Living with the MG4 Excite 64 (2024)

JUMP AHEAD

• Part 1: Introduction
• Part 2: Chief urban
• Part 3: Intercity hauling

There’s something quite grounding about doing a long-term deep dive on an electric car that the average Aussie might be able to afford.

In this case, it’s arguably the sweet spot in the MG4 EV line-up (a base Excite with 64kWh battery) – and a stand-out in MG’s entire range. Pricing was already good before MG introduced a national drive-away approach, which popped the entry Excite 51 below $40,000 and reduced this Excite 64 from about $48K drive-away to $44,990 drive-away.

Indeed, the chasm between the dynamics of the rear-drive MG4 and its similarly priced MG ZS EV sibling is so vast that you could lose an ocean liner in it … which seems appropriate given that driving a ZS EV on a bumpy road conjures sensations relating to being deep at sea.

The ZS represents the (recent) past for MG, though, rather than its future – which is why we are spending several months in the all-new MG4, to investigate what this booming brand is truly capable of.

What makes the MG4 such a game-changer for MG Motor Australia is that it debuts the brand’s first dedicated EV platform, as opposed to simply stuffing electric bits into an existing vehicle.

Developed by parent company SAIC, this Modular Scalable Platform (MSP) features sophisticated fully independent suspension – engineered and tuned by SAIC in conjunction with Spanish firm IDIADA – as well as 50:50 weight distribution and rear-wheel drive (on all variants bar the X-Power performance flagship that has all-wheel drive) to achieve handling and steering precision that feels distinctly British in its flavour, rather than depressingly lacking in, well, everything.

Building on the base Excite 51 (which brings a $5K cost saving with its reduced 51kWh battery size and 350km WLTP range), the Excite 64 is all about its additional mileage (450km WLTP), extra power (25kW), and slightly faster 0-100km/h time (7.2sec versus 7.7). Almost everything else is identical.

Maximum charging rate also increases from 88kW to 140kW, meaning it can go from 10-80 per cent (using a 150kW CCS public charger) in a claimed 28 minutes (rather than 37).

And given the $3K-dearer Essence 64 doesn’t introduce anything that’s a must-have – plus slightly less range (435km) and a marginally firmer ride on 18-inch wheels – the Excite 64 seems to be the definitive MG4.

First impressions are, for the most part, positive. Power delivery is crisp and urgent, the steering delightfully brisk and accurate, its turning circle is brilliant (10.6m), forward vision over a very low cowl is tremendous, and its climate control (in Sydney’s oppressive recent weather) is instant and excellent … until it annoyingly starts to fog up every window and requires winter-style demisting to clear it.

Despite basic manual adjustment, the driving position is really good, with a terrific (and stylish) two-spoke steering wheel and supple black cloth upholstery (which absorbs a surprising amount of heat when parked in the sun).

MG’s welcome advance in screen technology means the MG 4 offers improved processing speed, respectable functionality, and clear, classy graphics.

Even the basic four-speaker stereo sounds okay, though some of the switchgear (such as the mostly unmarked cruise control set-up on the left-hand steering wheel spoke) requires trial and error to get your head around how to operate it.

Then there are the few faults that have already jarred with the MG4’s generally sound design. If you stop and put the hazard lights on – for example, when swapping drivers so I can perform the challenging reverse park in my narrow one-way street – the rotary-dial gear selector will only select Neutral, not Drive or Reverse, until you switch the hazards off and depress the brake for several seconds.

Sometimes, the wired Apple CarPlay requires multiple attempts to connect, the cup holders buried beneath the beaky transmission shelf are better suited to regular coffees rather than tall drinks with a straw, and the USB ports situated above are impossible to access without bending over.

The MG4 doesn’t have a start/stop button – it senses when a driver is seated and turns itself on when you depress the brake, then switches off when you lock the car.

It occasionally lost charge when parked overnight – sometimes up to five per cent – which I wasn’t expecting. We’ll scrutinise this further in the coming weeks.

As for efficiency, it has so far averaged 17.9kWh/100km (including a Sydney-Newcastle return journey) and took a suggested six hours and 48 minutes to go from 28 per cent to fully charged when using a friend’s Tesla charger in their garage.

