The MG MGS5 EV has a fairly difficult job on its hands. It replaces the ZS EV, a car that helped put affordable electric motoring within reach of a lot of UK drivers, but it arrives into a market that has changed enormously since MG first started gaining traction with electric cars.
There are now more electric SUVs than ever before, from established European manufacturers and a rapidly growing number of newer brands, so simply being inexpensive is no longer enough. Buyers expect decent range, useful technology, good practicality and a driving experience that doesn't constantly remind them they chose the cheaper option.
That is what makes the MGS5 EV interesting.
We spent time with the MG MGS5 EV Trophy Long Range, and the biggest surprise wasn't really the equipment list or even the price. It was how convincing the car felt before any of those things entered the conversation.
Drive it without knowing exactly what MG is asking for it and the MGS5 comes across as a comfortable, mature and surprisingly polished family SUV. Discover afterwards that the range starts below £30,000 and suddenly the value proposition becomes considerably harder to ignore.
MG MGS5 EV: Quick Verdict
The MGS5 EV isn't an electric SUV that relies on a single headline-grabbing feature to get your attention. There isn't outrageous acceleration, ultra-fast 300kW charging or a dashboard covered in cinema-sized displays.
Instead, MG appears to have concentrated on the things drivers are likely to notice every day.
It's comfortable, spacious and easy to drive. The steering is better than you might expect from an affordable family crossover, the chassis feels reassuringly composed and the technology is generally straightforward to use. There are even physical controls for the climate system, something that has become strangely noteworthy in the era of touchscreen-heavy interiors.
Add a 288-mile WLTP range in Trophy Long Range form, a 453-litre boot, strong standard equipment and MG's seven-year warranty, and the MGS5 begins to look like one of those cars that makes far more sense the longer you spend with it.
It isn't perfect, but it doesn't really need to be. At this end of the market, getting almost everything right can be more valuable than being class-leading in one area and compromised elsewhere.
A More Mature MG Electric SUV
The first thing to understand about the MGS5 is that this isn't simply a mildly updated ZS EV. It feels like a much more mature car. Styling is subjective, of course, and the MGS5 probably isn't going to stop people in the street. MG has gone for a relatively restrained design rather than trying to make the car look excessively futuristic simply because it happens to be electric.
There are sharper details than on the old ZS EV, the proportions work well and the overall design looks contemporary without trying too hard. For some buyers, that may actually be part of the appeal.
Not everybody buying an electric family car wants to make a statement about electrification every time they pull onto the driveway. The MGS5 looks modern enough to feel current, but conventional enough that somebody moving out of a petrol or diesel SUV isn't going to feel as though they've suddenly bought a concept car.
The aerodynamic alloy wheels won't necessarily be the reason anybody signs an order form, but we'd still take them over some of the plastic wheel covers appearing on modern EVs. It is a fairly sensible-looking car, but once you start driving it the MGS5 becomes considerably more interesting.
The Driving Experience Is One of Its Biggest Surprises
Affordable SUVs aren't normally bought because somebody has found an incredible piece of road and wants to experience every corner. That doesn't mean they should be unpleasant to drive. The MGS5 is actually rather good.
The steering immediately gives you confidence because there is enough weight and consistency to make the car feel connected to the road. Turn into a corner and it responds cleanly, while the body remains controlled enough that you don't feel as though you're asking a tall family crossover to do something it would rather avoid. It feels planted and predictable rather than overly soft or vague.
Part of that makes more sense when you look beneath the surface. The MGS5 uses MG's Modular Scalable Platform, which also underpins the MG4, and the Long Range model sends its power to the rear wheels.
There's multi-link rear suspension too, helping give the car a level of sophistication that wasn't necessarily associated with affordable MG SUVs a few years ago. The result isn't a car that is trying to become a sports SUV. That's not the point. What MG has achieved is something arguably more useful. The MGS5 feels secure and composed on quicker roads without ruining its comfort around town. That balance matters enormously in a family car.
