both VW and Nissan have financial woes that threaten their very existence.

Up to 20 Chinese brands have emerged, or will soon appear in the Australian market – legacy OEMs ignore that fact at their peril.

The Good:

MG 4 is very well equipped for the price. Surfaces felt of decent quality, and the battery gave the promised range. MG 4 was spritely and agile, and the max DC charging of 144kw was ample for a 64kwh battery.

The single zone climate control worked brilliantly, keeping the cabin to 21c with little effort.

The Bad:

While the infotainment system was easier to navigate than previous MG models, it was far too sluggish. Has MG cheaped out on the processing power? Even changing in to gear was slow.

Constantly having to alerts after each restart does my head in.

The ADAS menu needs a total rethink

Price: $32,990 drive away (special price – December ’24)
Engine: electric motor – Rear
Power: 150kw/250Nm
Battery: 64kwh
Range: 435km
Max DC charging: 140kw

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