MG4 EV review: reliability & safety rating
The MG4 EV boasts a five-star Euro NCAP crash safety rating, and we expect it'll be very reliable, too
Euro NCAP | Adult protection | Child protection | Safety assist |
---|---|---|---|
5 stars (2022) | 83% | 80% | 78% |
The MG4 isn’t the marque’s first electric car, but it's the first to use the brand-new MSP platform that’ll underpin every pure-electric MG launched from now on. There’s little to go on when it comes to gauging the reliability of MG's first bespoke EV, but is was awarded the maximum five-star crash-test rating by Euro NCAP. The strong suite of standard active safety kit should also give driver’s peace of mind.
MG4 EV reliability & problems
Like we said, this is a brand-new model on a brand-new platform, so until owners have had a chance to give the MG4 a proper shakedown, we can’t judge its reliability. What we will say is that during our test drive we encountered a couple of technical issues, the most severe being the reversing camera stopped working. However, MG’s engineers said they’re looking into that issue before sales begin.
The MG4 is also covered by a seven-year/80,000-mile warranty, MG's Chinese parent company SAIC does churn out hundreds of thousands of electric cars for its home market, and electric cars in general are more dependable than their combustion-engined equivalents, so we’re not too worried about reliability with the electric family hatch.
Unfortunately, MG and its ZS EV didn’t come out too well in the 2022 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey. The brand itself finished second to last on the list of the best carmarkers, while the compact electric SUV landed in 61st position out of 75 models on the list of the best new cars to own.
Safety
Euro NCAP crash-tested the MG4 in December 2022, awarding it the maximum five-star overall rating, as well as 83% and 80% scores for adult and child occupant protection respectively, plus 78% for its safety assistance systems.
Every version of the electric family hatchback comes with the MG Pilot driver assistance suite, which on SE models includes lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, intelligent high beam assist and driver attention alert. But, if you upgrade to Trophy trim you also get blind-spot monitoring and lane-change assist among other systems.
The MG4 might not boast the same semi-autonomous driving capabilities as the ID.3 with the optional 'Travel Assist' system, but it still features an impressive amount of safety kit for the price.