The MG 4 is presently one among Australia’s most cost-effective electrical automobiles (EVs). It’s obtainable in a variety of completely different flavours starting from entry-level bang-for-your-buck, to genuinely loopy high-performance.

On check right here is the now second from top-spec 2024 MG 4 Lengthy Vary 77, which is claimed to supply probably the most driving vary of any MG 4 variant thus far due to its bigger 77kWh battery pack.

The MG 4 is as an interesting bundle given the actual fact it’s constructed on a brand new all-electric platform and in non-performance guise is rear-wheel drive. It’s additionally not alone – with extra rivals popping up each few months.

All of the substances are there, however is the MG 4 Lengthy Vary 77 an electrical automobile it is best to really purchase? Learn alongside to seek out out.

How does the MG4 fare vs its rivals?

View an in depth breakdown of the MG4 towards equally sized automobiles.

MG

MG4

How a lot does the MG 4 value?

The 2024 MG 4 vary presently begins at $38,990 earlier than on-roads for the Excite 51. This is without doubt one of the most reasonably priced electrical automobiles (EVs) presently on sale in Australia and rivals the BYD Dolphin and GWM Ora.

The variant on check right here nevertheless, is the as soon as top-spec Lengthy Vary 77 which is priced from $55,990 earlier than on-roads. It was not too long ago dethroned from its top-spec standing by the high-performance XPower which is priced from $59,990 earlier than on-roads.

Our tester was completed within the vibrant Brixton Blue metallic exterior paint which prices a further $700. This brings the whole to $56,690 earlier than on-road prices, or $59,803 drive-away for Victorian patrons (every state has barely completely different taxes).

Equally priced electrical hatchbacks for the MG 4 Lengthy Vary 77 in Australia embrace the Cupra Born ($59,990), Fiat 500e La Prima ($52,500), Mini Electrical Hatch ($49,990 D/A), and Nissan Leaf e+ ($61,490). It’s additionally only a hop, skip and bounce away from the bigger EVs just like the Tesla Mannequin 3 RWD ($61,900) and the BYD Seal Premium ($58,798).

2024 MG 4 pricing:

• MG 4 Excite 51: $38,990
• MG 4 Excite 64: $44,990
• MG 4 Essence 64: $47,990
• MG 4 Lengthy Vary 77: $55,990
• MG 4 XPower: $59,990

All costs are earlier than on-road prices

What’s the MG 4 like on the within?

Hopping into the MG 4 is simpler than stepping into an equivalently sized inside combustion-powered passenger automobile because the battery pack lifts up the place the driving force’s seat is about. It’s not fairly as simple to get into as a crossover, nevertheless.

When you’re within the MG 4 Lengthy Vary 77, there are a set of fancy-looking artificial leather-based and cloth seats which have an inoffensive design.

The motive force’s seat has six methods of electrical adjustment; though, it lacks thigh adjustment and lumbar assist. I discovered the dearth of thigh adjustment to be just a little irritating because it felt like I used to be going to slip off the seat at occasions.

Regardless of this gripe, the seat itself is squishy and comfy, with sufficient facet bolstering to safe me in place.

Forward of the driving force is an interesting-looking steering wheel that’s hexagonal-shaped and solely has two spokes. Though this steering wheel appears to be like cool and sporty, it’s fairly massive, which makes attempting to succeed in the stubby indicator and wiper stalks a little bit of a problem.

The steering wheel is leather-wrapped and heated, which is a helpful characteristic within the fickle Melbourne climate. There are additionally a variety of buttons and knobs on the steering wheel which don’t make instant sense.

A notable instance I discovered late in my mortgage of the automobile was a configurable button that permits one of many directional knobs for use for adjusting the local weather management. Up till this level I used to be digging by the touchscreen to regulate my set temperature and fan velocity.

One other steering wheel button perform that didn’t make instant sense was the button to activate cruise management – it has a steering wheel image on it. Any such button would usually correspond to a lane-centring perform in any one other car.

Behind the steering wheel is a 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster that errs on the small facet however nonetheless shows a wealth of knowledge.

At first it’s unclear the right way to modify the data displayed on this display, however there’s one more button on the steering wheel that must be clicked earlier than you possibly can cycle by the content material.

The ten.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system actually isn’t the MG 4’s greatest characteristic. Positive, the show has sufficient decision, nevertheless it has poor processing energy. This implies it’s very laggy to reply and doesn’t activate shortly upon startup.

An instance of that is when attempting to enter the local weather management menu on the touchscreen. It could possibly typically take a couple of seconds earlier than something really occurs.

