After spending 5 months and placing 10,000km on an MG 4, we’re fairly assured in saying that the 2024 MG 4 is arguably among the finest electrical vehicles you should purchase in Australia as we speak.
Not solely is it priced very competitively, it delivers the vary it guarantees, it’s protected and straightforward to dwell with. Better of all, it’s truly a enjoyable automotive to drive with good dynamics, an awesome journey and a well-packaged inside that makes this an excellent metropolis automotive or a second automotive for many.
By some means although, it has some primary (however very annoying) software program bugs that we might like to see MG repair to enhance the possession expertise. These are actually a number of strains of code within the automotive’s laptop system that might make an enormous distinction.
However first, let me let you know somewhat about my MG 4 expertise. Please take it from the attitude that that is certainly the primary electrical automobile that I’ve had for a chronic time frame.
Regardless of having examined just about all the EVs on provide as we speak (from the GWM Ora to the Rolls-Royce Spectre), the MG 4 was the primary that I lived with and that introduced an entire totally different outlook to the expertise.
This 2024 MG 4 Essence 64 in Diamond Purple Metallic was picked up from Sydney. The primary expertise was the drive again to Brisbane through the M1 utilizing public charging infrastructure (cue the horror). This was not enjoyable.
Though it bears no actual reflection on the MG 4, the truth that the general public charging infrastructure on Australia’s primary freeway – the M1 – is so dangerous, will let you know all you should learn about electrical automobile networks in our nation.
It wasn’t a lot the protection because the chargers (most of that are made by the now virtually bankrupt Brisbane-based firm Tritium) being both out of order, in use, or tremendous gradual.
If you learn a automotive firm’s claims that their electrical autos can cost at loopy kW speeds –140kW within the MG 4’s case – the truth is that nearly no charging station will assist that in Australia.
You’d be fortunate to get 50kW speeds and in case you occur to attain a working 150kW charger, it’s going to possible cap you to 75kW if another person is there (and there may be at all times another person there).
Or, it’ll provide you with another motive why it received’t cost at max theoretical pace, which within the case of the one 150kW charger we tried in our time of possession refused to cost previous 75kW until the automobile structure was 800V (the MG 4 is 400V).
Having performed the journey from Sydney to Brisbane over 30 instances in my life, I do know it may be performed in slightly below 10 hours with a number of tremendous fast stops. Within the case of the MG 4, the dearth of working charging infrastructure, having to attend for hours to get a spot or easy tremendous gradual charging, stretched that out to over 14 hours.
After all, this has nothing to do with the MG 4. If there have been sufficient working and out there chargers with excessive energy capability, the journey would most likely take roughly 1.5 hours longer than an ICE automotive, because the MG 4 can recharge from 10 to 80 per cent in an hour and the journey is about 920km; which means you set off with a full cost (about 400km), do one quick cost again to about 320km, then one other to round 250km and you will get house no drawback.
As soon as we arrived in Brisbane round 11pm, after what was a fairly arduous expertise of going from one damaged charger to a different, the expertise of proudly owning an EV acquired rather a lot higher.
For the primary few weeks, we determined to see if we are able to dwell with the MG 4 by merely going to a neighborhood charging station as soon as every week and charging it again as much as 80 per cent. Given my spouse was additionally driving the automotive a bit (she completely cherished it) we labored out we have been truly placing on a tad over 400km every week and required two expenses per week.
There are two native stations inside a 10-minute drive that each quoted 75kW charges. Aside from the very fact they often have been each in use; even when one was out there, it will imply a charging expertise of someplace between 25-50kW at greatest, so to get again to 80 per cent or greater meant sitting round for an hour on the very least.
I attempted to make use of the station that was in a procuring centre so I might do some grocery procuring on the similar time, but it surely doesn’t take me an hour to purchase primary groceries. It additionally occurs usually that you just get there, there’s a queue, so you must sit round and wait on your automotive to be plugged in earlier than you go in, including wherever between a couple of minutes to an hour to your ‘cost’ time.
