MG S5 Review: The ZS EV's Grown-Up Successor

I did something slightly unusual when I drove the MG MGS5 EV.

I didn't really look at the price first.

Normally that's one of the first bits of context you want when reviewing a car. A slightly average car can suddenly become rather impressive if it's cheap enough, while something seemingly brilliant can become much harder to recommend when you discover how much the manufacturer wants for it.

But with the MGS5, I drove it first.

And I got out thinking: that's actually really good.

Then I found out what it cost.

And I liked it even more.

The MGS5 doesn't need to shout

Let's start with the styling because, well, you're unlikely to buy an MGS5 because you've got a poster of one on your bedroom wall.

It's nice.

That's probably the easiest way of describing it.

There are some smart details, the proportions work and it looks suitably modern without MG falling into the trap of making an electric car look like it has arrived from another planet.

Is anybody going to chase you down the street to photograph it?

Probably not.

Would I turn around in a car park and think, “What on earth was I thinking?”

Also no.

And for a family SUV that's probably more important.

The aerodynamic wheels aren't exactly what I'd call sexy either, although I'll take proper aerodynamic alloys over a set of plastic aero covers any day.

Then I started driving it

This is where things became much more interesting.

Because the MGS5 drives really well.

And I don't mean “really well considering it's an affordable MG electric SUV”.

I mean genuinely well.

The steering immediately gave me confidence. There's enough substance to it that you know what the front of the car is doing, it responds quickly when you change direction and the whole thing feels properly planted.

Throw it through a couple of corners and it doesn't suddenly fall apart or remind you that you're driving a relatively tall family crossover.

There's a nice feeling of control.

That perhaps shouldn't be completely surprising because underneath, the MGS5 is related to the MG4 and uses rear-wheel drive with multi-link rear suspension. The MG4 has already demonstrated that MG knows how to make a relatively affordable EV with a decent chassis.

But the MGS5 feels more mature.

It's less about trying to make you grin like an idiot and more about giving you a car that feels secure, responsive and composed.

For something primarily designed for school runs, commuting, supermarkets and family holidays, that's exactly the right balance.

It's quick, but doesn't make a big song and dance about it

The car I drove was the 64kWh Trophy Long Range, which sends 170kW, or around 231hp, to the rear wheels.

Officially it'll hit 62mph in 6.3 seconds.

That's pretty brisk for a sensible family SUV.

But what I liked was that MG hasn't made the accelerator ridiculously aggressive simply so you can impress somebody once on a test drive.

There's plenty of performance when you need it, but it feels predictable.

Pull onto a motorway, nip into a gap or overtake something and there's more than enough shove.

Then you can go straight back to driving it normally without every movement of your right foot launching everyone towards the headrests.

It's properly comfortable too

The other thing I noticed quite quickly was just how comfortable I felt in it.

The driving position is good, visibility is good and the seats are comfortable.

The Trophy gets electrically adjustable heated front seats and manual lumbar adjustment for the driver.

I'd still like the ability to tilt the base of the driver's seat because I tend to be quite particular about driving positions, but despite not being able to do that I never struggled to get comfortable.

That's fairly high praise coming from me.

The suspension also manages to combine that planted feeling through corners with a generally comfortable ride.

Other reviewers have found it can become a little busier over rough roads at higher speeds, which is worth keeping in mind, but during my time with the car comfort was one of its strengths.

The one-pedal driving is excellent

I'm firmly in the camp that says if you're going to build an electric car, you should make proper use of regenerative braking.

And the MGS5 does.

There are several regeneration settings and an adaptive option, but there's also a full one-pedal driving mode that can bring the car to a complete stop.

It quickly became my preferred way of driving it.

Lift off the accelerator and the rate of deceleration feels predictable enough that after a while you barely think about it.

In traffic it's brilliant.

My one complaint is that I'd love some paddles behind the steering wheel so you could quickly change the amount of regeneration. MG instead lets you assign the function to a configurable steering wheel button, which works, but paddles would be better.

Small complaint.

Buttons! Actual buttons!

If you've watched or read enough of my car reviews, you'll probably know where this is going.

The MGS5 has physical climate controls.

Thank you, MG.

You've still got a big touchscreen, of course. It's a 12.8-inch display and you get another digital screen in front of the driver, along with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

And from my experience, the software seemed pretty responsive too.

But if I want to change the temperature, I don't need to open a climate menu, prod a tiny icon, accidentally open Spotify and then drive into a hedge.

There are proper controls underneath the screen.

It's such a simple thing, yet it makes the interior so much nicer to use.

Autocar noted that MG introduced the additional physical controls partly in response to feedback around touchscreen-heavy interfaces, and I really hope MG keeps listening.

But MG Pilot Custom might be my favourite feature

This is the bit I genuinely think other manufacturers should copy.

If you've driven a brand-new car recently, you'll know all about the chorus of bings and bongs that can start approximately seven seconds after leaving your driveway.

Speed warning.

Lane warning.

Driver attention warning.

