MG MG4 Urban

Overview

The MG 4 Urban battery electric hatchback has arrived in Australia, and the timing couldn’t have been much better.

With Australian motorists spending a pretty penny at the pump amid soaring fuel prices, MG’s sharply priced BEV could be the gateway offering to entice teetering buyers into the electric camp.

Wearing a price tag of $31,990 driveaway for the entry-level Essence 43 variant – rising to $34,990 drive away for the larger battery Essence 54 model – the MG 4 Urban is poised to do battle in the Australian market with the likes of the GAC Aion UT (from $31,999), the BYD Dolphin (from $29,990), GWM Ora (from $35,990), and the incoming Geely EX2 (yet to be priced for Australia).

The MG 4 Urban is not a replacement for the rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive MG 4 which is currently on runout. Instead, it will be positioned as a more budget-conscious, urban-focused offering to sit alongside the incoming facelifted MG 4.

In the Essence 43 grade, power comes from a front-mounted electric motor – producing 110kW/250Nm – sourcing electricity from a 43kWh LFP battery. It completes the 0-100km/h run in nine seconds and has a combined WLTP driving range of 316km with an energy consumption claim of 16.5kWh per 100km.

The Essence 54 ups the power output to 118kW – improving the 0-100km/h dash to 8.7 seconds – and is equipped with a larger 54kWh battery, good for a combined WLTP driving range of 405km. Its claimed energy consumption figure is 16.1kWh per 100km.

Each model has four levels of regenerative braking which includes an adaptive regen’ mode, as well as a separate one-pedal driving mode.

Both models support 150kW DC fast charging, with a 10 to 80 per cent recharge time of 28 minutes in the Essence 43 and 30 minutes in the Essence 54.

As both MG 4 Urban variants are specified in the Essence trim level, their standard equipment lists are identical.

Outside, you get 17-inch starburst alloy wheels, LED external lighting, rear privacy glass, and roof rails.

Inside, you’ll find a 12.8-inch infotainment touchscreen, a 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster, PVC upholstery, heated front seats, a six-way electrically adjustable driver’s seat, a four-way manually adjustable passenger’s seat, a six-speaker sound system, a wireless phone charger, two USB-C ports in the front and one in the rear, rear air vents, voice control, and LED ambient lighting.

Standard safety equipment includes the MG Pilot customisable ADAS suite, adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking, lane change assist, lane keep assist, lane departure warning, traffic sign recognition, driver monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and brake, forward and rear collision warning, a 360-degree camera, and seven airbags.

While currently unrated by ANCAP, the MG 4 Urban achieved a five-star Euro NCAP score which is expected to carry over to Australia.

The MG 4 Urban has 382 litres of boot space with the rear seats up and 1266 litres of space with the second row folded. MG also quotes 98 litres of underfloor boot storage.

It comes with a seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty as standard, extending to 10 years or 250,000km provided that scheduled services are completed at an authorised MG dealer.

A five-year servicing package is offered for the MG 4 Urban, with prices for each service ranging between $149 and $472, coming to a total cost of $1366 for the first five services. Service intervals come every 25,000km or 12 months (whichever comes first).

Driving Impressions

From the outside, the MG 4 Urban takes a sportier design approach as opposed to the cute styling of rivals such as the GWM Ora and GAC Aion UT.

In fact, it takes inspiration from the Cyberster roadster, borrowing its starburst alloy wheel design and incorporating cues such as the c-shaped air inlets on the bumper, ducktail spoiler and rear lightbar.

Step inside and you’ll find a high-quality, well-thought-out interior.

From a usability standpoint, MG has nailed the blend between digital and physical controls while also maintaining a minimalist design, a balancing act that not every marque can pull off.

There are physical dials and switches for the air conditioning, media volume, and window demisting controls on a slim, well-packaged control panel just below the infotainment screen.

These are complimented by the steering wheel buttons which handle the adaptive cruise control, voice activation, and digital instrument cluster navigation. There are also two customisable star buttons that allow quick access to functions of the driver’s choosing.

Coupled with a simple, easy-to-use and navigate, infotainment touchscreen and the MG 4 Urban is a UX joy.

Despite including physical buttons, the cabin doesn’t feel cluttered or dated, proving that usability doesn't have to come at the cost of modern minimalism. This is something that many car makers can learn from.

MG’s attention to detail is also appreciated. For instance, the wireless phone charger is made from what appears to be rubber and integrates dividers on either side, each preventing a telephone escape in the event of spirited cornering. It’s a nice touch.