The menus within the touchscreen are just a little convoluted as properly, and a few capabilities are unclear of their operation. An instance is the one-pedal driving perform, which is tucked deep in a car settings menu.

All through my mortgage of the MG 4 there was extra time spent with out Apple CarPlay functioning than with. That’s even with me utilizing a real Apple USB cable with my iPhone 12 Professional Max.

Sure, you learn that accurately. The MG 4 solely has wired smartphone mirroring, and it’s additionally a particularly buggy model at that.

There have been occasions the place I’d plug my telephone in and have Apple CarPlay work flawlessly for your complete journey, however loads of others the place it will outright refuse to acknowledge my telephone was related. This was regardless of my telephone really charging through the USB cable.

In an effort to treatment the infotainment system not registering that my telephone was related, I attempted unplugging and reconnecting my telephone into the USB cable numerous occasions. Once I did this the Apple CarPlay icon on the touchscreen would flash briefly, indicating it was able to go, however then it will gray out once more.

Different occasions CarPlay would really activate for a couple of seconds after which deactivate. Apparently, there was one time when CarPlay related for a quick second however seemed to be within the left-hand drive configuration. This was very unusual.

Shifting on, the MG 4 comes customary with satellite tv for pc navigation, although it’s fairly clunky to make use of. Making an attempt to kind in a focal point is just about not possible because the keyboard that pops up is near unusable.

Wanting across the cabin, there are an unlimited array of laborious plastics, which isn’t ok in a automobile that prices virtually as a lot as a Tesla Mannequin 3. There are a choose few parts of the cabin which have softer plastics; nevertheless, together with high-traffic contact factors just like the armrests.

There’s additionally a beneficiant use of shiny piano black the place the rotary gear selector and electrical park brake are. Our tester had fewer than 1000km on the clock and it was already actually scratched. It additionally acquired actually dirty and dusty over the time we had the automobile.

Given the MG 4 is an electrical automobile on an all-electric structure, this implies there’s no want for a transmission tunnel and extra cupboard space could be afforded. There’s a big uncovered part that can be utilized for a purse, for instance, in addition to two cup holders mounted down low close to the USB ports.

There’s additionally a centre console which has an honest quantity of cupboard space, although its lid is sort of excessive. Once I was steering my elbow would typically hit this lid, which was just a little irritating.

Shifting to the second row, there’s no noticeable step down when it comes to high quality; nevertheless, the area itself is a bit drab.

There’s sufficient leg-, head-, shoulder- and toe-room; though, I did need to splay my legs on both facet of the seat in entrance with a purpose to sit comfortably.

When it comes to second-row facilities, there are barely any. The one notable factor you get is a single USB port. There are not any rear air vents, nor a fold-down centre armrest with cupholders.

The MG 4 has an adequately sized boot, with a claimed 350 litres of area. That is technically down on the Excite variants, although the Essence 64 and Lengthy Vary 77 acquire a dual-tier boot ground.

There’s additionally a netted part off to the facet of the boot that can be utilized to maintain gadgets from sliding round.

Similar to each EV on sale in the meanwhile, the MG 4 doesn’t include a spare tyre of any selection attributable to packaging constraints. This generally is a actual trouble if you happen to’re out in the midst of nowhere and have a flat tyre.

What’s underneath the bonnet?

Nearly all of the MG 4 vary is powered by a single, rear-mounted electrical motor, with its output decided by which battery pack it’s mated with.

The MG 4 Lengthy Vary 77 has a single electrical motor which produces 180kW of energy and 350Nm of torque. MG claims this mannequin can do the 0-100km/h dash in 6.5 seconds and flat out you’ll be doing 180km/h.

This single electrical motor is fed by a sizeable 77kWh (74.4 usable) battery pack. It’s the biggest battery pack obtainable throughout your complete native MG 4 vary and it’s solely obtainable on this one trim stage. Not even the XPower (which makes use of the smaller 64kWh unit supplied elsewhere within the line-up) has this huge a battery.

MG claims the MG 4 Lengthy Vary 77 has a spread of as much as 530km, in line with WLTP testing requirements. It additionally has a claimed driving effectivity of 14kWh per 100km.

Throughout our time with our tester we skilled a mean vitality consumption of round 17kWh per 100km, which included a mixture of city, metropolitan and freeway driving. Count on to see over 20kWh per 100km if you happen to spend the vast majority of your time on the freeway.

When it comes to charging, the MG 4 Lengthy Vary 77 has an honest AC charging price of as much as 11kW. Totally charging the battery at this price is claimed to take roughly seven hours.

