MG IM5 Review | The 441-Mile Tesla Rival with ultra-charging capabilities
If there’s anything that I’ve learned doing this job, it’s that you never know MG’s next move. They’ve solidified themselves within the UK as an affordable brand and they’ve taken the electric industry by storm with the MG4 that was one of the most competitive small electric vehicles for a very long time. And it shocked me when they decided to bring out a performance car. MG were one of the first to release the MG4X power, a performance EV, and not satisfied with taking on the affordable market or the performance market. Now they want to step into the premium market, taking on the likes of the BMW i4, the Tesla Model 3, and the Kia EV6. This is the MG IM5. a saloon-shaped car with the practicality of a hatchback and an 100 kW battery that gives you a range of 400 miles. This thing is seriously impressive. And it doesn’t just have range under its belt either. It also has charging to beat well pretty much everyone currently in the UK. This is a very exciting car and it steps into a new generation for MG. So, is it any good? Well, that’s what we’re going to find out in today’s video. Hi guys, I’m Tish and welcome back to Auto Social UK. In today’s video, I’m going to be focusing on the IM5. So, this is the saloon version, but I’ll also be doing a video on the IM6. That’s more of an SUV. Think more Tesla Model Y. So, if you want to see that video, then make sure you’re subscribed and keep an eye out. But firstly, we’re going to be talking about this one. And specifically, the one that I have is the rearw wheelel drive. This is the single motor and the one with the long range. But I’ll also tell you all of the different range in the lineup. So, if that sounds good, then please keep watching. And if you like new car reviews and car content, then go ahead and hit subscribe button. So firstly, why don’t I reel off some key facts and figures when it comes to the IM size? Right, let’s clear something up straight away. What exactly is IM? IM stands for Intelligence in Motion, a new electric subbrand developed by S AIC, the same Chinese automotive giant that owns MG. In China, it’s sold as IM, but here in the UK, it’s launching under a very much more familiar MG badge. Why? Well, MG has already built up trust here, especially in the EV world. So, IM gets to piggyback off of that reputation while bringing in tech, higher performance, and a more premium feel. So, although the MG IM5 might wear an MG badge, it’s very much IM tech underneath. The MG IM5 is available in three versions here in the UK, each offering something slightly different depending on your priorities, range, performance, or price. The entry point is the standard range model. It’s a rear wheel drive and comes with a 75 kWh battery that offers 304 mi of range. Power is also decent at 217 kW or around 290 horsepower. It will do naugh to 62 in 6.8 seconds. At £39,450, it’s the most affordable, but it still comes with all the core features and tech. Then you’ve got the one that I’m driving. This is the long range. It still uses the single rear motor, but it upgrades the battery to 100 kW. That gives you a massive 441 mi of WLTP range, and it boosts power to 300 kW or just over 400 horsepower. It’s fast, too, hitting the 62 mph in 4.9 seconds. This version costs 44,995 and is probably the sweet spot in the range. At the top of the lineup is the IM5 Performance. This one’s dual motor, all-wheel drive, and really ramps things up. Power is wild. 553 kW. That’s around 741 horsepower, and torque is 802 new m. It will hit the 62 in just 3.2 seconds. Range, however, does drop slightly to 357 mi due to the extra performance, and it will cost you £48,495. Still, that’s serious pace for the money. So, whichever version you go for, they’re all packing quite a lot of power. And the interesting thing about the MG4X Power, which disappointed me, was the plastic brake covers. They didn’t actually upgrade the brakes despite giving it all that power. Well, I’m glad to say that that isn’t the case with the IM. You’ve still got orange brakes, but these are actually Continental brakes. And you heard me right, Continental brakes, not tires. And interestingly, the tires you either choose between handcooks or you also get pirellis if you go for the more higher powered versions, which does seem like a bit of a strange setup, but they have been designed specifically for this car. You can also tell that this is the single motor, slightly less powerful version because of the wheels. So, you get slightly smaller wheels and you also get these arrow covers as well, which I’ve never been a fan of, but they look okay. When it comes to the rest of the design of the car, I will say that it’s a tiny bit forgettable, but it’s very similar to the Model 3 or something like the Hyundai Ionic 6, although that’s a bit more exciting. And I do think a BYD Seal is also my preference when it comes to design