Something else warning you that apparently you're not quite good enough at driving your own car.

Many of those systems exist because of modern safety regulations, and some have to reactivate whenever you start the vehicle.

The annoying bit is when manufacturers make you navigate through several touchscreen menus every single time you get in.

MG has found a much better solution.

MG Pilot Custom allows you to save your preferred combination of assistance settings.

When you get back into the car you can quickly select that saved configuration rather than switching every individual system on or off again.

What Car? highlighted exactly the same feature in its review and it takes just a couple of screen presses to restore the saved setup.

It doesn't permanently defeat anything it shouldn't.

You still have to actively select the configuration when you start your journey.

It simply turns something annoying into something easy.

Brilliant.

Seriously, everyone else: copy it.

There's loads of space

The other thing that struck me sitting inside the MGS5 was how roomy it feels.

There's good space up front and plenty behind.

The rear floor is completely flat, which immediately makes life easier if you've actually got five people in the car rather than four people and one unlucky passenger straddling a transmission tunnel.

Independent testing has found plenty of headroom and legroom for six-foot rear passengers, and the MGS5 is noticeably roomier than several smaller electric SUVs.

That matters because this car is clearly aimed at family life.

It's not just an EV that happens to have five doors.

And the boot is massive

Open the powered tailgate on the Trophy and you get 453 litres of boot space.

Fold the rear seats and that increases to 1,441 litres.

Numbers don't always tell the full story with boots, but this one is a useful shape too.

It's fairly square, the floor can be adjusted and there's enough room to deal with the sort of luggage that real family life generates.

Pushchair? Fine.

Suitcases? Fine.

A supermarket shop you somehow managed to turn into £160 despite only going in for milk? Also fine.

There isn't a frunk under the bonnet, which seems like a missed opportunity. Even somewhere small to chuck a charging cable would have been useful.

But overall, practicality is one of the car's strongest points.

The stereo passes the sing-along test

The Trophy gets a six-speaker audio system.

Is it incredible?

No.

Are you going to sit in your driveway discovering layers in a Fleetwood Mac recording you never knew existed?

Probably not.

But it's perfectly respectable.

More importantly, you can turn it up, have a good sing-along and not immediately wish you'd ticked a £1,500 premium audio option.

That's a pass from me.

What about range?

This Trophy Long Range officially manages 288 miles from a charge.

The SE version with the same larger battery actually reaches 298 miles because it does without some of the Trophy's additional equipment and larger wheels.

Maximum rapid charging is 139kW, with MG quoting around 28 minutes for a 10-80% charge under suitable conditions.

There are rivals that will go further.

There are rivals that will charge faster.

If you're permanently doing 300-mile motorway journeys, something like a longer-range Kia EV3, Skoda Elroq or Renault Scenic may make more sense.

But for the vast majority of normal journeys, 288 official miles puts the MGS5 comfortably into the territory where range stops being something you need to think about every five minutes.

Then I discovered the price

And this is where we come back to where I started.

I hadn't properly looked at the price before driving it.

If I'd climbed out and somebody had told me the car I'd just driven was significantly more expensive, I probably wouldn't have questioned it.

Instead, the MGS5 range starts below £30,000.

This Trophy Long Range sits higher up the range, so don't confuse the two figures, but it still comes in below £34,000 before options based on currently published pricing.

And that's when the whole car started to make much more sense to me.

You're getting 231hp, rear-wheel drive, decent range, loads of space, a good boot, heated electric seats, heated steering wheel, 360-degree cameras, a powered tailgate and a genuinely competent chassis.

MG also backs the car with a seven-year/80,000-mile warranty.

If you're buying outright, the higher-spec Trophy starts creeping into territory occupied by some extremely good rivals.

But once discounts and lease offers enter the conversation, the MGS5 can become a very different proposition.

And that's precisely why looking only at the list price doesn't tell the whole story.

So, would I recommend an MG MGS5 EV?

Yes.

But perhaps not for the reason you might expect.

The MGS5 isn't exciting because it's revolutionary.

It doesn't have 700hp.

It doesn't charge in six minutes.

It doesn't have doors that open vertically or an interior containing seventeen different screens.

It just gets an awful lot of the basics right.

It's comfortable.

It's spacious.

It drives really well.

The steering feels confident.

The chassis feels planted.

The one-pedal mode works properly.

The technology is easy enough to use.

There are actual buttons for things you regularly need.

And MG Pilot Custom shows that somebody involved in developing this car has actually experienced the mild frustration of living with modern driver assistance technology.

Would I like prettier wheels? Yes.

Would a frunk be useful? Definitely.

Would I like another 50 miles of range and 200kW charging? Obviously.

But then I'd probably also be reviewing a more expensive car.

That's the point.

The MGS5 doesn't necessarily win by being the absolute best electric SUV in every individual category.

It wins by being good at almost everything while remaining relatively affordable.

And having driven it before discovering what it cost, that value didn't have any opportunity to influence my first impression.

I already liked it.

Finding out the price simply gave me another reason why.