New MG4 EV arrives in China, with groundbreaking solid-state battery version to follow
The Chinese-market MG4 could make its way over to the UK with cutting-edge battery technology
The MG4 remains one of the best-value EVs you can buy here in the UK, but over in China there’s a new model sharing the electric supermini’s name (although little else) and it’s just gone on sale.
Priced from 73,800 yuan (roughly £7,700), the new MG4 comes in four variants with up to 329 miles of range (under CLTC testing). However, what’s groundbreaking about this new car is its compatibility with semi solid-state batteries.
Solid-state batteries have the potential to be smaller, lighter, more energy-dense and even less volatile than the “liquid” batteries we see in most current EVs. This has huge implications for MG future electric cars because with solid state batteries they should be better packaged, weigh less, charge more quickly and offer even more range.
The Chinese MG4 sits on a fresh platform and currently it only uses a relatively conventional battery with LFP chemistry, but the solid-state battery is expected to arrive in September.
MG’s parent company SAIC says the semi solid-state battery has passed “three-direction needle penetration tests” and “demonstrates improved performance in low-temperature conditions” – which we presume is in comparison with the existing MG4’s battery performance. The new MG4 also features ‘battery to body’ integration to improve not only rigidity, but also the battery’s crash protection. We’re still yet to find out the capacity of the semi solid-state battery and what range and charging figures the new technology will provide. But thanks to patent filings, we do know the Chinese MG4 is lighter than the car we get here at 1,485kg compared with 1,635kg.
Speaking to Auto Express at the recent launch of the IM5 and IM6, MG’s Head of Product and Planning, David Allison, said the Chinese MG4 “hasn’t been confirmed for the UK market, but it’s not unusual for China-specific models to come to the UK.” Asked if MG’s UK operations wouldn’t say no to the Chinese MG4, he said, “You could speculate that”.
Allison’s latest comments appear to show MG is warming to the idea of bringing China’s MG4 here, after he told us in March: “There are lots of cars under the SAIC umbrella and with an MG badge that are sold around the world that we don’t sell here.”
The Chinese-spec MG4 was revealed earlier this year and it’s slightly larger than the European MG4 and on a different platform; the European model shares its underpinnings with the new MGS5 small electric SUV. These differences could be large enough to see the Chinese MG4 sit alongside the European version. “We need to balance the success the existing MG4 has had already”, Allison said. “If we were to bring the [Chinese] MG4 to the UK, we’d have to make sure it enhances the existing line-up. We would also look to bring it in as an enhancement rather than a replacement.”
If you can’t wait for a new MG4 to hit the UK, then there are plenty of excellent MG4s on the Auto Express Find a Car service for you to feast your eyes on - starting from under £12,000.
The new Chinese hatchback is a lot less aggressively and sportily styled than our MG4, particularly at the front, which has a softer, more rounded nose, less pronounced air intakes and a much smaller, body-coloured splitter on the bumper. The headlights are smaller too, but the traditional, chrome MG octagon badge remains. Despite its lower weight, the Chinese MG4 is also 108mm longer than our version, and its wheelbase, height and width are also slightly larger. Given that MG axed the MG5 estate last year, it would make sense for the larger MG4 to adopt that name in the UK, especially as parent company SAIC still holds the trademark.
If the new MG4 does come over here to sit alongside the existing model, MG may well look to update the current MG4 to keep it looking and feeling fresh. That shared architecture between the MG4 and S5 EV should mean the updated tech and cabin improvements in the fresher S5 will find their way onto the MG4 later this year, as it reaches its third birthday. The changes are likely to include the 12.8-inch touchscreen. The S5 also has a set of physical knobs and buttons for easier adjustment of controls such as the volume and climate settings, which we can expect to cross over into the MG4.
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