A lot to my insane frustration, many of the charging stations are taken up by Teslas, which have their very own charging infrastructure that they refuse to make use of in order that they will save a number of {dollars}. Non-Tesla EVs can use very restricted variety of Tesla chargers, none of which have been wherever close to me.
After a number of weeks, it turned apparent you want house charging in case you personal an EV – it doesn’t matter which one – and we might completely not suggest getting an electrical automotive in case you can’t cost it at house. It’s not well worth the problem!
We debated which charging system to make use of, and initially we have been going to make use of the MG-supplied one. But it surely was single section and will solely go as much as 7kW for AC charging – though that’s the utmost this specific MG 4 helps (the Lengthy Vary can do 11kWh on AC), it made sense to future proof the charger.
Given we already had three-phase energy equipped to the storage after we constructed the home, we determined to go along with the Tesla wall charger (third-generation). It’s appropriate with any EV I’ve tried and may cost at as much as 22kW. It additionally has glorious software program that you need to use to schedule your charging for when electrical energy is at its least expensive.
It’s as much as you which ones wall charger you go for, and MG additionally now provides three-phase wallboxes that can cost at greater speeds, however after a lot analysis and given the price was solely round $700, the Tesla system made probably the most sense, and to this point we’ve had no challenge with it.
As soon as the wall charger was put in, dwelling with the MG 4 turned a lot extra handy than having an inside combustion engine automobile. All this nonsense round having to attend round to cost the automotive disappeared in a single day.
Merely plug it in while you get house, program your wallbox to start out charging round 1am to 6am for cheaper electrical energy costs, and by morning, you’re at all times again to 100 per cent.
It acquired to a degree the place my spouse was aggravated when she needed to drive one other automotive that wanted fossil gas. Declaring how soiled petrol stations have been and the way inconvenient it’s to should cease someplace to refill – the irony.
How does the MG4 examine?
View an in depth breakdown of the MG4 towards equally sized autos.
MG
MG4
How a lot does the MG 4 value?
MY23 inventory continues to be out there at some sellers at a decrease value, however for 2024 mannequin years, the costs are beneath.
| Mannequin Variant | $RRP |
|---|---|
| 2024 MG 4 Excite 51 | $40,990 (+$1000) |
| 2024 MG 4 Excite 64 | $45,990 (+$1000) |
| 2024 MG 4 Essence 64 | $47,990 (+$1000) |
| 2024 MG 4 Lengthy Vary 77 | $53,990 (+$1000) |
| 2024 MG 4 XPower | $59,990 (+$1000) |
Word the above costs don’t embrace EV incentives supplied in some states (e.g. as much as $6000 in QLD), nor does it consider the capability to lease the automobile utilizing your pre-tax earnings and never being impacted by fringe profit tax.
The above makes the marketed worth of this automotive considerably of a moot level, as a result of the weekly lease value of the automotive is considerably decrease than extra expensively priced non-electric autos.
What’s the MG 4 like on the within?
The MG 4 is surprisingly comfy inside, with glorious outward visibility and good seats broth entrance and rear.
The small driver’s instrument show is a pleasant function however it will be nice if MG might take the additional step and truly simply line up the 2 inside shows collectively for a extra seamless expertise.
The heated seats have been barely utilized in QLD, although because it acquired colder in June we discovered ourselves turning them on often.
We discovered the six-speaker audio system to be fairly first rate, however the lack of wi-fi Apple CarPlay was maybe probably the most irritating side of the infotainment system.
Add to that wired CarPlay would solely work through the USB-A port, not the USB-C port, which is somewhat weird. If in case you have a brand new iPhone, you’ll need to get a USB-A to USB-C adapter which is okay, however charging pace is proscribed because of this.
One of the best ways to beat that’s to purchase a $50 wi-fi CarPlay adapter from Amazon, plug that into the USB-A port, then join the iPhone to that wirelessly whereas it’s plugged into the USB-C port for quick charging.
This appeared to work superb. In actual fact, it labored extra reliability than the direct CarPlay connection – which within the first few months of possession stored dropping out till the corporate did a software program replace and that appeared to repair it.
