Like other aspects of the interior, the MG5's controls haven't changed since the original car. There's a physical button for turning the system off and on. The steering wheel is conventional-looking and round, apart from a flattened bottom, with menu buttons on the right and audio controls on the left. The right-hand side stalk controls the wipers, which have an automatic function on the Exclusive trim. The left-hand stalk is for the lights, and below that is another stalk for the cruise control, which is now adaptive on both Long Range trims.
The dashboard display looks very conventional, with an analog speedometer dial on the left and another analog dial showing engine power or braking regeneration on the right. You also get a battery percentage on the left, and 12V battery status on the right. The middle section, however, is an LCD panel with digital speed readout and various contextual information, which you can cycle through with the buttons on the steering wheel. This has a slightly annoying habit of switching to an ADAS display whenever an ADAS event occurs when you’re driving, so you have to cycle back if you want the digital speed again.
The drive modes are operated via a rotating knob in the central console, with a left turn for reverse, right turn for forward, neutral in the middle and the button on the top for park. There is a separate electronic parking brake, but you don't need to use the switch for that as it goes on and off automatically as you select and deselect park. Nearby there is also a button for auto hold, which you have to engage every time you start the car – the default is off.
The three switches above the drive mode knob let you choose between eco, normal and sport motor power modes. The KERS switch operates levels of regenerative braking. There's still a third button but it's not labelled Battery anymore and still doesn't seem to have a function. Above this is a full set of controls for the air conditioning, which has an auto mode with the Exclusive trim. This is quite easy to adjust when driving, with big knobs and buttons that even the fattest fingers will connect with accurately after the quickest of glances. It's only single-zoned, however.
Another area that has no noticeable change is the 8in media control display. It's functional and all trim levels include a satnav with RDS-TMC traffic and DAB radio. It supports both Apple Car Play and Android Auto, too, so you could use your phone instead, but not wirelessly. The interface is somewhat sluggish, but the menu system is adequately laid out. There’s a reasonable layout for car settings, which cover the main functions. Like most other things about the MG5 EV Long Range, the media control display does its job adequately but doesn’t have any particular pizzazz.
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