It additionally has a DC fast-charging price of 144kW, which when plugged right into a 150kW fast-charger, is claimed to cost the battery from 10 to 80 per cent in 38 minutes.

How does the MG 4 drive?

Similar to the Tesla Mannequin 3, the MG 4 doesn’t have an precise starter button. That is each a blessing and a curse.

If you wish to begin up the MG 4, all you must do is sit on the driving force’s seat and press the brake pedal. After this the automobile is on, you possibly can shift into the supposed gear, and then you definately’re in your manner.

This sequence of occasions to start out up the automobile is seamless and mirrors what you must do within the Tesla Mannequin 3 to get shifting. Switching off the MG 4, alternatively, is the place issues begin to get just a little painful.

The MG 4 stays turned on while you’ve completed driving and solely correctly switches off when the automobile is locked. As we discovered at our latest CarExpert occasion in Melbourne, this was a ache because the automobile stayed on for the hours it was sitting on show.

Like a variety of EVs, the MG 4’s acceleration is greater than sufficient. It’s because the complete 350Nm of torque is out there from a standstill.

You’ll simply be maintaining with site visitors, and if you happen to push the accelerator you’ll pull forward with no issues in any respect. The MG 4’s single electrical motor pumps out a substantial quantity of energy, making it aggressive with many scorching hatches.

Regardless of having loads of energy, the MG 4’s brake pedal feels actually laborious and lacks feeling. Within the automobile’s default driving mode you must use the brake to return to a cease.

There’s a one-pedal driving mode obtainable within the MG 4, however that is hidden in a settings menu and must be activated each single time you drive the automobile. Probably the most annoying half is when this characteristic is on, you continue to have to press the brake to return to a whole cease as it would creep ahead at low speeds.

There are a number of driving modes that you would be able to cycle by, with Regular mode feeling probably the most pure solution to expertise the MG 4 Lengthy Vary 77. Eco mode actually dulled the driving expertise, whereas Sport mode felt just a little too frenetic for on a regular basis driving.

If you need a correctly sporty MG 4; nevertheless, you possibly can step as much as the high-performance XPower for $4000 extra.

What the MG 4 Lengthy Vary 77 has over the XPower variant although is additional vary due to its bigger 77kWh battery pack. Round 500km of vary is actually beneficiant in an EV. The one different equally priced EVs with a comparable quantity of vary are the BYD Seal, Cupra Born and Tesla Mannequin 3.

The MG 4 is extremely manoeuvrable at low speeds because it has tremendous mild steering. This additionally makes it simple to park.

Talking of parking although, the MG 4 Lengthy Vary 77 solely comes with rear parking sensors. There’s additionally a surround-view digicam however its picture high quality could be very poor.

Round city and within the metropolis the MG 4’s experience errs on the firmer facet nevertheless it’s by no means uncomfortable. It additionally handles velocity bumps and not using a fuss, which I can’t say the identical about for a bunch of different Chinese language-made automobiles.

Build up velocity within the MG 4 Lengthy Vary 77 comes extraordinarily simply. The automobile by no means feels out of puff and is at all times able to accommodate a straightforward overtake.

Out on the open highway and on the freeway the MG 4 feels comfy and compliant. It doesn’t really feel out of its depth like a variety of different EVs do at larger speeds.

One thing I did discover on this specific MG 4 check car is that on the freeway travelling at round 100km/h there was a low-frequency rumble or buffeting emanating from what gave the impression to be the entrance of the automobile. I’m unsure if this was restricted to this specific automobile, or if it’s one thing skilled throughout all MG 4s.

On the protection entrance, the MG 4 Lengthy Vary 77 is absolutely loaded. Among the methods; nevertheless, are just a little clunky to function.

All the MG 4 vary comes with an adaptive cruise management system, although as I discussed within the inside part, the button to change this on is surprisingly a steering wheel icon.

The adaptive cruise management system itself is okay in the way it reacts to different automobiles on the highway, although while you first change it on it at all times defaults to the furthest distance, which isn’t unusual, however just a little irritating.

Like in Subarus, the MG 4’s set cruise management velocity adjusts in 5km/h increments if you happen to single press the leftmost directional knob both up or down. It is advisable press and maintain it to make the set velocity go up in single km/h increments, nevertheless it’s laborious to get it to truly land on the velocity you need.

To get round this frustration, I discovered I might cancel the cruise management, both speed up or decelerate to my supposed velocity, after which set the cruise management once more.