The opposite factor value noting is the wi-fi cellphone charger says it’s 15 watts however that’s solely you probably have an Android cellphone that helps that pace. Apple limits charging speeds for non-certified chargers to 7.5 watts (15W on Apple chargers), which is extremely irritating.
The excellent news is that the wi-fi charger within the MG 4 is just about ineffective anyway. It sits nearly horizontal to the automotive with subsequent to no assist for holding the cellphone in place; so until it’s your grandma driving, you’ll end up catching a flying $2000 iPhone each time you speed up off the lights after which making an attempt to realign it on the charger.
When it comes to match and end, we discovered the MG 4 to be positively on par with another automotive on the worth level, if not a bit higher.
It doesn’t really feel low cost; it truly feels well-built and the buttons and switchgear additionally work properly.
We might find it irresistible if we didn’t have to make use of the display screen to vary the AC temperature although, although there’s a bodily button to show the aircon on and off – which you need to use to activate the display screen for altering the temperature .
Simply give us primary controls for temperature with out having to make use of a display screen.
Aside from the Lengthy Vary variant, the remainder of the MG 4 vary gives 363L of storage within the boot, which is certainly sufficient for the week’s groceries however not ideally suited if you wish to put bigger and bulkier gadgets in there. For those who fold the rear seats down, it does broaden to 1177L (1165 Lengthy Vary).
What we are able to say after 10,000km is that the inside nonetheless appears new – minus the cellphone charger mat, which has unusually misplaced its color, maybe because of the warmth generated within the charging course of(?). The standard of the inside supplies has remained strong and unfazed by the tough solar and day by day use.
What’s beneath the bonnet?
The MG 4 Essence 64 on take a look at is the mid spec mannequin for efficiency.
Efficiency knowledge:
| Mannequin Variant | Energy | Torque | 0-100km/h |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excite 51 | 125kW | 250Nm | 7.7s |
| Excite 64 | 150kW | 250Nm | 7.2s |
| Essence 64 | 150kW | 250Nm | 7.2s |
| Lengthy Vary 77 | 180kW | 350Nm | 6.5s |
| XPower | 320kW | 600Nm | 3.8s |
Effectivity knowledge:
| Mannequin Variant | Battery capability | WLTP vary | DC charging fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excite 51 | 51kWh | 350km | 88kW |
| Excite 64 | 64kWh | 450km | 140kW |
| Essence 64 | 64kWh | 435km | 140kW |
| Lengthy Vary 77 | 77kWh | 530km | 144kW |
| XPower | 64kWh | 400km | 140kW |
All fashions could be charged at 6.6kW on AC energy, other than the Lengthy Vary 77 which will get 11kW three-phase AC charging functionality.
How does the MG 4 drive?
So right here’s the factor, the MG 4 is definitely very nice to drive.
Being rear-wheel drive with an inexpensive quantity of energy and torque makes this nearly a sporty hatch. At 7.2 seconds to 100km/h for the mannequin on take a look at (the XPower is supercar fast at 3.8s) you possibly can positively have a little bit of enjoyable in day by day driving.
Sure, it’s positively not a sports activities automotive, however its dynamics are higher than most small petrol vehicles in its class, a few of which value extra. The rationale for that’s that each one the facility and torque go to the rear wheels with a 50:50 weight distribution, like in a correct sports activities automotive. Even the Mercedes-Benz A-Class sends energy to the entrance wheels to avoid wasting value.
This conventional setup is the place MG has not skimped on prices. Having a rear-wheel drive small hatch is sort of sufficient motive to purchase the automotive itself, however the engineers have additionally managed to get the journey and dealing with of the MG 4 to a degree the place it feels prefer it has been arrange only for Australia’s distinctive situations.
Round Brisbane and surrounding suburbs, we discovered the MG 4 to at all times journey with grace and be nice general. It’s additionally surprisingly quiet even on poorly surfaced roads – bear in mind, noise intrusion in an EV is extra noticeable given the dearth of combustion engine up entrance.