You can drive it through a series of bends and enjoy the fact that the steering is responsive and the chassis doesn't immediately become untidy, then settle back into a motorway cruise or crawl through traffic without feeling as though MG has sacrificed comfort in pursuit of handling.
It makes the MGS5 feel more expensive than the badge and pricing might initially suggest.
There's Plenty of Performance, But It Doesn't Dominate the Car
The Trophy Long Range we drove produces 170kW, or around 231hp, with power sent to the rear wheels. That is enough for 0-62mph in 6.3 seconds, which would have been genuinely hot-hatch territory not very long ago. In the world of modern electric cars, though, those figures almost sound normal.
What matters more is the way MG delivers the performance. Some EVs have incredibly aggressive accelerator mapping because instant acceleration is an easy way of creating a memorable first test drive. Press the pedal and everybody in the car is suddenly pushed into their seat.
It's entertaining for a while, but it isn't always particularly relaxing in everyday driving. The MGS5 feels more measured. There is still plenty of instant response when you need to join a motorway, overtake slower traffic or pull quickly into a gap, but the accelerator doesn't feel needlessly sensitive.
You quickly learn how much performance you're asking for, which makes the car easy to drive smoothly. For something designed primarily as a practical family SUV, that feels like exactly the right approach.
Comfort Is Equally Important
One of the strongest impressions from our time with the MGS5 was simply how easy it was to settle into. The driving position gives you the slightly raised viewpoint SUV buyers tend to want without making you feel perched on top of the car. Visibility is good and the front seats provide enough support to remain comfortable on longer journeys.
Trophy models gain electrically adjustable and heated front seats, while the driver also gets manual lumbar adjustment. There is one small frustration here. We'd like more adjustment in the driver's seat base, particularly the ability to change its angle. Some drivers are more particular than others about seating positions, and a little additional flexibility would make an already comfortable setup even better. Even so, it never became difficult to find a position that worked.
The ride quality complements the seating nicely. It deals with typical urban roads without constantly reminding you about the weight of the battery beneath the floor, while higher-speed driving still feels controlled rather than floaty. That combination of ride comfort and composure is one of the areas where the MGS5 feels like a clear step forward for MG.
One-Pedal Driving Makes Town Driving Particularly Easy
Regenerative braking can dramatically change how an electric car feels to drive, but manufacturers approach it in very different ways. Some barely slow down when you lift away from the accelerator. Others offer aggressive regeneration but still won't bring the vehicle completely to a halt.
The MGS5 gives you plenty of choice. There are several regeneration levels available, along with an adaptive mode, but the feature we found ourselves returning to was the full one-pedal setting. Once selected, lifting off the accelerator produces enough regenerative braking to slow the car progressively and eventually bring it to a stop. Spend a little time getting used to it and city driving becomes remarkably relaxed.
Instead of constantly swapping between the accelerator and brake pedal in traffic, you can control much of the car's speed simply by adjusting the pressure of your right foot. Importantly, it feels predictable. That's what separates a useful one-pedal system from one that simply feels abrupt.
Our only real wish would be for regenerative braking paddles behind the steering wheel. They make it easy to quickly increase or decrease regeneration depending on the road ahead. MG does allow the function to be assigned to a configurable steering-wheel control, which goes some way towards solving the problem, but paddles would make an already strong system even better.
An Interior Designed for People Who Actually Drive
Step inside and the MGS5 follows a familiar modern formula. There is a digital driver's display and a 12.8-inch central touchscreen, while wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included.
During our time with the vehicle, the infotainment system responded quickly enough and the interface was relatively straightforward to understand. But one of the best decisions MG has made is what sits underneath that screen. Buttons. Actual, physical controls.
