What are the running costs?

• Can be cheap to run depending on where you charge it
• Servicing should be inexpensive
• Parts last longer than petrol/diesel cars

Being inexpensive to run is where electric cars used to have such an advantage over those fitted with engines. As the cost of charging rises, this advantage is being whittled away, and the MG 5 EV is no different in this regard. There are other advantages, as its CO2 emissions are zero, that means there’s no excise duty to pay either.

Under the latest WLTP testing regime, which is far closer to real-world driving than its NEDC predecessor, the MG has a claimed combined (mixed roads) range of 250 miles, stretching to 334 miles when just used in cities. This might explain why these electric estates are fast becoming the darling of the Uber scene in London.

We covered around 110 miles on mixed roads and ended up with exactly 50% indicated left in the battery, suggesting a real-world range of over 200 miles. That’s excellent for a car with a comparatively modest battery,

Fully charging its 61.1kWh battery pack will take around 9.5 hours using a domestic wallbox. The max charging rate is around 78kW, meaning if you plug into a fast 100kW charging station you’ll go from 0-80% charge in just 40 minutes. When the 5 EV was first released it came with a smaller battery pack, which gave a WLTP range of 214 miles. 

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Servicing and warranty

MG’s warranty is among the best in the business at an impressive seven years – matching Kia and SsangYong, though still not as good as Toyota’s ten years of cover. Admittedly, the 80,000 miles it covers isn’t so generous.

The battery is guaranteed for the duration of the warranty and will be replaced or repaired if it falls below 70% of its as-new performance during this time.

Reliability

• MG reliability proving good
• Seven-year warranty suggests confidence
• Little to go wrong on an electric car

Since the MG hit showrooms in autumn 2020, it has been subject to one recall involving the brake lights not working in certain circumstances. The only other slip up from MG was that it forgot to tell customers that the roofbars on Exclusive models are in fact load bearing and can carry 35kg. Note that these have now been upgraded in the 2022 facelift to take 75kg on all models.

Anecdotally, our test example felt well-constructed, it remained free of rattles and squeaks, plus there are fewer moving parts within it to fail in the first place.

As there are fewer mechanical parts in an electric car, there’s less to be checked and replaced when a service is due, reducing costs further, while consumables such as brakes are smaller and suffer less wear as the electric motor itself is used to slow the car down.

Keep an eye on the DVSA’s website as well as our owners’ reviews.