MG4 Urban 2026 review | Great-value small SUV is a surprising EV all-rounder

What is the MG4 Urban?

The MG4 Urban is a confusingly-named car that has clear appeal. It’s nothing to do with the existing MG4, which we reckon is an affordable and very likeable electric hatchback. The MG4 Urban is very affordable too, and also likeable, but has a different set of strengths that really warrants a different and more distinct name.

In terms of target customer base, it’s a rival to the Ford Puma Gen-E. It’s around 4.4 metres long – a surprising 181mm longer than the Ford – and has more of a crossover SUV profile than the lower, edgier (and shorter) MG4 hatch. This also places it in competition with various others, such as the Renault 4, Kia EV2, Citroen e-C3 Aircross, Vauxhall Frontera Electric and the upcoming Volkswagen ID.Cross.

Great value for money is a key part of the MG4 Urban’s appeal. Prices start from just £23,495, compared to £26,245 for the Ford Puma Gen-E (and that’s with the £3,500 Electric Car Grant taken off, too). Admittedly, that’s for the MG4 Urban Standard Range, which only has a range of 201 miles. Most will go for the MG4 Urban Long Range, which has a 258-mile range and costs from £25,495 – still cheaper than the cheapest Ford.

The MG4 Urban is very well equipped too, even in standard Comfort grade. We’ll go through what it gets later, but suffice to say, there’s little missing even on the basic model. Top-spec Premium is exactly that – premium-grade in terms of equipment. Add in MG’s seven-year warranty, and it’s easy to see the appeal.

All MG4 Urban perform well. MG keeps it simple, with a 147bhp motor paired to the Standard Range battery, and a 158bhp motor linked to the Long Range Battery. All have similar performance, with the extra power being used to offset the larger battery’s weight. The MG4 Urban is front-wheel drive, in contrast to the rear-wheel drive MG4, and this helps liberate extra space both for rear seat passengers and in the boot. This is yet another area where the MG4 Urban impresses.

On paper, then, the MG4 Urban has a lot going it. Read on to find out how it fares in terms of practicality, driving and running costs.

How practical is it?

The MG4 Urban is longer than the pricier MG4 EV, measuring 4,395mm overall. When combined with a more upright crossover-style design and a long ‘wheel at each corner’ wheelbase, this gives all the fundamentals of a practical and spacious car.

Up front, the MG4 Urban is easy to step into. The seat is a bit higher off the ground than the regular MG4, helping give a good view out. The seats are electrically adjustable in Premium trim, although the operation itself feels surprisingly ‘gritty’, lacking the smoothness of more expensive cars. The high-backed seats look sporty and are firm and supportive. The flat-bottom steering wheel is nice to hold, but you only get posh leather-style trim in Premium grade.

The dashboard is quite smart, considering the value price tag. There are hard plastics, such as on the top of the dash, but this is offset by soft-touch wrapped surfaces lower down, complete with contrast stitching. There’s a small array of physical buttons for quick access to heater controls, and the programmable shortcut buttons on the steering wheel allow you to jump straight into vehicle and drive mode settings, rather than navigating via the touchscreen.

The MG4 Urban has a good amount of stowage space in the centre console, including a well-located wireless charging pad with a soft-touch non-slip covering – again though, this is only standard on Premium.

The wipers on the MG4 Urban are oddly confusing. There isn’t a separate wiper stalk on the right-hand side of the steering wheel – the gearshifter sits there instead – meaning wipers are controlled by a twist control on the left-hand stalk. There are intermittent, low and high settings – but no auto function. There doesn’t seem to be any way of controlling the intermittent speed either. It’s an unusually retrograde detail in a modern car.

Rear seat access is helped by extra-large door openings. It’s very spacious back there, with loads of legroom. The flat floor design gives an airy, open-plan feel, and there’s decent amount of space under the front seats for big feet. The seats are comfortable and the door pockets are big, although there’s no central arm rest.

The MG4 Urban has a dual-level boot. The upper level is perhaps a bit short and shallow (and the load lip is a bit high), but it does feature a massive, deep underfloor storage area, reminiscent of a Ford Puma. The figures show a capacity of up to 577 litres, including the 98-litre underfloor stowage area, but crucially, this is floor-to-roof, rather than the more standard measurement of beneath the parcel shelf. The MG4 Urban doesn’t offer an electric tailgate, either.

What's it like to drive?

The MG4 Urban has five different drive models – eco, normal, sport, snow and custom. Even in normal mode, I found the accelerator pedal was a bit too sharp and grabby at lower speeds. It felt all too keen to show off its electric car surge. Switching to eco mode cured this and made the car feel usefully smoother and more ‘grown up’. Custom model can be programmed for your choice of accelerator pedal response, steering weight and other settings; it’s probably the one to go for.

At slower speeds, the MG4 Urban’s ride is a little firm when running on 17-inch wheels (it’s probably a bit better on 16-inch wheels). It’s not exactly harsh or crashy, but you do feel a bit more of the road surface below – and hear the reaction to bumps and potholes in the road. The setup pays dividends at higher speeds though where the MG4 Urban feels commendably refined, settled and stable. The suspension has a nice, flowing feel, and it seems well suited to challenging British roads.

