MG4 EV Urban and MG4 EV: Cheeky electric cars for the city
With the facelift of the MG4 EV and the completely new MG4 EV Urban, the Chinese company has launched two practical and, above all, affordable electric vehicles.
Launched cheekily with the slogan «The icon is back», MG continues to go full throttle in Switzerland. The Chinese brand, which skillfully plays with its British past, is constantly expanding its range, dealer network and market share. «We sold 3673 cars last year and achieved a market share of 1.6 percent,» explains Nicole Sahlmann, Brand Director MG Switzerland. «By the end of April, we had sold 1413 cars, which means we are on target for a market share of two percent.»
What contributes a lot to the good performance is the expanded and versatile portfolio. MG currently has three petrol models, three hybrids, two plug-in hybrids and seven electric variants in its model range in Germany. «There will probably be another plug-in hybrid model in the third quarter, which will allow us to close an existing gap. That helps, of course,» says Sahlmann. The MG dealer network is also growing steadily. «We want to have 35 dealers by the end of the year and thus achieve 100 percent market coverage. We are currently at around 80 percent,» says the MG boss. «After that, we will see where we need more locations in certain areas.»
Particularly on the inside
And these dealers can look forward to two new compact electric vehicles, the MG4 EV and the MG4 EV Urban. You have to take a closer look at the exterior of the former to recognize the facelift. The most striking new feature on the 4.29-meter-long MG is the rear spoiler, which is now in one piece instead of two. On the other hand, a lot has changed inside. The electric car, which is available with a 64 kWh or 77 kWh battery and as a rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive model, has a much tidier appearance. It is operated via the central 12.8-inch touchscreen; fortunately, there are still buttons and knobs for important functions such as climate or volume.
The interior has a high-quality feel thanks to soft-touch materials in all the right places. During the first test drive with the elegant XPower equipment (from 38,490 Swiss francs, entry-level version from 33,490 Swiss francs), the MG with 4×4 also made it clear what the ’Power’ stands for, thanks to its tracking ability and agility (0 to 100 km/h in 3.8 s). Of course, this sporty driving style comes at the expense of range, but at 405 km according to the WLTP, this is more than sufficient.
Cool new city runabout
With the MG4 Urban - not to be confused with the MG4, even though it has almost the same name - the Chinese have another 4.40 meter long and 1.84 meter wide compact electric car on offer. The MG4 Urban plays with design elements of the Cyberster, such as the split front or the arrow lights at the rear - chic! It is based on the E3 platform with a battery pack (42.8 or 53.9 kWh) integrated directly into the vehicle chassis. This not only gives the MG a low center of gravity and a lot of agility, even if not as much dynamism as the MG4 facelift, but in combination with the front-wheel drive, above all an enormous amount of space: 577 liters, with the rear seats folded down even up to 1364 liters of storage space!
The five-seater also impresses in the short test with its good driving comfort and its efficiency in urban and interurban traffic. The display shows just 11 kWh/100 km (according to WLTP it would be 15.3 to 15.5 kWh). This means that the 325 km (small battery) to 416 km (large battery) range is easily achievable. Very pleasing, as is the price. Because the MG4 Urban starts at 21,990 francs. Thanks to the MG bonus of 2,000 francs, which has been confirmed until the end of June, the cheeky electric car is even available for less than 20,000 francs - a real challenge to the competition.