When it comes to cabin materials, the PVC leather, faux and true metal components are fantastic to the touch. The seats themselves are also comfortable and feel well-supported.

Forward and rear visibility is good although the triangular side windows – presumably intended to improve the view beyond the wing mirrors – aren’t particularly useful.

Storage options are also good, with a large cleared out space beneath the dashboard – an EV hallmark – a decently-sized centre console armrest storage compartment and well-sized door bins.

The second row offers great legroom and decent headroom, and with no transmission tunnel and a flat floor, the middle-seat passenger won’t feel short-changed. However, the rear bench lacks somewhat when it comes to under-thigh support.

Backseat passengers also have rear air vents, a USB-C port and rear seat pockets to enjoy, but there’s no centre folding armrest.

The MG 4 Urban’s 382 litres of boot space with the rear seats up is an extremely competitive showing for its segment, especially compared to rivals such as the GWM Ora (228 litres), BYD Dolphin (345 litres), and GAC Aion UT (321 litres), as is its 1266 litres of space with the rear seats folded down. Its adjustable boot floor is also nifty for practicality.

Our drive time with the MG 4 Urban was largely limited to the streets of Sydney’s eastern suburbs, although we did get to experience it on the faster roads and motorways surrounding Sydney airport.

During this time, the MG 4 Urban presented itself as a comfortable, well-tuned and enjoyable-to-drive vehicle.

The ride strikes the right balance between soft and firm, comfortable enough to handle Sydney’s rough urban streets but not so soft and squidgy that it feels compromised.

While our driving experience included little in the way of technical cornering, on the rare occasion the road did get twisty, the MG 4 Urban handled confidently, with great body control and little in the way of understeer or untidy behaviour.

The steering, while not exactly brimming with feedback, is direct and well-weighted and always feels appropriate for whatever speed you happen to be travelling at.

On the motorways around Sydney airport, the MG 4 Urban was quiet and refined, with no undue tire or wind noise to report.

With a claimed 0-100km/h time of nine seconds in the Essence 43 variant, the MG 4 Urban is hardly the quickest car in the world, but it does benefit from the hallmark zippy characteristics of a battery electric vehicle. Go for an overtake, for instance, and it won’t leave you high and dry. 

During our drive time, the MG 4 Urban Essence 43 that we were testing posted some pretty promising efficiency numbers. After 57.5km of driving, the trip computer read 12.3kWh per 100km.

However, with a claimed total WLTP driving range of 316km in the Essence 43 variant and 405km in the Essence 54, the MG4 EV Urban finds itself slightly down on distance compared to the BYD Dolphin (from 340km), GWM Ora (from 380km), and GAC Aion UT (from 430km).

We primarily made use of the second level of regen’ braking, which felt comfortable to use and was evidently quite effective. A brief test of the one-pedal driving mode revealed that the MG 4 Urban really can be driven with one pedal.

When it comes to ADAS tuning, the MG4 EV Urban is pretty solid for the most part. The amount of standard safety equipment – which includes a 360-degree – is great, the adaptive cruise control works smoothly and as expected, and we didn’t encounter many overly intrusive safety system interventions.

Even if you find the safety features a bit much, you can customise them as you please with MG’s Pilot Custom system, which also allows you to save and return to personalised presets.

Our only gripe with the safety equipment was the traffic sign recognition, which seems to interpret yellow suggested speed signs – such as those found on corners and speed bumps – as the speed limit and, believing you're breaking that limit, and beeps at you as a result.

Overall, we are extremely impressed with the MG 4 Urban, particularly its capable yet comfortable driving experience, its high-quality, well-thought out cockpit, its impressive standard equipment list, strong practicality, lengthy warranty period, and sharp pricing.

However, it can’t quite match the claimed driving ranges of its rivals, lacks under thigh support on the rear bench, and the traffic sign recognition is evidently a bit dim-witted sometimes.

Out of those three issues, the driving range is what is likely to deter prospective buyers the most.

However, unless your daily commute is exactly 317km (1km more than the Essence 43’s driving range) or 406km (versus the Essence 54’s 405km driving range), then the MG 4 Urban will most likely fit your daily urban runabout needs anyway.

During our short driving experience, the MG 4 Urban proved itself to be a truly well-sorted BEV hatchback offering, serving as a pleasant reminder for customers looking to make the EV switch that there are some great options out there at an affordable price.