The steering is nicely weighted too, with a good combination of clean response without feeling nervous. The brakes can feel a little rubbery though, and they’re a touch grabby at slower speeds below 10mph.

The MG4 Urban is front-wheel drive, in contrast to the rear-wheel drive MG4. It has an average amount of power, serving up 0-62mph acceleration in around 9.5 seconds. It isn’t the beefiest performer, but whirrs along quite nicely in everyday driving. You always feel like there’s a decent amount of pulling power in reserve. MG offers four levels of regenerative braking, including an ‘adaptive’ mode that varies according to speed and traffic, plus a one-pedal mode.

While the MG4 Urban has all the usual safety assist tech as standard – and the potential for it to be annoying – I actually found the lane keep assist system was pretty decent. It wasn’t overly intrusive and worked well on the motorway. The blind spot indicator that pops up at low speeds is handy; it shows up on the infotainment screen, even when running Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

If you’re driving longer distances, you’ll need to stop and charge the MG4 Urban at a public charger. On-paper DC rates are a little below par – a maximum of 82kW with the Standard Range and 87kW with the Long Range. Using a 50kW DC charger, the two batteries will go from 10-80% in 40 minutes and 50 minutes respectively. Find a more powerful 150kW charger and this dips to 28 minutes and 30 minutes – that’s decent enough, but others are faster.

Technology, equipment & infotainment

The MG4 Urban features a 12.8-inch HD infotainment touchscreen and 7.0-inch digital driver display as standard. All models have standard sat nav, while Premium includes MG Live services – such as weather, live traffic, Amazon Music, TikTok, YouTube and Spotify. For this reason alone, an MG4 Urban Premium will be the go-to model from the range.

MG has worked to improve the usability of the infotainment system. While there are still a few too many menus to scroll between, life is made easier by dedicated shortcut buttons along the bottom of the screen – and these remain visible even when using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, making it easier to switch between modes. Swiping down from the top of the screen brings up more shortcuts, and the programmable ‘star’ steering wheel buttons are useful too.

A feature I did like was the customisable MG pilot shortcut button, accessed by swiping down from the top of the touchscreen. This can be tailored to disable the ADAS safety assist you don’t like, while keeping the features you do want. Pressing it engages your custom profile, making it easy to get rid of the annoying bleeps and bongs of modern cars with just a couple of easy taps.

All MG4 Urban feature wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. While there are three USB-C ports – two front and one rear – note that only Premium models feature a wireless mobile phone charger. Oh, and while all get a reversing camera, the 360-degree parking camera with ‘transparent chassis’ (which cleverly stitches video together to give a live view underneath the car) is limited to Premium grade.

The stereo could be better. On Comfort models, you only get four speakers, and this is only upped to six speakers on Premium. It does its job, but there’s no option to choose a premium sound system, unlike on some rivals – for example, the Ford Puma’s punchy B&O sound bar setup.

The MG4 Urban has a good core level of equipment though. Standard on all models are front and rear electric windows, climate control with rear vents, keyless entry and an electronic parking brake. The comprehensive ADAS safety assist suite includes adaptive cruise control, traffic jam assist, blind spot detection and intelligent high beam assist, and all MG4 Urban get a standard alarm.

I did notice an odd feature with the climate control, though. There’s a notable lag at start-up before it fully kicks in to cool or heat the cabin. It can take 10-20 seconds to become fully functional, which is something you’ll really notice when getting into a hot car. You can, however, use the MG app to set the climate control remotely, meaning you can precondition the cabin ahead of getting in (if you remember…).

MG4 Urban running costs

As with all electric cars, the MG4 Urban promises low running costs if you can charge at home. You’ll be able to maximise this with Long Range models, which will drive for almost 60 miles more than Standard Range before having to touch the expensive public charging network.

The MG4 Urban has sensibly-sized tyres, so they shouldn’t cost too much to replace. Even insurance looks reasonable, with Standard Range models in group 22 and Long Range versions in group 23. These ratings are much lower than the regular MG4, which should pay dividends in terms of annual insurance premiums for the MG4 Urban.

The MG4 Urban, despite being an electric car, still has 12-month (or 15,000-mile) service intervals. Some insist that EVs are essentially maintenance-free; MG begs to differ, so you’ll have to factor an annual visit to the dealer into your ownership plans. MG does offer service plans to offset the cost, though; they start from around £10 a month.

MG4 Urban reliability

It’s too soon to say how the MG4 Urban’s reliability will fare. Hopefully, for a modern design using a well-proven front-wheel drive setup, it should be decent. The regular MG4 has had its issues here, and hopefully MG has responded in the development of the MG4 Urban.

It does have a decent seven-year warranty, although this is limited to 80,000 miles. It’ll still be enough if you cover the average UK mileage of around 7,500 miles a year, but if you’re a high-mileage driver after an EV to keep for many years, you may need to look elsewhere.