MG5 Review (2020-present)

The MG5 EV is a no-nonsense, good value, pure electric family estate that’s similar in size to a VW Golf Estate. It’s just been revamped, too, with a new model packed full of features that includes a 61.1kWh battery as standard (exact figures have yet to be confirmed, but we’d expect around 250 miles of range based on the outgoing car with the same battery). In this form, it can charge to 80 per cent in just 40 minutes on a 100kW rapid charger, while a full 100 per cent charge takes around 9.5 hours on a home charging unit.

Despite having a bigger boot than hatchback alternatives like the Volkswagen ID.3, Kia e-Niro, Citroen e-C4 and Nissan Leaf, the MG5 EV is usefully cheaper than those rivals, so the appeal is pretty obvious. It’s not a bad looking, car either, but perhaps not particularly memorable. There's nothing offensive in its swoopy lines and friendly face, but some will find it remarkable how unremarkable it is.

The interior is similar in that it’s smart-feeling if very straightforward. Given the price, you might expect everything to feel very cheap inside the MG5, but actually most of the materials look and feel perfectly decent. It’s no boutique hotel, but neither is it a car that constantly reminds you of its budget leanings.

Estate cars have taken a bit of a battering recently, with many buyers defecting to chunkier 4X4-style SUVs. And when it comes to electric cars, the MG5 is the only conventional estate on the market. In fact, the only other EV that comes close to an estate body shell is the hugely fast and hugely expensive Porsche Taycan in its Sport Turismo and Cross Turismo variants. It’s fair to assume not too many people will be cross-shopping these with the MG.

The Anglo-Chinese brand clearly spotted a niche here, because the MG5 reminds us that estate cars do work very well when it comes to transporting people and luggage. Even tall adults will be comfortable in the back seats, and boot space is very good – way bigger than you get in the more-expensive Volkswagen ID.3, never mind the supermini-sized Renault Zoe and Peugeot e-208 that sit in the same price bracket. There are some real signs of cost saving back here, though, with plenty of scruffy material edges and exposed metal. It’s a shame that the 60/40 split rear seats don’t fold completely flat, too, but few will baulk at these compromises for getting a spacious, long-range family EV at this price.

The ’pleasant but unexceptional’ theme continues with the way the MG5 drives. This front-wheel drive car gets a 154bhp electric motor, giving it hearty acceleration that makes it feel confident even in a fast motorway merge. It has a soft, cushy ride, too; in fact, the MG5 feels like a comfort-oriented car from the off, but the trade-off is lots of body lean when cornering.

There are drive modes to choose from, including a ‘Sport’ mode that weights up the steering far more than is really necessary. The MG5 EV is best left in its default drive mode, where the steering is confident enough, if a bit stodgy and short of a proper sense of connection to the front wheels.

There are three regenerative braking modes to choose from, which you toggle through via a switch on the dash. However, this is a much less convenient way of controlling it compared to the steering wheel paddles that you get on the Hyundai Kona and Kia e-Niro, for instance. Other than having to prod at a switch near the gear shifter to adjust it, the MG5’s brake regen is easy to get used to. It’s progressive and it varies from being barely noticeable to being very strong, if not quite the ‘one pedal’ driving mode that you get in the Nissan Leaf.

It's worth noting that we’ve seen several different versions of the MG5 already. Initially, it came with a slightly smaller 52.2kWh battery that gave an official range of 214 miles. This model has now been discontinued, but it was briefly possible to purchase it with either the standard battery or the Long Range unit found in the latest version. If you’re buying new, all models now come with this larger 61.1kWh battery, which has also brought updated styling and better equipment.

Overall, the MG5 offers a competent driving experience, with a respectable battery range. Its more expensive, hatchback or compact SUV rivals may drive with a little more pizzazz and sophistication, admittedly, but this is a composed, smooth and easy car to drive for a relatively modest price.

It’s a similar story inside. Yes, you can spot where some of the money has been saved, but the MG5 offers plenty of standard equipment. If you’re buying new, the cheaper of the two models is the SE Long Range, which comes with a 10.25-inch touchscreen, satellite navigation, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, adaptive cruise control and Traffic Jam Assist as standard for just £30,995. There’s even an app that allows you to pre-set the climate control or schedule charging from your phone. Step up to the MG5 Trophy Long Range and that adds heated front seats, automatic air-conditioning and a 360-degree parking camera.

If you’re buying second hand, the pre-facelift models come with a choice of Excite or Exclusive trim. Excite is relatively basic, but you still get an 8.0-inch colour touchscreen, along with satnav, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as standard. Exclusive is roughly equivalent to the current range-topping Trophy spec, with heated leather seats, climate control, keyless entry and automatic wipers, but the infotainment system is still based around the 8.0-inch touchscreen unit, which can’t match the graphics quality or response times of its more expensive rivals. Nonetheless, it’s worth the modest jump in price if you can stretch to it.

The MG5 promises to be very cheap to run and it’s certainly cheap to buy. You won’t get more space and equipment than this at the price of the MG5; even the MG ZS EV (which is a bigger and slightly more expensive family SUV) has a shorter range and is barely any more practical in use than the roomy MG5 estate. Whether you’re paying monthly or as an outright purchase, the MG5 is great value.

Energy prices may be on the up, but electric cars remain substantially cheaper per mile than their petrol or diesel equivalents: if you charge from home, which costs less than public charging, it equates to around half the cost of filling a car with petrol. There’s no Vehicle Excise Duty to pay on pure electric cars at the moment, either, and insuring the MG will cost much the same as with most family hatchbacks.

Service intervals are every one year or 15,000 miles, and you can choose to pay using one of MG’s fixed price service plans. A cheaper, low-mileage plan is offered for customers who do under 10,000 miles per year. The only area where the MG5 is a bit of an unknown is in terms of its depreciation. It will certainly lose value more quickly than the more sought-after family EVs like the VW ID.3 and Kia e-Niro, but with such a low starting price and demand for used EVs likely to remain high for the foreseeable future, it’s also very likely that you won’t lose too much on the MG5 if you choose to sell it on. Whether you’re comparing to other electric cars, or to conventional petrol and diesel alternatives, the MG5 is impressively affordable to buy and own.

There’s not much information yet on what the MG5’s reliability will be like, but its closely related sibling, the MG ZS EV, has been around for long enough to give owners a chance to report any issues. It’s not great news, though, as the MG ZS EV was rated second from bottom in the 2020 What Car? electric car reliability survey, which looked at eight EVs.

Issues with the battery and other ancillary electricals were the most common faults, rendering a number of MG ZS EVs unusable. However, all of those faults were repaired within a week under the impressive seven-year, 80,000-mile warranty that applies to the car as well as the battery pack.

This all means that we'd be very reluctant to suggest you won't have issues with your MG5, but it does seem that if you do, they can be sorted out quickly and for years to come.