The MG 4 additionally has a spread of lane-keeping capabilities, together with a site visitors jam help at the side of the adaptive cruise management system. This method specifically is slightly violent as it will jerk on the steering wheel to get you again within the centre of the lane. It additionally acquired significantly confused on moist roads, or roads with poor lane markings.

The very last thing I’ll point out on this part is though the LED headlights are unbelievable in low-beam, they’re poorly aligned so when the high-beams change on there’s a spot with none illumination. That is significantly harmful on nation roads with none illumination.

What do you get?

MG 4 Excite 51 highlights:

• 17-inch alloy wheels with aero covers
• Tyre restore equipment
• Automated LED headlights
• LED daytime working lights
• LED tail lights
• Rear fog mild
• 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster
• 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• DAB+ digital radio
• 4-speaker sound system
• Keyless entry
• Electrical park brake
• Local weather management
• Driver’s window one-touch perform
• PU leather-wrapped steering wheel
• Cloth upholstery
• Six-way handbook driver seat
• 4-way handbook entrance passenger seat
• iSmart Lite connectivity

MG 4 Excite 64 provides:

• Lively consumption grille shutter

MG 4 Essence 64 provides:

• 18-inch alloy wheels with aero covers
• Two-tone roof
• ‘Twin-aero’ rear spoiler
• Privateness glass
• Electrical folding mirrors
• Wi-fi telephone charger
• Satellite tv for pc navigation
• EV journey planning
• Six-speaker sound system
• All window one-touch perform
• Auto-dimming rear-view mirror
• Two-level adjustable boot ground
• Leather-based-wrapped steering wheel
• Heated steering wheel
• PU leather-based and cloth upholstery
• Heated entrance seats
• Six-way electrical driver seat
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Rear cross-traffic alert
• Protected exit warning
• Emergency lane-keep help
• Lane change help
• Encompass-view digicam
• iSmart connectivity

The MG 4 Lengthy Vary 77 solely provides the bigger 77kWh battery pack and extra highly effective 180kW electrical motor.

Is the MG 4 secure?

The MG 4 earned a five-star ANCAP security score earlier this yr primarily based on Euro NCAP testing carried out underneath the outgoing 2020-22 score standards.

To date the five-star score solely applies to single-motor rear-wheel drive fashions, that means the XPower stays unrated.

It obtained an grownup occupant safety score of 83 per cent, a toddler occupant safety score of 86 per cent, a susceptible highway person safety score of 75 per cent, and a security help score of 81 per cent.

All MG 4 fashions in Australia come customary with the next:

• Autonomous emergency braking (AEB)
  • Pedestrian detection
  • Bike owner detection
• Lane-keep help
• Lane departure warning
• Adaptive cruise management
• Visitors Jam Help
• Clever velocity restrict help
• Visitors signal recognition
• Driver consideration monitoring
• Reversing digicam
• Rear parking sensors

MG 4 Essence provides:

• Blind-spot monitoring
• Rear cross-traffic alert
• Protected exit warning
• Emergency lane-keep help
• Lane change help
• Encompass-view digicam

How a lot does the MG4 value to run?

All MG 4 fashions are backed by a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre guarantee.

Logbook servicing is required each 24 months or 40,000km, whichever comes first. The primary seven companies (14 years or 280,000km) value $296, $907, $296, $907, $296, $907, and $296 respectively, or $3905 in complete.

CarExpert’s Tackle the MG 4

The MG 4 is the kind of electrical automobile that I can see actually catching on in Australia. On the decrease finish of the line-up the electrical hatchback makes loads of sense due partially to its aggressive worth level and fascinating rear-wheel drive dynamics.

As you go additional up the vary; nevertheless, the enchantment for the MG 4 begins to dwindle a bit. There are a variety of causes for this however probably the most notable is the inside high quality doesn’t essentially replicate the asking worth.

The MG 4 Lengthy Vary 77 on check right here begins at $55,990 earlier than on-road prices, which is eerily near the likes of the Cupra Born, Tesla Mannequin 3 RWD and BYD Seal Premium. The interiors of all of those automobiles feel and appear much more thrilling than the one on this MG 4.

It’s not all unhealthy although, as a result of with as much as 530km of claimed vary the MG 4 Lengthy Vary 77 presents loads of vary on your buck. There are different EVs that supply extra vary, however you must spend extra for that privilege.

If you wish to maximise your vary capabilities, the MG 4 Lengthy Vary 77 kinds because the choose of the vary. If this isn’t completely crucial nevertheless, you’d be higher to avoid wasting your cash and go for the Essence 64. It nonetheless receives the complete vary of ordinary gear, together with all of the obtainable security options, for $8000 much less.

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