Category Archives: MG

electric, MG, Motoring

Electric MG bucks the trend

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MG5 Exclusive

By Bill McCarthy

NO-ONE can accuse MG of lacking ambition. Years after the brand’s disappearance and then return to British roads, it has moved on in leaps and bounds.

After a faltering start, the line-up is still limited but imaginative. This latest model, the all-electric MG5, targets the fleet market, which bucks the current trend for SUV/crossover vehicles, instead offering a repmobile-style estate car.

It is also an affordable electric option for larger families, with its impressive range, practicality and stowage space. It’s range would not be suitable for company drivers covering hundreds of miles a day, rather the local multi-drop urban work or commuting to and from an office or to visit clients, where the range 214 miles, would be more than adequate.

This alleviates one of the big problems with electric cars – range anxiety. The question of whether you can reach your destination, and if you can’t are there charging points available? Around 200 miles seemed easily achievable while living with the car.

There’s little to show the car is an electric vehicle apart from some discrete badging, the green strip on the number plate and the lack of tailpipes.

It offers smart styling, sitting low off the ground to attain better stability, ultra-low running costs, particularly with Benefit in Kind taxation for business users, just one per cent for 2021/2022 and a hugely attractive price. It starts from £24,495 (after the Government plug-in car grant), not forgetting the seven year warranty.

The vehicle is powered by a 115kW electric motor and delivers the instant, blistering acceleration associated with electric cars. Equivalent to 156PS, it can hit 60mph in 7.7 seconds.  It is a comfortable place to be and handles pretty much as well as any petrol or diesel estate and accommodates five people with relative ease.

The 52.5kWh Lithium-Ion battery pack can be charged from zero to 80 per cent in just 50 minutes using a rapid charger. A full charge at home using Type 2 fast charging can be attained in around eight and a half hours.

There’s little to show the car is an electric vehicle apart from some discrete badging, the green strip on the number plate and the lack of tailpipes.

It has a low slung profile and while it may not be the most exciting styling, the iconic MG badge on the black grille still attracts plenty of interest. The grille badge in fact discretely conceals the charging, point, swinging open to allow the car to be plugged in.

The interior feels like a much more expensive car, with a comprehensive list of standard equipment. It also has a more modern feel, with the usual gear selector replaced with a rotary knob and the instruments laid out in a clear, concise and logical manner.

There is plenty of head and legroom, even for rear seat passengers, while the front seats, on this Exclusive model are leather-style, heated and fully adjustable.

 To hammer home the point of the car’s value for money, even the ‘entry level’ Excite features electric windows all-round, air conditioning, regenerative braking, cruise control with speed limiter, an auto-hold electric parking brake, rain-sensing wipers and push-button starter.

This is together with 16-inch, alloys, remote entry with push-button start, air conditioning, four electric windows, electrically adjustable mirrors, cruise control, rear parking sensors and follow- me-home headlights. This Exclusive model adds rear camera, sat nav, silver roof rails, electrically adjustable folding heated mirrors, an automatically dimming mirror and satellite navigation.

The centrepiece on both is an eight-inch colour touchscreen and seven-inch TFT display. The touch screen controls navigation, infotainment through the six speaker system and DAB radio, and connectivity for smartphones.

In addition there are four USB ports, The TFT display gives a raft of driver information, particularly on the charging and range of the car.

The large boot area is accessed through a wide tailgate opening and offers from 464 litres of space up a spacious 1,456 litres, depending on the configuration of the folding rear seats.

It’s also packed with active and passive safety systems, with front, side and curtain airbags, electronic brake assist, ABS with EBD, twin ISOFIX points in the rear and hill start assistance.