It shouldn't feel unusual to praise a manufacturer for allowing you to change common settings without navigating through a touchscreen, but that's the direction much of the industry has taken. In the MGS5, regularly used climate functions remain accessible through physical controls beneath the display. That means changing the temperature doesn't require looking away from the road, finding a small icon, opening another menu and then trying to hit the correct part of the screen while travelling over a bumpy road. It's a simple detail, but one that makes the MGS5 noticeably easier to live with.
It also gives the impression that MG has listened to criticism of overly touchscreen-focused interiors rather than simply following industry trends.
MG Pilot Custom Solves a Very Modern Problem
There is another feature tucked within the MGS5's technology that quickly became one of our favourites. If you've driven a new car recently, you'll probably be familiar with the various warning sounds and driver assistance systems that activate whenever you start a journey. Speed assistance, lane monitoring and driver attention systems all have a purpose and, increasingly, many are required by regulation. The frustrating part is often the way drivers interact with them. In some vehicles, changing your preferred assistance settings means working through several different touchscreen menus every time the car is started.
MG Pilot Custom offers a smarter solution. The system lets you create a preferred combination of driver assistance settings and save them. The next time you get into the car, you still have to actively select that configuration, but you don't have to individually work through every setting again. It doesn't permanently disable systems that are supposed to reactivate. It simply makes returning the car to your preferred configuration considerably quicker.
It's one of those features that doesn't sound particularly exciting in a brochure but becomes genuinely useful once you're living with the car. And sometimes those are the best pieces of automotive technology.
There's Proper Space for a Family
The MGS5 also makes a strong case for itself when you stop thinking about screens and suspension and simply start putting people inside it. There's plenty of room in the front, but the rear passenger compartment is where the benefits of the car's proportions become particularly obvious.
Legroom is generous and headroom should be sufficient for taller adults, meaning the rear seats aren't merely somewhere children can tolerate for shorter journeys. The completely flat rear floor also helps. In many cars, the middle passenger has to place their feet either side of a large transmission tunnel. In the MGS5, the flat floor makes carrying three people across the rear bench much less awkward. For families considering their first electric vehicle, that practicality matters.
You shouldn't have to accept a smaller or less useful cabin simply because you've moved from petrol or diesel to electric, and the MGS5 feels like a genuine family SUV first and an electric car second.
The Boot Is Useful Rather Than Just Impressive on Paper
Open the tailgate and there are 453 litres of luggage capacity available. Fold down the rear seats and that increases to 1,441 litres. Boot figures can be misleading because a large quoted capacity isn't particularly useful if the shape of the space makes it difficult to load. Thankfully, the MGS5's boot is relatively square and straightforward.
The adjustable floor gives you some flexibility depending on what you're carrying, and there is enough room for the mixture of luggage, shopping, pushchairs and assorted belongings that family cars inevitably end up transporting.
Trophy models also get a powered tailgate, which is one of those features you quickly appreciate when your hands are full. There is, however, no front luggage compartment. That's a slight missed opportunity. Even a relatively small storage area beneath the bonnet would have provided somewhere convenient to keep charging cables rather than letting them take up space in the boot. It's hardly enough to undermine the MGS5's practicality, but it's something several rivals manage to offer.
What About the Range?
The Trophy Long Range we tested uses the larger 64kWh battery and offers an official 288-mile WLTP range. Interestingly, if outright range is your priority, the SE Long Range can officially achieve 298 miles, partly thanks to its smaller wheels and slightly different equipment level.
Whichever version you choose, the larger battery puts the MGS5 firmly in the territory where most drivers shouldn't need to think about range on a daily basis. A commute of 20 or 30 miles doesn't suddenly require a charging strategy. Weekend journeys can be completed without obsessively planning stops and, for many drivers, home charging will cover the majority of their energy needs.
There are electric SUVs that can travel further. The Kia EV3, Renault Scenic E-Tech and some versions of the Skoda Elroq are worth considering if maximum motorway range is particularly important to you.
