MGS6 EV review: Has MG finally tripped up?
There are two types of Chinese car maker in this world. There’s the ones that come to the UK and have just one or two products and they well hope for the best and then there are others that come here and they flood the market with new cars. MG, okay, I know it was British originally, but it’s Chinese now to all intents and purposes, isn’t it? They come here and they have so many new models. This is MG’s fourth new model this year. This is the MGS6 and it’s a C/D segment SUV that is a rival for cars like the Scoda Enyak. If you stick with me for the next few minutes, we’ll take this thing for a drive. I’ll tell you everything you need to know. I’m Richard Ingram and this is Auto Express. [Music] So, what have we got here then? Well, the MGS6, as I mentioned, is a rival for the Scoda Enyak. Cars like the Nissan Aria and Volkswagen ID4 as well. Prices start from just under £38,000. But here’s the kicker. This is the Trophy Longrange model, which is basically the one you’d want. It’s got all the kit you want, all the kit that you’d need, but it costs over £40,000, which means you’re going to be subject to that luxury car tax sir charge, which means you’re going to be paying through the nose for the first 6 years of this car’s life, and I’m just not sure people are going to do that. But in terms of specs, it’s pretty well equipped. You get a 77 kWh battery. There’s a choice of all-wheel drive or like this one, the long range rear wheel drive model. You got 329 mi of range in the longest range model, 301 in the dual motor. It’s got a decent amount of power, 240 odd horsepower, which is plenty in day-to-day driving. All cars come pretty well equipped. You’ve got the dual screen infotainment system, the comfortable seats. You’ve got a panoramic roof on the topsp spec model as well. and up to 20in alloy wheels. This car is practical as well. You’ve got a huge boot. You’ve got massive rear seats, which I’ll show you now. And you’ve got 124 L under the bonnet. That is pretty much the biggest frunk I have ever seen. Now, we mentioned that range, which on paper is pretty competitive alongside this car’s rivals. But the thing is, we’ve been doing 2.8 m per kowatt hour over our drive, and we haven’t really been hammering it either. That means that you can probably expect 220, 230, 240 mi of range in the real world. Okay, that’s enough for day-to-day driving, but it isn’t anywhere close to the advertised number. What’s this car like to drive then? Well, as I said, it’s got plenty of power. It’s got enough poke for all your kind of day-to-day duties. The steering, it’s a little bit vague. The ride though is a little bit bumpy. It’s a little bit fidgety as well. And that’s both around town and on the open road, which is a shame because this car is seriously refined. It’s a quiet car to drive, which makes it pretty decent motorway cruiser. It’s got different levels of regenerative braking, which you can adjust using the little star button on the steering wheel. But then it’s got a one pedal mode, which you need to adjust via the screen. And once you’ve got that on, then you can’t adjust the strength on the steering wheel. So that’s a little bit confusing, a little bit of a Chinese quirk if you will. But in terms of handling, body control is absolutely fine. It doesn’t feel sloppy. It doesn’t feel kind of unweward on a twisty road, but you’re not going to be driving this car like a sports car. So, in general, it’s absolutely fine and will do everything you need it to do and more. In here though, well, quality is actually really good. And the layout of the dash feels well, particularly premium, quite European, actually. It feels like a step up from stuff like the MG4, but perhaps a little bit below the MG IM5 and IM6, which is exactly what this car is built to be. The screens, well, those are sharp. The interface, okay, it’s getting better, but it’s not the most responsive. But this center console here with a cool wireless charging pad, you’ve got a really easy to operate gear selector, although sometimes you do need to select your gear twice, which is a little bit frustrating. The digital instrument cluster though that is nice, clear. You’ve got the speed on one side, you’ve got trip information on the other and all your driver assistance systems in the middle. And for the first time on an MG, a head-up display, which actually I found really rather useful. And while features like the heated seats and heated steering wheel are in the screen, you have got a row of buttons down here for things like the front demyister, the rear demyister, some of the air con controls, and the volume. So that is a big thumbs up. The MGS6 EV wins when it comes to space, when it comes to technology, when it comes to standard equipment, but it loses out a little bit when it comes to efficiency and that so so kind of fidgety ride. It’s a shame that MG couldn’t make the numbers stack up on this trophy longrange model as well, because it means that well, we would sacrifice a little bit of that fancy kit and save a whole load of cash and go for the SE model instead.
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The MGS6 EV represents the brand’s fourth model launch of 2025; the British-Chinese automotive giant’s aspirations certainly show no signs of slowing. But is this rival for cars like the Skoda Enyaq, Nissan Ariya and Tesla Model Y its greatest achievement yet? Or is it a tempting price tag short of true greatness? Deputy editor Richard Ingram is your guide for our first drive review.
