New Milton Advertiser 16th Oct 2020

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Motoring

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MG5 SW thrusts estate cars in to the EV age

 By Matt Lawrence, Motoring Correspondent BRITAIN’S first bona fide zero-emissions estate car on sale now for £24,495 with 214-mile range.

to bear on an as yet overlooked corner of the market. Together with the traditional family saloon, estates have found themselves increasingly swimming against the rising tide of spacious, eco- friendly SUVs. It stands to reason, then, that no brand here in the UK has thus far bothered to outfit an estate car with pure battery technology. Until now, that is. With the all-new MG5 SW, the silver hex- agon is going out on a real limb by offering the first and currently only zero-emissions estate car in Britain. For a bellwether of sorts as to public appetite for an all-electric estate car, look no further than MG’s ‘home’ market in China. On sale in Asia under the Roewe banner since 2018, the MG5 has shifted a rather impressive 63,000 models. While expectations for the upgraded UK-spec version will clearly be more modest, this Toyota Corolla-sized station wagon does have more than a few USPs to help it pull in the punters. Sitting far lower than almost any other EV of its size and capacity, the MG5 promises superior road poise and handling than its loftier SUV counterparts. This is largely thanks to integrating the water- cooled battery pack low down into the car’s chassis, thereby dropping its centre of gravity considerably. If being towered over by the majority of other road users doesn’t bother you, then you’ll find

the MG5 offers a more than ample amount of space on the inside. Like any estate worth its salt, the MG5’s boot offers plenty of room for luggage. With the rear seats up and load cover in place it boasts 464 litres of boot space, increasing to 578 litres with the parcel shelf retracted. Flip down the 60:40 fold- ing rear bench, and load capacity shoots up to 1,456 litres, putting it on a par with several mid-sized SUVs - not least its very own sta- blemate the HS. The cabin is what you’d expect from an MG – solidly built and intuitive without concerning itself with the frivolities of, say, BMW’s upmarket offerings. Nevertheless, standard specification MG5s all get eight-inch colour touchscreens with smartphone mirroring via Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The dashboard takes the form of a seven-inch set of digital binna- cles, positioned behind a leather steering wheel. A six-way adjust- able driver’s seat and four-way adjustable passenger seats give the MG5 plenty of versatility for occupants of all shapes and sizes, whilst standard-issue cruise con- trol, drive mode selector and rear parking sensors mean the electric estate doesn’t feel light on the essentials. The two tier trim line-up is pleasingly uncomplicated. On top of all the kit we’ve just mentioned, entry-level ‘Excite’ variants hit all the right entertainment beats with a six-speaker audio system, DAB

radio and four USB ports for no extra outlay. Nevertheless, there is room to manoeuvre a little further up market if the mood takes you. In ‘Exclusive’ trim, the MG5 adds heated front seats and driver’s lumbar support to the package as well as silver roof rails, electrically adjustable heated mirrors, smart keyless entry with push-button start and a panoramic sunroof. Cruise control also gets an upgrade to a fully adaptable system, while the car’s infotainment array gains satellite navigation. While the interior and exterior spec represents a clear upgrade over the car’s Chinese alter ego, the same is very much true of the powertrain, whose UK-issue motor features a 52.2kWh lithium-ion battery pack. MG claims that the unit is good for 154bhp as well as 192lb/ft of instant torque, which means you should be able to break the 60mph barrier from a standing start in just over eight seconds. Range had been one of the major sticking points for MG ZS drivers, whose 163-mile stamina didn’t compare all that favourably to its albeit costlier competitors. Whilst the MG5 is no marathon runner itself, the upsized-battery - a clear improvement on the ZS’s 44.5kWh pack - boasts a WLTP combined range of 214 miles when not being thrashed up a motor- way. On the more ambitious end of the spectrum, MG reckon that they’ve squeezed as much as 276 miles out of their all-new estate in

urban conditions, although you’ll be lucky to hit those figures in the real world. Once spent, service station rapid chargers will get the MG5 back up and running with 80 per cent of its charge in just 50 min- utes. Meanwhile, if you opt for the home-charging wallbox, you’ll be able to replenish the battery in a shade over eight hours. Each of the MG5’s three drive modes and the concurrent harshness of its regenerative braking is controlled via the same rotary-style gear knob which debuted on MG ZS EV last year. Among the all-electric station wagon’s array of active and pas- sive safety features is electronic brake assist, hill start assist and seatbelt warnings for front and rear passengers. And for a little extra piece of mind, let’s not forget that MG has got you covered with that all-important 7 year/80,000- mile warranty as standard. On sale now, first deliveries of the unique MG5 EV SW should be with customers this November. Pocketing £3,000 from the gov- ernment’s plug-in car grant means the entry-level MG5 Excite will set you back just £24,495 - that’s even cheaper than the current all-electric ZS SUV. As for top- spec Exclusive variants, with their extra bells and whistles, expect to pay a still-tempting £26,995 from launch. 

MG is back in the UK and bloom- ing, even if the current Chinese- run incarnation of the British icon is about as far away from its sports car roots as it’s possible to get right now. There may be no old-school rip-roaring roadster in the mould of the beloved MGB on the agenda right now, however the resurrected brand has recently been pulling in myriad punters of a somewhat greener disposition. In general, the slow but unre- lenting march of electric vehicles onto the mainstream market has mostly been driven by premium club badge-holders such as Volvo and BMW. However, MG’s thriftier approach to the EV revolution has arguably been the driving force behind bringing zero-emissions motoring to the masses. So much so, that the Chinese brand is now the fourth most popular purveyor of all things battery powered on the UK car market. Indeed, sales of the MG HS plug-in hybrid SUV and the devil- ishly affordable ZS EV look set to make up half of the company’s total figures in 2021, proving that going green whilst also keeping a tight grip on the purse strings no longer have to be mutually exclu- sive concepts. In this vein, MG is bringing its newly developed EV expertise

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