MG expands electric car range as dealers' sales rocket

MG dealers are about to get their second pure battery electric vehicle to retail, plus a plug-in hybrid, as the brand expects its new car sales in 2020 to exceed 20,000 units.

Its MG ZS SUV B-segment electric car, launched mid-2019 and now the fourth biggest selling electric car in the UK, will be joined in November by the MG5 EV estate car and in October by the MG HS plug-in hybrid

"Electric is now, and MG is electric," said Daniel Gregorious, head of sales and marketing at MG Motor UK.

To date, 27% of MG's new car sales this year have been plug-ins, and in 2021 he expects 51% to be plug-in models.

"The key to our success will be bringing affordable, high tech and electric cars to market, all wearing that iconic MG badge."

Sold in China under the Roewe brand, and powered by a 115kW motor coupled to 52.2kWh batteries, the MG5 EV is capable of 214 miles maximum range (WLTP) and will be priced  from £24,495 (after the £3,000 Plug-In Car Grant) in Excite trim and, as it gives users a 0% Benefit-in-Kind tax rate currently, or 1% in 2021-22 tax year, MG expects half of the electric estate car's sales to be in the fleet and business market segments.

A higher specification Exclusive model costs from £26,995 and adds artificial leather upholstery, heated front seats and door mirrors, keyless entry and start, sat-nav and automatic wipers.

Charging with a Type 2 charger at home will take around 8.5 hours, said MG, and fast-chargers will provide 80% of charge within 50 minutes.

MG is promoting the aerodynamics, lower centre of gravity and driving dynamics of the C-segment electric estate car in comparison to a trendier electric SUV, in a bid to counter the UK's decline in mainstream estate car sales.

"With MG5 EV we're turned over a new leaf with Europe's first SW (sportwagon aka estate) EV. With a big boot, a big range and a small price tag, we really believe that MG5 EV is a real breakthrough in terms of value-for-money, practical EVs in the UK."

With batteries integrated within the chassis, boot space is not compromised. Without dropping the rear seats the boot capacity is 578 litres, about 24% larger than the Nissan Leaf electric car.

Gregorious also highlighted that the much smaller Renault Zoe is the only pure EV that's cheaper than the MG5 EV.

The MG HS plug-in hybrid uses a 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine in tandem with a 90kW electric motor and has a zero emission mode range of 32 miles before the engine cuts in, giving it average CO2 emissions of 43g/km.

Priced from £29,995, the PHEV C-segment SUV has the MG Pilot driver assistance suite as standard, carried over from the 5 star Euro NCAP petrol-engined HS.