Factfile

MG 5 Exclusive

Price: £27,540

Mechanical: 156PS,115kw electric motor driving front wheels via auto via transmission

Max Speed: 115mph

0-62mph: 7.7 seconds

Combined MPG: Range 214 miles (WLTP)

Insurance Group: 19

C02 emissions: 0g/km

Warranty: 7yrs/80,000 miles

MG, Supermini

Mini MG steps up to the marque

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MG3

By Bill McCarthy

MG’s supermini has taken a quantum leap forward from the first version introduced back in 2013. Better in virtually every area, but still offering incredible value for money, an iconic badge and industry-equalling seven-year warranty – notot to mention low insurance rates, making it particularly attractive for younger buyers.

It’s also stylish and practical, with the largest boot space in its segment. The firm’s blurb says: “Designed to make a bold statement, the New MG3 is targeted at style-conscious buyers seeking something different from the rest of the market, offering a wealth of personalisation options.”

A typical sales pitch, but accurate in many ways. One of the first things that strikes you about it is the ease of entry and exit, the kind you would expect on a larger SUV.

It is a smart looking car, with the iconic MG badge set in the middle of a deep, wide grille flanked by LED daytime running lights, wit deep air scoops below.

 In addition there are body coloured door handles, powered electric door mirrors and rear spoiler, together with side sills with  body coloured with black insert, so it does have a funky, sporty look. 

Equally distinctive is the side profile where the body coloured side skirts lower the stance and it is all finished of nicely with 16-inch diamond-cut alloys.

“It’s quite a package and hard to argue about value for money, even the range topper is under £14k”

 if that’s not enough, there are also customisable options, with six distinctive colour variations.

It is well equipped, with many goodies found on much more expensive cars. It features all round electric windows, all versions come with Bluetooth telephone and audio streaming and AUX/USB as standard, plus an eight inch colour touchscreen and steering wheel audio controls.

The interior continues the sporty theme, but lacks some of the soft touch plastics sophistication of some of its competitors. But the harsh dark plastics are nicely offset with a tartan finish on this model, together with matching red stitching and graphic highlights. This model also featured sports seats and multi-function steering wheel.

The centrepiece is the screen, which features navigation, smartphone connectivity via Apple CarPlay, DAB radio and also houses the reversing camera on this model. Other controls are functional, if looking slightly dated.

Underlining the easy access and exit from the car is the class-leading head and legroom, which accommodates  four people in comfort, with the fifth a  tight squeeze. No surprise really in this class of car. But it does have a roomy feel to it especially with the large glass areas allowing plenty of light into the cabin.

The 105 bhp petrol engine is a lively unit. Mated to a slick-shifting five speed manual gearbox, it hits 60mph in just over 10 seconds. It is refined enough and has just enough poke on the motorway for reasonable overtaking. Fuel economy is a claimed 47-odd mpg, but I struggled to get 40, while CO2 emissions are on the high side.

 Road performance is good with sharp, sporty handling making it an engaging drive, while the direct, responsive steering adds to the agility of the car. This can be at the expense of comfort through the firm ride. The suspension is  specifically designed for British roads and  can become uncomfortable over lesser surfaces.

In practical terms, it has one of the most spacious boots in its class, with an impressive 285 litres of capacity. Rising to 1,262 with the seats folded. A sizeable stowage space in a small car.

Versions include Excite at £12,195, Exclusive and Exclusive Nav and all featuring the single 1.5 litre petrol power unit. 

Safety features include twin front, side and curtain airbags, electronic stability control, corner brake control, hill hold control and traction control as standard.

It’s quite a package and hard to argue about the value for money, with even this range topper costing £13,840 on the road.

Oh yes, and there’s that warranty, seven years or 80k miles for extra peace of mind.

Factfile

MG3 Exclusive 1.5 

Price: £ 13,840

Mechanical: 1498cc, 105bhp, four-cylinder petrol engine driving front wheels via five speed gearbox

Maximum speed: 108mph

Acceleration: 0-60mph in 10.4 seconds

Economy: 47.1 mpg (NEDC2)

Insurance group: 6

CO2 emissions: 140g/km

Warranty: seven years, 80,000 miles’