A lot of the 10,000km we lined within the MG 4 was across the metropolis and drives between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Nonetheless on a number of events we additionally took the automotive from Brisbane to Warwick, which is a few 2-hour drive by way of a number of the twistiest roads you’ll find in QLD.
Whereas we discovered the MG 4 persistently capable of give us round 400km of vary from full cost round city, on the odd event after we drove it tremendous arduous and up mountains, the vary suffered rather a lot. That 400km declare was nearer to 280km.
We weren’t shocked by this as a result of when you consider it, it’s exactly the identical as a standard petrol automotive – you drive it tougher, it makes use of extra gas; you drive the MG 4 tougher, it makes use of extra battery. Identical to you laptop computer or iPhone, in case you begin modifying movies in 4K, it’s going to use extra energy and your battery will die faster.
The principle distinction with an EV, although, is that in case you don’t have dependable charging choices, the discount in vary can meaningfully influence how you propose your drives.
For the 99.99 per cent of the time we had the MG 4, we discovered driving it and the battery vary to be very constant. For those who intend to purchase one among these and have it as a runabout for inner-city driving, you’ll by no means have any vary nervousness or issues as long as you have got house charging – it’s not the kind of automotive you purchase for normal lengthy distance journeys, although.
The one pedal mode additionally works properly, however we couldn’t work out a option to hold that setting on completely, which means you needed to go within the menu and switch it on every time you turned the automotive on. A primary software program bug that we hope MG will repair up with an replace quickly.
Whereas we love driving the MG 4, it had a ‘function’ – or a bug as we prefer to name it – that turned very irritating for me (although not my spouse, as a result of she is an grownup and may comply with primary guidelines). The MG 4 refuses to enter gear until your seatbelt is on. I do know this sounds affordable, but it surely’s truly extremely annoying. Let me let you know why…
The CarExpert Brisbane workplace is in Fortitude Valley, and every morning once I drive in, I’ve to exit the automobile and contact my safety key on the scanner on the aspect of the storage so it opens the door (no distant).
To be able to do that, I’ve to get out of the MG 4 – which doesn’t flip off till you lock it, by the best way (give us an on/off button please!) – open the storage after which get again within the automotive, which is now in P. To be able to get transferring, the MG 4 calls for I placed on my seatbelt, wait a second or two, earlier than chimes to say “Prepared’ and solely then will it go into Drive.
This is identical case for my house storage, I by no means put my seatbelt on till I exit the storage as a result of I like the flexibleness of transferring round for higher visibility. So each single day, I’ve an argument with the MG 4.
I hold making an attempt to place it in Drive, by frantically rotating the dial and it retains telling me no… however get this, each every so often, it goes ‘okay superb’… which is much more complicated. Both let me do it, or don’t let me do it – don’t confuse Pavlov’s canine with the occasional optimistic reinforcement.
I do know what you’re pondering, simply put in your rattling seatbelt, be an grownup and wait a number of seconds, however while you simply want to maneuver a number of metres, having to do that could be very annoying.
The possible motive for it’s because there isn’t a on/off button, so while you unlock the automotive, it activates by itself. Including that primary on/off performance would add that further layer of safety to inform the automotive that I need to transfer, however I don’t want my seatbelt at this second.
When some speak poorly of the protection programs in Chinese language-made vehicles, please allow them to know that is utter nonsense in terms of the MG 4. The energetic security programs within the MG 4 are a number of the greatest in any Chinese language model we now have seen.
They’re well-tuned to Australian requirements, and the energetic cruise and lane hold help labored properly the overwhelming majority of the time. The corporate has come a really great distance for the reason that unique MG Pilot we examined a few years in the past, and it’s now on-par if not forward of many of the Japanese producers in terms of energetic security.
From a driving enjoyment and refinement perspective, the MG 4 is probably the most completed EV in its class and worth level.
What do you get?
Regardless of there being a complete of 5 variants – separated by battery measurement, efficiency and gear – there are solely three trim ranges: Excite, Essence/Lengthy Vary, and XPower.
