• No on/off button at all
• Quality acceptable given the price
• Too much reliance on touch-sensitive controls

How is the quality and layout?

It’s clear MG’s designers have been poking around the Born and ID.3 and liked what they saw. Although it looks different, you’ll find a big central touchscreen, a smaller screen for the driver and not many physical buttons just like those Volkswagen group cars.

Thankfully there are a few handy switches and some shortcut buttons on the steering wheel that make changing temperature and stereo settings far easier, while the driver’s display is larger, can show more data and has sharper graphics.

The areas you touch regularly such as the steering wheel feel well finished, but you won’t have to look far to find scratchy plastic, cheap upholstery and unconvincing trims. A Megane has a far classier interior, although the ID.3 and Born aren’t a great deal nicer than the MG4 despite costing far more.

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Infotainment and tech 

All MG4s come with a 7.0-inch digital driver’s display and 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The graphics are pretty sharp and the infotainment is a lot more responsive than the systems found in the MG ZS EV, making it preferable in many ways to the Born and ID.3’s systems if not as impressive as the Megane’s touchscreen.

The issue with the MG4 EV’s system is that some of the icons are small, and that some of the menus could be easier to navigate. We do greatly appreciate the physical shortcut buttons below the screen though, while you can access the temperature controls via the steering wheel shortcut button if you’ve set things up correctly. You also use the steering wheel to control the 7.0-inch digital driver’s display, allowing you to scroll through far more info than on the Born or ID.3.

If you want built-in sat nav or connected services such as Amazon Music, you’ll need to upgrade to Trophy trim. It also brings wireless smartphone charging if you drive carefully. Corner too enthusiastically and your phone is liable to slide off and into the footwell. Not ideal.

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Comfort 

• Good driving position
• Seats comfortable enough…
• ….but could do with more adjustment

The MG4 EV’s seats are nicely sculpted – in stark contrast to the overstuffed affairs you get in a ZS EV. For the first time, it feels like you’re sitting in the MG4, rather than on it like its sibling vehicles. So far we’ve only sampled the electrically adjustable driver’s seat in the Trophy, with SE models getting a manual item. Trophy models also gain a heated steering wheel and heated front seats, but no massage function like an ID.3 or Citroen e-C4.

The seats do adjust for height as well as the usual fore/aft and backrest, but we wish the base would tilt, we’d like a little more underthigh support for the driver and adjustable lumbar support would be nice.

The rear seats also seemed comfortable for the few minutes we were back there, and there isn’t too much to disturb you on the road. Yes, you do hear some wind and road noise, but that’s partially because the electric motor is so quiet.

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