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MG4 - 5 Minute test drive

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All,

Just though some of you might be interested in my 5 minute take of the MG4. The dealer down the road had one on display as I passed and I thought I would take a look and a quick spin. Not looking to purchase, just curious of what I think is the first Chinese EV that might appeal to the masses.

The Model on display was the top of the line "Long Rage 77" model which I also drove. Initial impressions of the car are great, its decent looking car for sure, fits into the traditional Corolla/Golf type space. Looks are subjective of coarse, but its certainly not in my mind dorky like the BYD Atto. Back seat and front seat comfort excellent and overall build quality of the vehicle seemed pretty good, sold door shutting etc. Great news that it is RWD rather than the lazy FWD engineering.

Once we get too the boot, its 'OK' but no extra deep sub boot or anything like that, feels just like a regular ICE hatch. No frunk either or any kind, not even enough for charge cables. Interior tech however, its terrible, the UI, both in its look ands execution remind my of a cheap Chinese brand TV, no graphic artist or UI expert to be seen. Almost unusable. Quality of the buttons below the screen and the ones on the steering wheel remind me of a 90's car, creaking and with little if any mechanical feedback. The 2 spoke steering wheel, which looks odd to me is oversized and isn't circular, its some odd squarish shape that is a total annoyance when exiting corners, I guess at least its not a yoke. The gear shift is also odd, why they thought it needed some huge piano back 'platform' sticking out of the dash rather a simple control somewhere on the column is beyond me, Not only is it unnatural to twist a drive elector on a horizontal plane, it takes up way too much room.

Drive wise, I only had 5 minutes so its hard for me to make any specific judgements, ride was very good, acceleration adequate, once 1 pedal drive was switched on seem similar to a Tesla. When reversing, I noticed a shudder almost like an ICE engine about to stall, not good.

Value. I can''t see any value in the long range version at $60k D/A, its only $2k more for a Model 3. Mid range at $50k, still too high for the quality of the vehicle.` I feel the best value for this vehicle is the base model at 42K D/A, its enough money for a vehicle that could be used as a 2nd car, a runaround town that can be used long distance in a pinch. Perhaps many buyers would be better off with a 2nd hand 3.

PS, charge port in the same location as Tesla, which is nice.

MG4_EV_Automesse_Ludwigsburg_2022_1X7A5920.jpg

"MG4 EV Automesse Ludwigsburg 2022 1X7A5920" by Alexander Migl is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail
 
My prediction is that the majority of the base model, sub $40K EV's will be charged with a 10amp granny cable.

It's a very price sensitive end of the market and I can't see a lot of owners forking out for any type of wall charger install other than a powerpoint.

These cars have batteries around 50kwh, and even a granny cable can add half a tank overnight.

I don’t disagree with the 10A charging at home bit. Again, my issue is having a hobbled charge rate at public AC chargers. Many of these owners might not even have a charging spot full stop at home. 2 hours on 11kW near gets half a charge at the shops.
 
All,

Just though some of you might be interested in my 5 minute take of the MG4. The dealer down the road had one on display as I passed and I thought I would take a look and a quick spin. Not looking to purchase, just curious of what I think is the first Chinese EV that might appeal to the masses.

The Model on display was the top of the line "Long Rage 77" model which I also drove. Initial impressions of the car are great, its decent looking car for sure, fits into the traditional Corolla/Golf type space. Looks are subjective of coarse, but its certainly not in my mind dorky like the BYD Atto. Back seat and front seat comfort excellent and overall build quality of the vehicle seemed pretty good, sold door shutting etc. Great news that it is RWD rather than the lazy FWD engineering.

Once we get too the boot, its 'OK' but no extra deep sub boot or anything like that, feels just like a regular ICE hatch. No frunk either or any kind, not even enough for charge cables. Interior tech however, its terrible, the UI, both in its look ands execution remind my of a cheap Chinese brand TV, no graphic artist or UI expert to be seen. Almost unusable. Quality of the buttons below the screen and the ones on the steering wheel remind me of a 90's car, creaking and with little if any mechanical feedback. The 2 spoke steering wheel, which looks odd to me is oversized and isn't circular, its some odd squarish shape that is a total annoyance when exiting corners, I guess at least its not a yoke. The gear shift is also odd, why they thought it needed some huge piano back 'platform' sticking out of the dash rather a simple control somewhere on the column is beyond me, Not only is it unnatural to twist a drive elector on a horizontal plane, it takes up way too much room.

Drive wise, I only had 5 minutes so its hard for me to make any specific judgements, ride was very good, acceleration adequate, once 1 pedal drive was switched on seem similar to a Tesla. When reversing, I noticed a shudder almost like an ICE engine about to stall, not good.

Value. I can''t see any value in the long range version at $60k D/A, its only $2k more for a Model 3. Mid range at $50k, still too high for the quality of the vehicle.` I feel the best value for this vehicle is the base model at 42K D/A, its enough money for a vehicle that could be used as a 2nd car, a runaround town that can be used long distance in a pinch. Perhaps many buyers would be better off with a 2nd hand 3.

PS, charge port in the same location as Tesla, which is nice.
The MG 4 Mmm Not bad, thanks for the quick review

I was kind of fascinated with the MG Model X back in 2018

Really liked the interior and it was a decent looking AWD E SUV imo

Had some neat ideas like AI driver augment assist and heads up display, other features like a power shade 360 degree Arial view and other features that they were trying to integrate like inductive charging. Battery needed to be higher kwh though and it never made to export before they switched to the Model R