The original MG5 launched at the end of October 2020 to a lot of critical acclaim. Alongside decent performance, decent trim level and lots of cargo space – the price of £24,995 set it aside. Even around launch, we were seeing MG5s from dealers a lot closer to £21,000. That meant you could get a ‘real' car, for the same money as a Smart ForTwo or Fiat 500e. Only the WLTP range of just over 200 miles held the original version back. But now MG has upgraded the 52.5kWh battery to a new unit capable of 61.1kWh (gross) and renamed the car the MG5 EV Long Range. WhichEV travelled to Gridserve in Essex to see just how competitive the new offer is going to be.
The headline news is that the WLTP is now 250 miles and you can pick up an 80% charge in just 40 minutes on 100kW rapid charger. That's close to another 200 miles of range in the time it takes for a long service station stop. On a domestic supply, you will get a full charge in just over 9 hours.
In performance terms, the 115kW motor in the MG5 EV will let you hit 60 mph in 7.3 seconds and max out to 115 mph if you put the pedal to the metal. That is similar performance to the Volkswagen ID.3 Pro Performance. The price has marginally increased to £26,495 for the Excite trim and £28,995 for the Exclusive trim including the UK government plug-in grant, but that still comes in as extremely competitive. This remains an incredibly good value EV.
The additional range will only go to make the MG5 more attractive to business and family users. MG told us that electric vehicles now make up a third of the company's overall sales – making MG the fourth most popular EV brand in the UK. As it stands, the car maker claims that the MG5 Long Range edition has the highest ‘Range per £' of any EV currently on sale in the UK.
The MG EV5 Long Range edition is backed with a transferable 7 year/80,000 mile warranty and comes pre-equipped with MG Pilot – the company's driver assistance system. This includes a selection of warning and alert features to assist the driver, including Active Emergency Braking, Lane Keep Assist, Adaptive Cruise Control, Traffic Jam Assist, Intelligent High Beam Assist and Intelligent Speed Limit Assist.
David Pugh, MG Motor Marketing Director, said: “With MG5 EV we’ve already proven that there’s huge demand for a sensibly priced all-electric station wagon and it has proven hugely popular with fleet and retail customers alike since its debut in autumn 2020.
“With the new longer-range model we’re offering MG customers even greater value and flexibility from their EVs. With a full charge given a WLTP-approved range of 250 miles and the ability to be rapid charged to 80% in as little as 40 minutes, the MG5 EV is a car that really can bring electric motoring to the masses, and it has played a big part in MG’s rapid charge ahead as one of the leaders in the UK EV market.”
With its low price, long warranty, decent performance, large cargo capacity and WLTP, BiK of 1% and 250 miles of range – the new MG5 is likely to be really appealing to fleet buyers who are looking to make the switch.
We also spent a few hours driving the MG5 EV Long Range at the Gridserve launch and will be bringing you our first looks including video in a few days.
If you want to arrange a test drive, you can click here and remember to specify the extended range version.