We have been an electric car family since we got our MG ZS back in 2020, and we really enjoyed that car as our starter EV. We had the ZS for two years before we traded it in for the MG4 when they launched it in the UK in September 2022.
While we really enjoyed our first EV, we’d purchased it knowing that it would realistically just be our intro car to the EV ladder, and we would probably upgrade to a car with a better range when the market allowed us to. Now we’ve had our MG4 for over a year, I thought I would post a bit of a review of it, from a family perspective.
When MG first announced the MG4 – otherwise known as the Mulan in China, which I think is a much cooler name – James was interested immediately. He’s been tracking EV news since before we got the ZS, so he had seen the rumours and whisperings online about the upcoming car models coming onto the market. Having loved the ZS as soon as he got his hands on it, he was very intrigued to see what MG would come out with next.
Instead of having petrol or diesel options, the MG4 is only available as a fully electric car – unlike the ZS which was designed to have a combustion engine first and then adapted to be an EV afterwards. This ground up design as an EV means the internal workings and shape of the car are optimised for motors and batteries instead of an engine and fuel tank. This leads to a bigger internal space, despite looking like a smaller car from the outside – and small details like better leg room for the front seats make all the difference to the comfort of the car.
We have the MG4 Trophy model in Volcano Orange, which was pretty much the flagship model when it was launched in the UK. We timed our upgrade perfectly as the second hand value for our ZS was high. The MG4 is such good value for money that we were able to trade in the ZS as a deposit and have a monthly payment almost the same as we were already paying. Eighteen months later and the MG4 is still one of the best value EVs on the market right now, and has won many awards since its launch including Autocar Awards Best Electric Car and WhatCar Awards Small Electric Car of the Year.
James has made some modifications / upgrades to the MG4 since we bought it. Unlike the ZS, it came with tinted windows so we didn’t need that doing, but he had the same dashcam installer he used before come and fit cameras to the MG4 for us, as we had been so pleased with both the cameras and the service from David the first time around. He has also covered the front silver badge with a black one which looks much better with the orange/black colours of our car – ordered from AliExpress for a few quid.
The MG4 comes with CarPlay functionality & also Bluetooth, but not wireless CarPlay, so we have a wireless adapter – we use the Carlinkit but there are plenty of options these days. Lastly, he ordered a ‘frunk’ from EV Accessories Ireland & gas struts to hold the bonnet up, so that he can store our charging cables in under the bonnet. This makes charging on long trips much easier as we don’t have to juggle luggage and cables in the boot of the car.
After eighteen months, James is still delighted with his bright orange zippy car, and so are the rest of us. The girls are getting big now at eleven and twelve (almost a teenager, argh!) years old, and they have plenty of space in the backseat – we’ve also had adults in the back with no complaints. The two dogs share the backseat with them, seat belted into the middle, and it basically turns into a snuggle fest back there. Even with my seat forward a bit to give Georgie extra space, I have plenty of leg room myself which is so much nicer on my dodgy knee than when I was comparatively cramped into the much larger Citroen people carrier we used to have. It’s a bit of a tardis thanks to the thin battery, giving us plenty of headroom too.
We very rarely have to use public chargers with the MG4, thanks to the longer range of over 250 miles – we now get an extra 100 miles from our car which does make a very noticeable difference. Trips to my parents house in Wales can be made in one go with plenty of charge to spare, and we use their home charger to top it back up before the drive home. It also charges faster than the ZS did, so with the right public charger we can top up a lot in a short amount of time – usually not needing much longer than it takes to find the loos and grab a coffee to takeaway.
Over the Easter break we were able to drive to North Yorkshire and use the car daily for four days before driving home again, and only spent £45 on chargers for the whole trip, plus a few quid to charge at home before we left. The village we stayed in had destination chargers in the car park, so we were able to charge there a couple of times, as well as getting a top up at Fountains Abbey. We only used one rapid charger on the long journey there to ensure that we had enough charge when we arrived, just in case the village chargers were occupied (or out of commission) and we had to go further afield to charge before we could explore the area.
We’ve taken the MG4 all over the country now, having had several holidays around England and Wales since getting it – and we also took it to Paris last year, driving to Folkestone and taking the tunnel. We found the charging experience in France to be easy enough, using a variety of public chargers including one at one of our hotels. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to bag a charging parking space at Disneyland – they only have a handful available for park guests – though it sounds like they have more for hotel guests around the park. The bright orange paint did make it easy to spot in their huge car park though – something we’ve noticed a number of times since we got it!
It has plenty of bells & whistles that James enjoys such as 360° cameras for manoeuvring, adaptive cruise control, heated front seats & steering wheel, a wireless phone charger, and a USB charging port for the kids (which is important to reduce whinging on long journeys!). Another thing we’ve taken advantage of since getting the MG4 is the ability to run other things from the car battery – otherwise known as Vehicle to Load Charging. We have used this to power a dog groomer’s van when they were visiting to give Gypsy a hair cut!
Of course, it isn’t all roses and sparkles with the MG4. There are some niggles – a few of which have been addressed or improved since we got the day one model, either through physical changes to the current model or via software updates. The lane keeping assist can sometimes get a bit touchy, especially on British countryside lanes. There are no grab handles above the doors or interior lights for the rear seats – and the dark grey interior fabric makes things a bit dull back there for the kids. CarPlay not being wireless was an annoyance we’ve worked around, as I’ve mentioned.
As many reviews and awards agree, however, for our budget the MG4 is a damn good family EV. We are all delighted with it after a year and a half, even if I do tease James for buying a speedy bright orange car – the EV version of a midlife crisis!?
