MG4 XPower review

MG4 XPOWER

MG4 XPower review.

For – wonderful performance, great quality, “affordable”, cute.
Against – range.
Price – from £36,495
Competition – Cupra Born, Fiat 500e, GWM Ora3, Renault Megane E-tech, VW ID.3, Skoda Enyaq

“This is the most enjoyable EV I’ve ever driven, and by current standards it is amazing value for money”

The all-electric MG4 XPower is a pocket rocket ship with enough poke to burn past even the most expensive Ferraris and Lamborghinis, at least up to 60 mph. 

My first thought when driving this little marvel was how much it was like a Volkswagen GTi, until I realized that this car is in a different world. Where the GTi is ferocious and harsh, this little MG, (not to be confused with the old British marque; despite the name it is Chinese through and through), is sophisticated and forgiving. It looks lovely. The light green metallic aint job was impressive and the build-quality tight. The interior was smart and modern. On the road, the steering was light and accurate. The ride was smooth although it wasn’t prepared for our third-world potholes. 

The car felt absolutely planted at all times. At high but legal cruising speeds the car oozed serenity, although, naturally, a glance at the miles remaining monitor will jolt you back into the real world. After all, this is an electric car and current technology makes the fast but legal lane forbidden territory, of which more later.

“Unavailable due to low charge power”
Some nitpicks. The big screen for controls and media was often baffling. I never did find a consistent way into the radio or music mode. I didn’t like the fact that to switch on the car, your rearend meeting the seat er turned it on. There were 5 regenerative braking settings. My favourite, for one-pedal driving and maximum recuperation, worked only intermittently. Sometimes it refused to engage and replied “unavailable due to low charge power”, which made no sense to me. The boot wasn’t designed with golfers in mind.

So on to the familiar sorry tale about range. The 64-kWh nickel cobalt manganese battery promised 239 miles of range, but after 4 sessions with ChargePoint, it averaged 200.25 miles, that’s a 16.2% shortfall. On the highway my three high-but-legal cruising speed tests averaged a penalty of 36.2%. That gives a theoretical motorway range of 127.75 miles. All the data I collect might look bad for EVs, but they are much better than you would be able to achieve on the road. Manufacturers advise drivers not to exceed an 80% charge, and never to allow less than 20% range available, while any normal driver would not want to be on a motorway with less than 50 miles remaining. That would slash again seriously available range to about 75 miles for this car on the motorway.  

Dual-motor, 4-wheel drive
Regenerative breaking wasn’t very impressive and on my rolling A272 hills route made modest profits. But at least it stopped the range going into negative territory as it will in the fast lane.

MG said the XPOWER is its most powerful production vehicle yet. Prices start at £36,495. It has two motors providing 429 hp, up to 600 Nm of torque, and four-wheel drive.

“Exterior design and specification enhancements including orange ‘XPOWER’ brake caliper covers, a two-tone black roof, new 18’’ ‘Cyclone’ alloy wheels, polished trim accents and a new Racing Green colour option exclusive to XPOWER,” says MG.

It has all the expected computerised aids to safety. There’s a 7-year/80,000-mile warranty.

What to buy?
This is the most enjoyable EV I’ve ever driven, and by current standards it is amazing value for money. Sure, I had problems with the computerised controls, but none of the difficulties were game changers and would be solved with a couple of week’s acquaintance. The range issue rears its ugly head again, and I really can’t give 5 stars to a vehicle with such an obvious negative. Tesla remains the only EV with acceptable (just) range for long journeys. My next test is the Mazda MX-30 extended-range hybrid. I expect that to earn five stars, and underline my belief that with current technology, plug-in hybrids are the only sensible choice.  

MG4 XPOWER