The British firm MG, now commanded by the Chinese business group SAIC Motor, has just presented its commitment to the European compact electric car segment. They have named it MG4 Electricand will be the first model to arrive in Europe with the MSP platform as a technical basis. As we advance in Hybrids and Electrics, it is, in essence, the European version of the MG Mulan that we saw days ago.
As MG itself has announced, the MG4 Electric will initially be available with two battery options, the first of 51 kWh and the second of 64 kWhwhich will allow it to achieve autonomy of 350 and 450 kilometers, respectively, based on the WLTP cycle.
In the case of the largest battery, the electric motor will deliver a maximum power of 150 kW to the rear axle, while the version with a 51 kWh battery will do the same with 125 kW, which means 204 and 163 hp, respectively. The most powerful version of the MG4 Electric will accelerate from 0 to 100 in less than 8 seconds, while the top speed is set at 160 kilometers per hour. The brand has communicated that more variants of the MG4 Electric are planned, among which one with all wheel drive.
With measures of 4,287 millimeters longa width of 1,836 millimeters and a height of 1,504 millimeters, the MG4 Electric boasts a size similar to that of the electric Renault Megane. MG strives to emphasize that the MG4 has a very contained height for an electric car.
The brand says that achieving this thickness is possible thanks to its drumswhich with a thickness of only 110 millimeters is, according to the brand, the thinnest in its category. To achieve this, SAIC has designed a battery in which the cells are slightly tilted, which in turn allows better cooling of the cells.
Among many other aspects, the brand emphasizes that the MSP platform (whose initials come from Modular Scalable Platform) brings many advantages to the MG4, and that in the future it will even offer a voltage of 800 V that will allow charging with more power. At the moment the MG4 uses an electrical system of 400 V nominal voltage and the brand has not confirmed charging powers for this modelas well as recharge times.
Since the platform can shape cars with wheelbases between 2,650 and 3,100 millimeters, it plays a very important role in MG’s growth strategy for Europe. Moreover, the platform is prepared to offer BaaS, a battery exchange system, although they do not specifically mention that the MG4 Electric is designed for this.
MG is currently finalizing the tests related to the development of the MG4, in which each unit has been subjected to routes totaling more than 120,000 kilometers. The arrival of the MG4 Electric in Europe is scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year.