MG 4 Excite customary gear:
- 17-inch alloy wheels
- Tyre restore equipment
- One-pedal drive
- 4-mode regenerative braking
- Keyless entry and begin
- Computerized LED headlights
- Computerized high-beam
- 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster
- 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system
- Wired Apple CarPlay, Android Auto
- DAB+ digital radio
- 4-speaker sound system
- Black material upholstery
- Synthetic leather-wrapped steering wheel
- Tilt and telescopic steering wheel adjustment
- Electrical aspect mirrors with heating performance
- 6-way handbook driver’s seat adjustment
- iSmart Lite connectivity
MG 4 Essence and Lengthy Vary add:
- 18-inch alloy wheels
- Black roof
- Lively grille shutters
- Rear privateness glass
- iSmart connectivity
- 6-speaker sound system
- Satellite tv for pc navigation
- Wi-fi cellphone charger
- Auto-dimming rear-view mirror
- Energy-folding exterior mirrors
- Top-adjustable load flooring
- EV journey planner
- Artificial leather-based/fabric upholstery
- 6-way energy driver’s seat
- Heated entrance seats
- Heated steering wheel
- Leather-based-trimmed steering wheel
MG 4 XPower provides:
Is the MG 4 protected?
The MG 4 has a five-star security ranking based mostly on the extra revered Euro NCAP testing performed in 2022 – the native testing physique in Australia has additionally rated it 5 stars.
Commonplace security gear consists of:
- AEB with pedestrian, bike owner detection
- Adaptive cruise management
- Driver consideration monitoring
- Clever pace restrict help
- Lane hold help
- Lane departure warning
- Site visitors Jam Help
- Site visitors signal recognition
- Rear parking sensors
- Reversing digital camera
MG 4 Essence provides:
- Blind-spot monitoring
- Emergency lane-keep help
- Rear cross-traffic alert
- Protected exit warning
- Encompass-view digital camera
How a lot does the MG 4 value to run?
All MG 4 fashions are backed by a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre guarantee.
Given there may be actually not a lot to do for an electrical automotive, servicing intervals are large at 24 months or 40,000km, whichever comes first. It will drastically scale back your working prices, particularly in case you can cost at house.
| Service Interval | XPower | All different variants |
|---|---|---|
| 24 months or 40,000km | $296 | $296 |
| 48 months or 80,000km | $962 | $907 |
| 72 months or 120,000km | $296 | $296 |
| 96 months or 160,000km | $962 | $907 |
| 120 months or 200,000km | $296 | $296 |
| 144 months or 240,000km | $962 | $907 |
| 168 months or 280,000km | $296 | $296 |
CarExpert’s Tackle the MG 4
After nearly six months and greater than 10,000 km with the MG 4, I’ve turn into an EV convert.
So long as you have got house charging, a small, inexpensive electrical automotive makes a number of sense; and the MG 4 is arguably among the finest small EVs in Australia you should purchase proper now.
With a mixture of nice expertise, very affordable vary and a very good beginning worth (that’s made higher by authorities incentives and FBT leasing advantages), the MG 4 is actually value a glance you probably have been eyeing off a Tesla Mannequin 3. It will prevent round $15,000-20,000, and you’re going to get the additional advantage of not proudly owning a Tesla.
To be honest to the MG 4, we really feel it truly has a extra usable inside than the tremendous bland Mannequin 3, however that’s fairly subjective.
If in case you have been desirous about shopping for an MG 4, the belongings you shouldn’t be frightened about are the model’s reliability, construct high quality and efficiency.
The MG 4 by no means missed a beat in 10,000km of driving, and given its seven-year guarantee (hey, Tesla?) and tremendous lengthy service durations, it’s going to possible be the most affordable automotive you have got ever owned by way of working prices.
My advice? Go take a look at drive an MG 4 and see for your self. It’s value noting you possibly can examine this towards the GWM Ora, which is just a bit cheaper and gives an identical stage of consolation and expertise, however lacks the dynamic refinement of the MG 4.
Now we have now swapped out of the MG 4 Essence 64 and into an MG 4 XPower, and can report again on that sooner or later.
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