on these cars. So, if you are looking for a vehicle within this segment of the market, you’re probably not looking for exciting looks. Let’s face it, these are going to be company cars. And for that, I actually think the design is quite palatable, but what about the interior? This morning, they were going to give me a black car with black interior, but I said, “Nope, I want the white interior because this is what makes this car feel really special.” Black just feels a bit bland. But this, well, this sets it aside. And I also love the fact these seats are super squishy. You’ve just got loads of real cushioning. They also feel really high quality as well. Although it’s imitation leather all around the cabin, apart from on the steering wheel, so that’s real leather on the steering wheel. The rest is imitation. But despite that, it does feel super high quality. I don’t think you’d be able to tell. And you also don’t get the smell that you get from leather, which I personally appreciate. It’s really swooping and there’s loads of really nice curves and designs. bit like the exterior all bought inside and I really like that. But it’s not over complicated. You’ve got a simple nice white dash and then you’ve got some darker leather on top and that’s separated by bits of chrome. It’s not been overdone, but it definitely feels a step above something like the Tesla. It’s a bit more interesting, especially with this little bit of design you get on the door. I appreciate that. It’s not too stripped back. It’s very much dominated by screens. So, you’ve got this massive screen in front of you. You’ve got a digital driver’s display, but it flows right into a touchcreen. And then you also have another touchcreen in your central console. So, this is going to control all of the car’s functions. Apparently, when you build a premium car, premium means you get rid of all buttons. So, you won’t find any. In fact, even on this steering wheel, you’ve just got those funny little scrollers. And yep, just like a Tesla that controls your door mirrors and pretty much any function you want to use. So, it will take a while to get used to it. And this car above and beyond anything else before because there is so much tech in this car. Even at the entry level, the MG IM5 comes loaded with tech. There’s a 20 speaker audio system with sky speakers in the roof and a 50 kW wireless charger. You also get heated and ventilated front seats. It also includes a clever self-parking system, which MG calls the one-touch park assist. It can detect a space, line the car up, and park itself. And there’s even an extra feature like onetouch reverse, where the car retraces its steps backwards if you get stuck down a narrow lane. You also get a heated steering wheel, 256 color ambient lighting, and double layer acoustic glass to keep the cabin whisper quiet. Safety kit is strong, too, with seven airbags, MG’s latest driver assistance tech, and the clever proactive vision system, which shows a live camera feeds to your blind spots when turning. Great in dark or heavy rain. And rounding things off is a panoramic roof. Overall, I’m pretty impressed with the interior of this car. And actually, I think personally, it’s a step above some of its competition. Okay, I think it’s about time we do some driving because actually, I think that’s where this car shines. I’ve said it before in MG review videos, but it’s very obvious when it comes to MG products that they have gone through rigorous testing before they actually land in the UK. And usually when you test Chinese products, it’s very obvious that that’s what they are. And that’s because the steering is super light to the point where you kind of lose any connection that you have through the steering wheel. And I was a little bit concerned with this being an IM product and not necessarily an MG product that they wouldn’t have given the same configuration to UK cars as they have done with MG cars. But they haven’t. Whether it’s just a placebo, I’m not too sure. I’ll have to double check and I’ll insert a little bit of voice over if it’s been confirmed. But the steering has a really nice connection to it. It’s not too heavy that around town it’s kind of tiresome to drive, but actually it’s just firm enough that you get a really good connection through the steering wheel. And that’s good because this is a rearwheel drive car with about 450 brake horsepower and 500 Newton meters of torque. So, you need something that you’re able to push hard and have a bit of confidence in. And I’m really pleased to say that I feel like you get exactly that. It’s also super quiet. Really, really quiet. And that’s been made up by a few things. So, we’ve got double glazing windows, double glazing wing mirror, uh, windscreen, and also double glazing sunroof as well. So, that’s keeping out a lot of the road noise. But, it’s also got some clever tech that pumps sound into the cabin that reduces sound from the