Given the Excite 64’s useable battery capacity of 62.1kWh, that translates to 347km per full charge, which seems decent given the hideous temperatures, serious air-conditioning demands, and mostly freeway running the MG4 has copped so far.

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Part 2, Feb 2024: Chief urban

A month in the city keeps MG4 mostly sitting pretty

• Price as tested: $48,786
• February 2024: 378km @ 18.4kWh/100km
• Overall: 813km @ 18.2kWh/100km

If familiarity breeds contempt, then maybe I haven’t spent enough time indulging in the MG4 Excite 64 yet. Every time I walk towards it, my broad affection for what it brings to affordable EVs seems to expand infinitesimally.

Bit by bit, its handy size (just 4287mm long) and handsome colour combo (metallic silver with gloss-black mirrors, window frames and tailgate garnish, black-accented 17-inch wheels and matte-black lower sections) adds a touch of egalitarian flair to Sydney’s enviro-conscious Inner West.

The refined silkiness of its drivetrain constantly impresses – particularly the satisfying surge in urgency when a burst of acceleration is required – and now that I’ve switched to MG’s version of one-pedal motoring (which isn’t as extreme as the ‘i-pedal’ operation in a Hyundai-Kia EV), there’s a seamless rhythm to the way the MG4 drives that makes punting it briskly around town effortlessly rewarding.

It clearly favours handling precision over comfort, though, so as long as you’re attuned to its excellent chassis balance, crisp steering and keenness to alter direction, you can (mostly) forgive its somewhat jiggly ride and tendency to fall into road depressions.

I’ve also noticed that its 205/50R17 Continental Premium Contact C tyres prioritise reduced rolling resistance, so eagerly exploring its dynamic envelope often results in turned heads. Even running recommended pressures, they squeal. Yet as a testament to its 50:50 weight distribution, they do so as a quartet.

Speaking of four-ways, having only four stereo speakers for the front passengers (door speakers, plus tweeters) isn’t that much of an issue – I often miss the simplicity of the ’80s – but for anyone sitting in the back, it’s tough luck if you want to catch the crispness of every hi-hat.

Same goes for lighting. The roof-mounted cabin light sits above the front console, so retrieving anything from the rear seat or floor in darkness often requires a double-check with a smartphone torch. It’s pitch-black back there, like the rest of the interior colouring.

Perhaps the $3K-dearer MG4 Essence does have a point after all, seeing it offers rear-seat speakers as well as electrically folding mirrors
(I have to nudge ours in manually) and four one-touch windows (the Excite’s front passenger window only gets one-touch for opening), though the Essence doesn’t appear to offer rear-seat ‘courtesy lighting’, either, and its part-vinyl seats are a retrograde step.

I can forgive the plastic upholstery in my 1969 Peugeot 404 because it’s beautifully supple and aromatic – if equally sweaty – but in a modern, enviro-conscious car, vinyl isn't ideal. In which case, perhaps the cloth-upholstered Excite is the go-to MG4 spec after all.

Having delayed my Christmas holidays until February, our running around this month had been a cost-conscious ‘staycation’ – meaning a lot of driving but not a whole lot of mileage.

The first charge I fed into the MG4 was at a new charging station at Tempe BP, and while it didn’t cost much ($12.58 for 22.9kWh), it took 40 minutes to go from 18 to 54 percent. Don’t think I’ll be using its 36kW of inadequate energy ‘boost’ again.

Next attempt was at an ultra-fast NRMA/ChargeFox charger in the East Village carpark in Zetland – the only one in our immediate vicinity – which added 33.1kWh in 21 minutes (for $21.49), meaning we could duck upstairs for a coffee and return with 80 percent battery showing.

But we had to wait for a Tesla to finish charging first, and when we returned another Model Y was already poised to take our place.

So, for now, adopting EV ownership in a population-dense, garage-poor urban location requires a degree of patience and/or planning.

As for the MG4’s loss of charge overnight, it hasn’t happened again (any more than maybe one percent) so we can only put that down to the extreme temperature one January evening. And as for the rest of the ‘ownership’ experience, there’s still a few niggling faults that grate slightly.

