MG MG 4 Review & Prices

Seemingly arriving out of nowhere and immediately winning the carwow 2023 Car of the Year Award, this is the new MG4. It’s the brand’s first dive into the electric hatchback market to take on the Peugeot e-208, Vauxhall Corsa-e and most directly, the Volkswagen ID3.

Like a Lenovo phone, the MG4 is a budget option from China that may rarely have crossed your mind, but some time hands-on with it reveals plenty to offer.

For a start, it’s a seriously sharp-looking thing. MGs of recent times have felt like a mish-mash knock-off of everything else on the market.

With the MG4 though, it’s as if the designers finally got free reign and the result is fantastic — especially on sporty-looking Trophy cars. Plus, you’ll get LED head and tail lights, along with 17-inch alloy wheels, as standard.

The layout of the interior isn’t as inspiring, but it does look pretty clean thanks to a more minimalist approach from MG. Interior quality is better than what you’d expect for the price too, though you’re still subject to a hefty amount of hard plastics throughout.

All versions of the MG4 come equipped with a 10.25-inch infotainment system and a 7.0-inch driver’s display as standard. The base software is pretty basic (navigation is only available at the top of the range, for example), though you do get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard.

It’s still quite a fiddly system to use, though. Climate controls are tricky to work with as you’re driving, plus changing the driving modes and even activating the cruise control require you to go into settings menus buried deep. There’s plenty of room for improvement, here.

Otherwise, there’s little else to fault inside the MG4. Space for passengers in the rear is really good — even taller adults should have plenty of headroom.

As for boot space, there are 363 litres in the MG4. That’s marginally behind the 385 litres of the Volkswagen ID3, but then there’s also no dedicated space for charging cables which you’ll need to factor in for longer trips.

At the moment, you can have a Standard Range or Long Range version of the MG4. An extended range is planned, but won’t arrive until mid-2023 at the earliest. So right now, you’re looking at a range of 218 miles for the entry-level version, rising to 281 miles for the largest battery.

Standard Range cars use a 170hp electric motor on the rear axle, with Long Range models upping the power to 203hp.

Around town is where the MG4 is most at home. Well-weighted steering makes it easy to manoeuvre, and there’s a decent amount of visibility out of the front. The same can’t be said for the rear window, and it doesn’t help that a reversing camera only comes on top-spec Trophy models.

The car does a good job of insulating you from lumps and bumps in the road though, which also comes in handy for a comfortable drive when you’re cruising at motorway speeds. You’ll need to contend with a bit of road noise, though.

What may come as quite a surprise though is just how fun the MG4 is to drive. It responds really well to quick direction changes at speed, and 203hp feels plentiful. That said, there’s a 442hp version coming soon…

MG cars of recent years have often come with the caveat of being good for the price. With the MG4 though, there’s none of that — it’s simply very good. Perhaps a landmark moment for the brand.

Keen on making an MG4 your next car? Check out deals through carwow to see how much you could save.