road. So, it’s very much like noise cancelling headphones, which seems Yeah. pretty cool. And it works cuz it’s super silent in here. really does feel like you’re in your own little world, which I think for an executive car is pretty important. It’s not all fantastic, though. This car doesn’t ride on air suspension. So, air suspension is reserved for the IM6 if you go for the launch edition, which is some pretty cool tech. This, however, has a more kind of I don’t want to say basic because it’s actually still pretty impressive, but it has a more regular suspension setup. And I do think it’s just a little bit too twitchy for UK roads. I’m driving around some of these sorry back roads at the moment and they are not great. Not too pothole ridden, but it’s more the case that there’s quite a lot of uneven surfaces. And I do think you can feel those like bump and roll around the cabin, which isn’t ideal. And also when you take a corner a little bit too fast, uh there is quite a lot of body roll from the vehicle as well. Just let all these cyclists go. This has been like a hazard perception test today. And speaking of hazard perception, so this has all of the technology you can imagine that every new car is fitted with. And then of course it’s the fact that it’s a Chinese derived vehicle and they’re going for the premium market. So this car has every gadget when it comes to driving that you can think about. And that means that it can be a little bit oversensitive at times if it doesn’t judge your driving to be the best. So, if it thinks you’re going to pull out in front of somebody or if it thinks you’re getting a little bit too close to somebody, uh it might give you some warning signs or in worst case scenarios, it might actually try and apply the brakes. It’s not applied the brakes for me yet. Uh but it definitely feels like I’m testing this car. The brakes are very, very good. So, it’s a brake by wire system by Continental and they’re really good and they’re not too grabby either. At lower speeds, they can feel a little bit too sharp for what you may need. Uh but definitely if you’re at higher speeds, if you need to suddenly break, you’ve got a lot of stopping power. But what they’ve also done with this car, which is super cool, is they’ve combed, so when you break hard, usually you kind of lurch forward. How they’ve done it, I don’t know, some clever wizardry, uh they’ve actually managed to combat that. So there’s something in place which stops you from having that feeling which is actually really good because in electric vehicles you can find yourself to be a bit like this when you’re driving because the brakes are sharp and then the accelerator or throttle is instant. So it’s really nice that they’ve kind of worked on that technology. What I will say with this particular model, so the IM5 is visibility is not great. You’ve got really good visibility out the front. I’ve got nice big windows on the side of me. Uh but the rear is really poor. So you’ve got tiny little screen that you can see through. You can see it in here. Um so it’s not great. And also you’ve got a very very small little um mirror as well. And you haven’t got one of the mirrors that you can switch and have a digital one which actually usually I don’t like but in this car would have been quite helpful. So that’s a little bit of a shame. Overall it’s a mixed bag. This car is quick but it also has some of the upgrades that are able to combat that as well. So, it’s not just like the X Power where they’ve filled it with power and then they’ve not really backed up the technology. This does feel like they have worked on that technology. Um, it’s just not perfect in every way. But then again, find me a car which is perfect in every way. Looking at the rear design of the IM5, you may be led to believe that this has a saloon opening, a bit like a Tesla Model 3 or an Ionic 6. Actually, it’s far more practical and how you access it. A little bit confusing, but it’s actually right here on the badge. Pop that open. And as you can see, it has more of a hatch opening. So, you have this really wide load area. I have to say, it’s not particularly deep. So, inside here, you get 457 L, which isn’t class leading. There is also a little bit of storage inside of the frunk as well, but again, that’s only 18 L, so just about enough to cram some charging cables in there. There’s also nothing particularly exciting inside this boot. I’ve got some 12vt charging and I’ve got some tether down points and we’ve also again got some of those magnetic parts that you can attach things in. So, if you want to lock down a metal fridge, I guess you could do that, which you definitely can’t do in all cars on the market. But it’s not particularly exciting inside here. Is exciting about this car, however, is actually the rear interior space. That’s where it is class leading. Inside here, it’s just as high quality as the front. So, you got these lovely squidgy soft