MG4 64 Essence: The ‘4’ with more

What is it?

MG has come a long way since its early, cheap and cheerful days.

Well, more cheap than cheerful and we are not talking about the lamented British sports car.

Rather we’re referring to the now Chinese-owned make of the same name which has begun pumping out EVs and hybrids.

MG sold more than 50,000 vehicles in Australia last year, with the small MG3 its biggest-selling model.

Released in 2022, its first EV, the fully-electric MG4, has become its second most successful model, with almost 7000 sales.

The wedge-shaped five-door hatch features sporty rear-wheel drive, with 50:50 weight distribution with batteries thin enough to hide beneath the floor.

Second generation MG4 has just been released in China.

What’s it cost?

MG4 comes in five grades, with the number indicating the capacity of the battery in kWh.

The bigger the battery, the longer its theoretical range from a single charge, but remember you can’t use it all.

The range kicks off with the Excite 51 from just $36,990 driveaway.

Next comes the Excite 64 ($40,990), then Essence 64 ($42,990), Essence 77 ($49,990) and the high performance X Power 64 AWD ($55,990).

Any colour but white or the hero orange adds $700.

Standard kit includes single-zone climate air conditioning, combo cloth and synthetic leather, heated front seats and leather steering wheel, and power adjust driver seat, with keyless entry and start and an electric parking brake.

It also comes with 18-inch alloy wheels, 7.0-inch digital instrument panel, adaptive cruise control, auto high beam, adjustable steering weight, LED head, tail and daytime running lights, auto lights (but oddly not wipers), auto-dimming rearview mirror, rear parking sensors and rear privacy glass.

Infotainment is headed up by a 10.25-inch touchscreen, featuring Bluetooth with limited voice control, FM and DAB+ digital radio (but no AM), wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and premium six-speaker audio with sound field calibration.

The lack of AM radio could be an issue out of town where there is often no FM or DAB reception and because AM is used to transmit emergency warnings.

There’s a row of quick access buttons located directly under the screen, with buttons to adjust audio volume, but to adjust the cabin temperature you need to access the touchscreen.

Satellite navigation is built-in and includes EV trip planning and charge point routing.

There’s a USB A and C ports in the front, along with a 12-volt outlet, plus another USB-A port in the rear as well as another located near the base of the rear vision mirror, presumably for powering dash cams and the like.

iSmart provides remote access to the car and allows owners to unlock the doors and turn on the air conditioning.

Unlike the MG3, the MG4 carries a five-star safety rating.

Six airbags, 360 degree camera and the MG Pilot safety suite of 14 systems deliver the goods.

Forward Collision Warning detects vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians in urban areas, activating Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) to prevent collisions through alerts and automatic braking.

Traffic jam assist detects heavy traffic and automatically follows the vehicle in front, controlling acceleration, braking and steering within the lane.

Lane Departure Warning uses a front smart camera to detect and correct lane deviations, enhancing driving safety.

Rear cross traffic alert warns of approaching vehicles and pedestrians when reversing out of parking spaces.

Blind spot detection registers objects in hard-to-see areas to help you change lanes safely.

Door opening warning warns of approaching danger when opening vehicle doors.

An advanced speed assistance system is also standard.

All MGs now come with a 10-year/250,000km warranty.

What’s it go like?

MG4 is a five-seat hatch cum SUV that is larger than it looks, with plenty of head and legroom thanks to the new scalable Nebula platform.

The seats are reasonably comfortable, the steering wheel has both height and reach adjustment, the front seats have three-level heating, the steering wheel is also heated and the driver seat has power adjustment.

But rear seat passengers have been somewhat overlooked, with no air vents and a single USB port.

Rear vision is limited, with converging roof and door lines, narrow rear window and the usual assortment of headrests.

With a plunging bonnet and rising tail, it is difficult to gauge the extremities of the vehicle and even with the aid of the 360-degree camera, we found the car difficult to reverse.

Numerous scrapes on the passenger side rear wheel attest to the fact others had the same problem.

The boot while deep is not very large overall and the available space shrinks when you factor in charge cables in their zip cases with no alternative provided to store them (try putting one back in its case).

