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You’d be forgiven for forgetting the MG5 exists, given how much attention the sportier MG4 has been getting, but the MG5 beat its smaller sibling to market, arriving in 2021. It started out as the MG brand means to go on, as a surprisingly capable electric car for relatively little money.
It’s not much to look at - though 2022’s facelift improved things inside and out - but the MG5 has one real trump card right now: It’s one of very few proper all-electric estates you can buy. It’s got a pretty useful boot as a result without resorting to an SUV-style body shape.
Other EV estates are only just filtering onto the market now, several years later - though the Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer Electric is probably a closer rival than the much more expensive BMW i5 Touring. Otherwise, as a practical budget EV you’re looking at cars like the Kia Niro, or even MG’s other products, the MG4 and the brand’s SUV, the MG ZS EV.
If you want an electric estate car, you don’t currently have much choice but to buy an MG5 - it’s one of only a handful, and certainly the only one that’s been on sale long enough that you can find real savings on used models.
It’s got more than just its body style going for it, though the 464-litre boot is undoubtedly handy, as is the fact you can put adults in the rear seats quite easily. Likewise, while it won’t surprise and delight, the cabin generally feels well-built and, one or two plastic items aside, pretty robust.
The MG5’s ride and handling are well judged for its purpose. It’s not a sporty car to drive like the MG4, but for that sacrifice you get the benefit of better ride quality. Better than quite a few cars in this class, in fact, which will arguably be more important to more customers, more of the time.
Performance is pretty good too and the 250 miles that Long Range models offer (up from 214 miles in the earliest MG5s with smaller 52.2kWh batteries) is pretty competitive with all but a handful of cars of its size (and certainly of its price). It’s refined enough too, while those wondering about the MG5’s longevity should consider how many years of the brand’s seven-year, 80,000-mile warranty are remaining on a potential purchase.
The closest competitors for the MG5 are probably from within the MG brand itself: both the MG4 hatchback and MG ZS EV, the brand’s electric SUV, are also impressive cars that major on value, equipment, and practical cabins. Choose the MG4 if you want more fun, and the ZS if the MG5’s estate-car styling doesn’t quite do it for you. The Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer Electric is newer so prices are unlikely to match the MG5 for a while, and if you’re not yet ready for full EV motoring, a hybrid Toyota Corolla Touring Sports is a solid choice.
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Just as we’ve done in our full MG5 review, we’d recommend buying the highest-spec MG5 you can afford. The car was pretty good value even when new, and since that continues as a used buy, it’s worth splashing out to enjoy the extra features of the Exclusive - and the heated seats may be a canny way of maximising your range in colder weather, rather than turning the cabin heating up.
MG offered just two trim levels on the MG5 prior to the car’s comprehensive facelift in 2022, Excite and Exclusive. Both came well equipped as standard and there were no notable options, beyond a choice of five exterior colours, and the usual dealer-fit accessories offered with almost any car.
The MG5’s dimensions are:
The MG5’s boot size is:
Like all other electric cars on the market, the MG5 benefits from zero-rate VED or ‘road tax’, so as things stand it won’t cost you a penny. This is subject to changes in future, but EVs are likely to remain cheaper to tax than combustion vehicles.
Just as we’ve come to expect free tax on EVs, we’ve also come to expect surprisingly high insurance group ratings, and the group 32 of the Excite and Exclusive are certainly a lot more than you’d find for a combustion-powered estate of similar size - a Volkswagen Golf Estate in top TDI R Line trim is only group 22, and that range starts in just group 14. The MG5 may even be slightly more expensive to insure than the sportier MG4, which tops out in group 29, ignoring the high-performance XPower.
Read our full MG5 review