It says a lot about how far we have travelled down the road on electric cars that the first thing I took real notice of in the latest MGS6 mid-size electric SUV, was the inordinate amount of space afforded to rear-seat passengers.
Why wasn’t I checking out the battery range or settling in for a pre-drive scan to acquaint myself with the infotainment system? Or touch the plastic and surrounding materials to see assess quality.
Things to which I once devoted nearly all of my introductory attention could now wait until something as hum-drum practical as rear-seat space was examined.
Now, I didn’t just go and open the back door (not easy with two heavy loads hanging out of each arm). Neither did I do so thinking “I better check this out in case it’s cramped”. I wasn’t really. I was just heaving two big, awkward, bulging bags of shopping onto the rear seats. In the absence of rear-seat passengers I often do that because it’s quicker if it’s raining and I find it easier to manage even if it means a few moments of manual dexterity to get the door opened.
This time I discovered the bags would snuggle spaciously on the rear floor between the two rows of seats. Not too many cars have done that. A couple of other oddments slotted in either. Make of it what you will, but for me it would be something that would ratchet up MG into the ‘closer look’ list of priorities.
I wouldn’t discard the other options by any means – some of the rivals have seriously spacious cabins too. But it would certainly make my job of buying more difficult.
Those rivals include the likes of the Citroen e-CS Aircross, Renault Scenic, Kia EV5, BYD Sealion 7, Volkswagen ID.4, Skoda Enyaq, Toyota BZ4X and several more – such as the Ford Explorer.
But don’t worry, there’s plenty of space for the driver and front-seat passenger too. The thing about having rear space such as this is you can carry a couple of tall teenage passengers and a yet-to-be teen without them being cramped. The same for head-room, thanks to a high roof/ceiling. I can’t believe how tall 14-16year olds are these days. These boys and girls need legroom and headroom. It must be all the good food and minding and exercise.
They are still children but so tall. They’re the young ones who get out of the car and take a few long strides in the school gate, or airport or football pitch after stooping to hug and say goodbye to their once-tall chauffer.
This MG S6 is a bigger car all round due to its extended wheelbase and thinner battery.
Given the back-seat space, you’d expect the luggage area to suffer. Nope. There are 674 litres (from floor to ceiling (which means you blot rear visibility) with those rear seats up and 1,910 litres with the rear ones folded. And, depending on model, there’s a front trunk of up to 124 litres.
Like many Chinese marques, MG has grown market share by pitching models at keen prices. This new SUV gets closer to its rivals and opts to put pressure on in other ways than price, such as level of spec, tech, comfort and softer-touch materials.
There are three spec levels: rear-wheel drive Excite (costs from €39,495), rear-wheel drive Exclusive (from €42,495); and dual motor all-wheel drive Exclusive DM (from €46,495).
The car tested, the sixth battery electric (BEV) from MG, is built on the brand’s Modular Scalable Platform (MSP) which, from my feel of it through the steering wheel, gave it balance, exploited space and used a long-range 77kWh battery capable of around 530/540 kilometres on one charge.
One full battery will never get you that distance but I think you’ll get 480/490km. That’s a good figure. And when you do have to stop to top up, you benefit from up to 144kW charging speeds. That is the highest rate of energy flow to the car from a charging point. You can expect it to reduce the transfer speed as input slows to protect the battery.
Typically, you’d expect cost-conscious families to be sitting in and trying this out. With seat/luggage combinations, it is quite versatile. But how will cost-conscious families react to a model pushing upmarket?
It will be interesting to see how it fares.
Specification is a critical dimension to gain the attention of potential buyers, so here’s a snap-shot.
Apart from the standard equipment you’d come across virtually anywhere now (such as dual-zone climate control and extensive ADAS driver/vehicle safety aids) there are also heated front seats/steering wheel, wireless smartphone connectivity, satellite navigation, 12.8ins floating HD touchscreen,10.25ins digital driver display, MG Pilot safety systems. You also get wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Autotimer connected services for remote vehicle control.
Higher trims add head-up display, panoramic roof, ventilated seats and 360° camera.
It’s not a blow-your-mind design but there’s enough going on to make it pleasantly acceptable to all but the most curmudgeonly of prospective buyers.
Helping to keep it looking bright from the outside are 20ins alloys with aero covers, silver roof rails, a full-length rear light bar with 3D lighting effect, integrated roof spoiler and privacy glass.
The interior is designed and equipped to cope with the steady stream of a young families getting in and out as part of their daily excursions. They will put it up to what appeared to be fairly hard-wearing seat/upholstery materials (suede leather style; and suede effect).
Summary: This mid-size electric SUV touches most bases with a positive score. It’s not the best designed of its kind; expectations of cheap-and-cheerful pricing may need to be diluted against reasonable value for more upmarket qualities. But there is no gainsaying its appeal on practicality, room and spec.