A puncture repair kit is provided in lieu of a spare.

The rotary gear shift sits atop a weird platform that sticks out from the dashboard, and is also home for an electric parking brake and in the 64 Essence and X Power — a wireless charge pad.

It shades the USB-A, USB-C and 12V power outlet located below, making them difficult to see when it comes to plugging in a cable on the move — and plug in a cable you must, as neither Apple CarPlay nor Android Auto is wireless.

The floating console is actually a bit disconcerting because it had us wondering about the hazard it posed in the event of an accident.

The deep dash top in our test vehicle was covered by a dash mat.

A single electric motor powers the rear wheels in the 64 Essence, with 150kW of power and 250Nm of torque on tap via a single-speed automatic transmission.

There are five drive modes: Eco, Normal, Sport, Snow and Custom and the steering weight can be adjusted, plus four levels of regenerative braking, including one-pedal driving.

Weighing in at 1672kg it’s relatively light for an EV and the dash from 0-100km/h takes 7.2 seconds, and it has a top speed of 160km/h.

With a 64 kWh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) battery array, of which 62.1 kWh is useable for driving — it has a claimed range of 435km (WLTP).

The shape of the car and an active air intake grille lend it a slippery, aerodynamic shape and it has a low drag coefficient (Cd) of 0.279.

If range is your chief concern, the 77kWh Essence Long Range offers 530km (WLTP).

Suspension is Mac strut at the front and a multi-link set up at the rear, and it rides on 18-inch alloy wheels with low wind resistance wheel caps as is the norm with EVs.

Brakes are discs front and back.

The MG4 is fun to drive. Performance is sharp, it handles okay and the ride quality is generally good, although the car has a tendency to become bouncy on poor, undulating roads.

The tyres tend to generate a bit of noise on coarse bitumen too.

Automatic braking generated some false alarms, whacking on the brakes forcefully and unexpectedly.

But this particular phenomena is not confined to MG, nor is it the sole province of electric vehicles.

In real world driving, the MG4 does not seem to chew through the battery as quickly as some EVs and we had no trouble reaching our Easter destination which was 250km away.

We did however have some problems charging the car, or more specifically charging the car using the supplied standard powerpoint cable.

We arrived to find there were no commercial chargers handy, nor did we have access to the garage and a powerpoint at our accommodation.

Bugger . . .

Fortunately we were able to reverse the car up to a bedroom window, remove the flyscreen and access a powerpoint located just inside the window.

Welcome to EV ownership 101.

But that wasn’t the end of the story because the car refused to charge.

It would start charging then stop a few minutes later. This happened several times and it was very frustrating.

The quoted 17.8 hours turned into the best part of two days but as it turned out we didn’t need to drive the MG4 again until we returned home six days later, relying instead on our guests for transportation.

In contrast, we successfully topped up the battery at a Tesla DC fast- charger and our local 22kW AC charger without incident.

Using a 150kW DC rapid charger, MG claims the Essence 64 can be recharged at a rate of up to 140kW, taking only 26 minutes from 10-80 per cent.

Maybe the cable was at fault?

However, a search online revealed others had encountered the same problem.

In case you’re wondering, MG4 also supports Vehicle to Load Charging (V2L) which means you charge other devices provided you purchase the appropriate cable.

Rated at 13.8 kWh/100 km, we clocked up 768km of mixed driving at a rate of 16.2 kWh/100km.

What we like?

• Attractive styling
• Reasonable driving range
• Well equipped for the price

What we don’t like?

• No AM radio
• Doesn’t have auto wipers
• Ify Android Auto connection

The bottom line?

With its distinctive wedge-shaped styling, twin rear spoilers and affordable pricing, it’s easy to see why the motoring public has taken to the MG4.

But with a new one coming you need to toss up whether to grab one now or wait to see what the new, second generation MG4 has to offer.

Just remember when you purchase an electric vehicle, you are also buying into a new lifestyle.

Suddenly it becomes about when and where you can charge the car, and whether it has sufficient range to reach your intended destination.

Sometimes, the answer could be: ‘No’. 

 

CHECKOUT: MG3 Hybrid: It’s a safe bet

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