But there is a point at which another 30 or 40 miles of official range becomes less significant than the overall price of the car. For many UK drivers, around 288 official miles will be enough.
Charging Is Competitive, Although Not Class-Leading
Connect the MGS5 Long Range to a sufficiently powerful DC rapid charger and it can accept up to 139kW. MG quotes around 28 minutes for a 10-80% charge under suitable conditions. There are certainly electric cars capable of charging considerably faster, particularly models built around newer 800-volt electrical architectures.
If your lifestyle involves regularly driving several hundred motorway miles in a single day, the difference between a 20-minute and 30-minute charging stop might become important. For more typical use, it's unlikely to be a deal-breaker.
Most drivers with access to home charging will do the majority of their charging overnight anyway, leaving rapid charging for occasional longer journeys. It is another example of the MGS5 not necessarily topping the class, but still delivering enough performance for the way most people will actually use it.
Trophy Specification Brings Plenty of Equipment
The Trophy sits towards the top of the MGS5 range and includes a healthy selection of equipment. Alongside the larger infotainment screen and driver technology, you get electrically adjustable heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, 360-degree cameras and a powered tailgate.
There's a six-speaker sound system too. Audiophiles probably aren't going to use it as the centrepiece of an argument for buying the car, but it does the job perfectly well for everyday listening. And sometimes that's enough.
The wider theme with the Trophy is that there aren't many obvious items missing from the specification. You can get in, connect your phone, heat the seats on a cold morning, use the camera system to manoeuvre and head off without immediately creating a mental list of options you wish somebody had added.
The Price Is Where the Whole Package Comes Together
The MGS5 range starts from £28,995, and that's arguably the point at which many of its individual strengths start joining together.
A pleasant driving experience is good. A practical interior is good. Nearly 300 miles of official range is good. Useful technology and decent standard equipment are good. But when they're all offered together at a price below many rival electric SUVs, the MGS5 becomes much more compelling.
The Trophy Long Range naturally costs more than the entry-level car, but you're getting around 231hp, rear-wheel drive, the larger battery and a substantial amount of standard equipment.
MG also includes its seven-year/80,000-mile warranty, which remains an important part of the ownership proposition. And if you're leasing rather than buying outright, the list price is only part of the equation.
Manufacturer support, discounts, residual values and lease campaigns can all have a dramatic impact on monthly payments. A car that looks similarly priced to a rival on paper can end up costing noticeably less each month. That is why comparing the actual lease cost can be particularly worthwhile with cars such as the MGS5.
MG MGS5 EV Verdict: Should You Lease One?
The MGS5 isn't trying to reinvent the electric family SUV. In many ways, that's exactly why it works. It doesn't overwhelm you with unnecessary technology and it doesn't pretend every journey needs to feel like a launch-control demonstration.
Instead, MG has focused on making a car that feels comfortable and reassuring from the moment you start driving it. The steering is responsive enough to make the MGS5 enjoyable on a good road, but the suspension remains comfortable enough for everyday life. Performance is strong without becoming tiring. The one-pedal driving system is genuinely useful and the interior includes enough physical controls to remind you that usability still matters.
Then there is the space. Adults can comfortably use the rear seats, the flat floor improves life for a middle passenger and the boot is large enough for the demands of family life.
There are areas where rivals have an advantage. We'd happily take faster rapid charging, another 40 or 50 miles of real-world range would never be unwelcome, and a small front storage compartment would make charging cable storage easier.
But every extra capability has a cost. That's ultimately where the MGS5 makes its strongest argument. It isn't necessarily the electric SUV that wins every comparison table. Instead, it offers a combination of range, practicality, equipment, comfort and driving ability that feels remarkably complete for the money.
For somebody looking to move into an electric family SUV without paying a significant premium simply for the badge on the bonnet, the MGS5 EV deserves to be much higher on the shortlist than many people might expect.
It isn't impressive just because it's good value. It's impressive first, and the value makes the argument even stronger.
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