MG4 Excite 51 car review

I’ve previously driven the more expensive MG4 Essence 64 and returned the car feeling very happy with the experience. Without having yet been behind the wheel of the cheapest MG4 Electric model, the $47,000 Excite 51, I opined that the Essence ($55,000) was the pick of the range and worth the extra money for its additional bells and whistles. But after experiencing a week with the Excite 51, now I’m not so sure.

Less power, same result

The Excite has less power (25kW less) but the same amount of torque (250Nm) as the Essence 64. In practical terms, it feels the same when driving around town. It is a little slower to build up speed when you push it out of town, but you’re really nitpicking if you notice.

Driving the Excite over the Remutaka Hill still put a grin on my face as I left other cars in my dust. It even easily kept up with a Porsche GT3 at one stage. Admittedly, the Porsche was stuck behind a campervan.

The 51 in the name gives away the EV’s battery capacity of 51kWh. That’s good for a claimed 350km range. I reached 250km during my time with the car and still had 70km of range and 18% battery charge left. So, I could get relatively close to the mark, even with a weekend blast to the Wairarapa.

Interior and exterior differences

The first thing I noticed was the seat. The Excite has cloth seats, rather than the synthetic-leather and cloth combo of the Essence. The driver’s seat is oft overlooked, but in my view it’s up there with the most important parts of a car. The Excite’s cloth one made it more comfortable for me. It felt nicer; the fabric held me in place better and cradled my bum. It might all be in my head, but I’ll stick with my opinion.

At first glance, the spartan interior remains cosmetically identical to the Essence. Look closer and you find differences though.

For a start, you have to manually move your chair, rather than relying on an electric motor, there are two less speakers for your music and you can’t charge your phone wirelessly anymore. The infotainment system doesn’t have voice control or sat nav. And unfortunately, the Excite also does away with heated seats and steering wheels.

It still has wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, though, which makes up for the lack of built-in navigation as you can just use your phone instead. On the outside, you lose the nifty twin spoiler at the back. It’s my favourite visual feature of the MG4 range, and there’s an obvious gap at the back of the Excite where the spoiler should go. But do you spend a lot of time gazing at the back of your car from the outside? I don’t, and it’s something you can easily live without.

Safety

The Excite does do away with some safety features to help bring the price down. I wish that wasn’t the case. In a perfect world it’d be nice to choose specification and power, and have safety standardised across the range. It’s not an MG-specific problem, it’s an automotive industry thing.

The Excite is a little let down by not having rear cross alert, a 360° camera or blind-spot monitor. I’d prefer to have those safety features on any vehicle I own. I feel they’ve collectively saved my bacon a few times over the years, from stopping small scrapes to avoiding proper accidents. It’s no dealbreaker, it’s just a bit of a shame that they’re not there.

I found the Excite was more relaxing to drive than the Essence, with less angry beeping from the car. It’s probably due to the emergency lane-keep assist also not being fitted to the Excite (the Essence loved grabbing the wheel when it got upset with my poor driving). It still has adaptive cruise, though, for rush hour and highway cruising.

Summary

Looking across the MG4 range, this is the model I’d choose, especially when you factor in finance, as you’ll end up saving much more than the initial price difference once interest is added in. Sure, it doesn’t look as cool as the Essence without the nifty dual spoiler, and its safety features are slightly pared back. And the steering wheel and seats aren’t heated. And it’s not as powerful. That’s a reasonable list of drawbacks, but I don’t really care about, or notice those things in my day-to-day driving, nor do I need the extra range for 99% of my trips. And I simply wouldn’t pony up an extra $8,000 for it. It’s still the excellent MG4 package, but with a more comfortable seat, and as the driver, that’s the most important thing.

Looking beyond MG, if you’re just starting your search for a sub $50,000 EV, you’ll be comparing the Excite 51 to the BYD Dolphin, which comes in at a hair under $$50,000, and the GWM Ora, which starts at $43,000.

The vehicle was loaned to Consumer NZ by MG.