Two normal-sized ‘large’ Aussie coffees cannot comfortably coexist in the front cupholders, the Apple CarPlay regularly doesn’t connect properly (which hasn’t been an issue in other MG4 test cars we've had), and sometimes you need to depress the brake several times for the MG4 to display ‘ready’ in its instrument pack.

The doors won’t take larger-sized water bottles (though my preferred coconut water fits comfortably!) and the driver-centric switchgear – both on the steering wheel and the column stalks – needs a rethink. The wheel switches are mostly unmarked and it’s too easy to accidentally flick the LED headlights to ‘off’ or ‘parkers’, rather than ‘auto’.

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Part 3, March 2024: Intercity hauling

Plenty of mileage and improved efficiency

• Price as tested: $48,786
• March 2024: 1433km @ 16.6kWh/100km
• Overall: 2246km @ 17.2kWh/100km

Making plans is a mug’s game – best to decide on the spur of the moment and keep some spontaneity in your life.

That’s what I’ve been telling myself as plans to take a delayed Christmas holiday in February evaporated faster than a rain shower in Oodnadatta. So I gifted the MG4 to John Law for a return trip to Canberra. And then followed up Johnny’s ACT adventure with several visits to Newcastle.

With the MG4’s overall energy consumption sitting at 18.2kWh/100km last month (after travelling 813km), it gave a stellar performance in month three, ripping that number down to 17.2kWh/100km, despite much of that mileage being accrued on NSW freeways.

Johnny’s Sydney-to-Canberra leg, purely on the Hume, netted 17.3kWh/100km, while his return journey via some entertaining back roads and a final (post-charge) sprint from Goulburn to Sydney back on the Hume delivered 16.0kWh/100km. For a relatively cheap EV, that’s impressive.

Mr Law had similar grievances to us when it came to the MG 4’s unlabelled steering-wheel controls, and he found the sometimes-recalcitrant gearshift dial and start-up procedure “awkward and annoying”.

But the rest of his notes were filled with nothing but praise for the MG4’s seat comfort, steering and handling, and chilly climate control.

“It was really good at scything through traffic on the busy M5 Motorway, if with a noticeable increase in consumption at speeds beyond 110km/h.

I found 25 degrees the perfect temperature for me on the climate control [we never go higher than 21, so maybe that’s due to Johnny’s lithe frame…], which is very rare for an EV – meaning the AC is ice-cold, unlike in a BYD Atto 3.

The four-speaker stereo is decent enough, the seats are comfy, and the driving is sporty.

“I like the MG4’s low centre-of-gravity and keen steering, and I found the ride quality really quite good – though it can be loud on coarse-chip surfaces, and the [multi-link] rear suspension is a little noisy and boomy. But what I liked most is the handling. We had to make an emergency right turn and the MG4 was bloody awesome!

"Trailing the brake in allowed it to develop a good amount of attitude and it scrubbed off speed with a little four-wheel drift – effortlessly making the corner.

It achieves properly good small-car dynamics without trying to be sporty. The Excite 64 is definitely the sweet spot compared to overdone X-Power,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, back at home base, the MG4 has been serving its time well. Driving more than a dozen of the EVs in Wheels' various comparison tests has simply confirmed how much of a rip-roaring bargain the MG4 Excite 64 is when you take into account its strong driver appeal, really comfortable seating, and fantastic size and vision.

As a small ICE hatchback alternative, it’s borderline brilliant … providing you can accept that some of its electronic quirks (and patchy Apple CarPlay) will probably require a software update to be smoothed over.

As an all-round driving experience, it’s better than any of the four contenders featured in our 2024 Wheels Best Small Electric SUVs (e-2008, Atto 3, Kona EV and Megane E-Tech), and the Excite 64’s narrower footprint compared to the next-up Essence 64 (wearing grippier 235/45R18s instead of 215/50R17s) allows it to find its balance better in a corner, nudging its tail out slightly on corner exits for a more fluid, more rewarding handling – plus a more absorbent ride.

If the MG4 is any guide, the next generation of SAIC-funded products could well earn the popularity the MG brand is already enjoying (albeit based on their fire-sale pricing, because Aussies have always loved a bargain).

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