seats and also there is just tons of room. Interestingly, it shares the same platform as the IM6, which is the bigger car, but this still has the same wheelbase, so you still get all of this leg room. I’ve got loads of leg room. I’ve actually got plenty of headroom as well, even though it’s a much sleeker, lower car. It may feel a little bit sickly at times for kids, just because you kind of sit backwards in these seats, which means seeing out the front could be a little bit tricky. And in electric cars, sometimes that can be a bit of a problem. But I have to say, as an adult, it is so comfortable. In the back here, you’ve got loads of lovely soft touch materials all surrounding you on the doors, on all of these seats, even this center console. You will find some scratchy plastics, but they’re all kind of behind you, so you’re not going to be touching and feeling them. Of course, you have all the staples like a pull down armrest with a couple of cup holders, but this doesn’t really go above and beyond. A bit like the boot. I would have loved to have seen a device holder. But speaking about device holders, once again, you’ve got those magnet strips on the back of the seats. So, if you wanted to pop an iPhone holder or an iPad holder, you could put those on the seats, which I really like. You’ve also got nice touches like the ISOIX fitments are behind some covers. So, that does give it a premium touch. You’ve also got USBC charging, but just one port, which seems a little bit stingy. And there also isn’t any rear ventilation climate. You have got the vents, but you can’t adjust the temperature. Again, for a premium car, I would have liked to have seen some rear ventilation that could have been adapted to the rear seat passengers. And also heated seats. You don’t have them in the rear, but remember this is the lower spec vehicle, so you may get that in specs above. It’s okay. I do like it in the back. It’s nice and comfortable, but I think when it goes above and beyond in terms of technology and what people have access into the back, it’s just a bit lacking compared to rivals. Charging is where it really flexes. It uses an 800vt electrical system, which is a big step up from the 400vt setups found in most EVs. In simple terms, it allows the car to charge faster and more efficiently, producing less heat and reducing energy loss. The IM5 can accept up to 396 kW of DC rapid charging, which means if you find a powerful enough charger, like a 350 kW unit, it can go from 10 to 80% in just 17 minutes. That’s one of the fastest chargings available today, and it makes the IM5 properly futureproof as the ultra rapid charges become more and more common across the UK. This is a car that until Goodwood I didn’t actually know was going to exist. So, it’s been really interesting to get up to speed with the IM products. And so far, I’ve been pretty impressed. But interestingly, one of the brands that they don’t mention much in their press release is BYD. And when it comes to design, I do think the Seal is a better looking car overall. But this IM has some really interesting tech. I love those magnets that make it really configurable. And let’s face it, this thing is seriously futurep proofed. You’ve got all of that range, but also the charging capabilities which are making the rest of the market, well, look a little bit embarrassed. But whether it will have take up in the UK, I’m very undecided and I want to hear what you guys think. Let me know what you think down below. Would you take a chance on an IM product or would you go for something which is a bit more trusted, something like a Tesla or a BMW? I’d love to hear your thoughts. And don’t forget, if you have enjoyed the video, please go ahead and give it a big thumbs up. And if you want to see more like it, then you know what to do. Go ahead and hit the subscribe button. Until next time, guys. See you later. [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. [Music]
Today on Auto Social UK, I get behind the wheel of the brand-new MG IM5 Long Range – a sleek, high-tech electric fastback that promises up to 441 miles of range, super-fast charging, and even self-parking.
In this full in-depth review, I’ll break down the three trim levels, show off the impressive 26.3-inch curved display, explain MG’s clever Proactive Vision system, and give you a proper UK driving impression of the RWD Long Range model.
We’ll also dive into the charging speeds (including that 800V architecture), explore the interior in detail, and find out how this all-new IM brand fits into MG’s expanding EV line-up.
Could this be the perfect alternative to a Tesla Model 3 or Hyundai IONIQ 6? Let’s find out.
👇 Drop your thoughts in the comments and don’t forget to like and subscribe for more honest, in-depth EV content.
📍 Test car: MG IM5 Long Range (100kWh RWD)
📆 UK availability: September 2025
💷 Price: From £39,450 (as tested: £44,995)
#AutoSocialUK #MGIM5 #ElectricCarReview
