Making electric cars affordable: Drive TV’s interview with MG

MG made a serious statement when it launched its MG4 electric car in 2023.

Now the brand offers Australian buyers an electric car under $40,000 drive away, filled with technology that drives you and the EV movement even further.

To find out more about the future of feature-packed, affordable electric cars, Drive's Managing Editor Trent Nikolic spoke to David Hearty of MG Motor Australia in the latest episode of Drive TV.

Trent Nikolic, Drive: In reference to the specific 'ground-up' platforms that we are talking about here, developing electric vehicles allows you to be more flexible with the type of vehicles that you build.

We've talked about small hatchbacks and maybe small SUVs or medium SUVs, but there are a number of different vehicles that you can build off one platform. Does that provide you, at a manufacturing level, with a lot of flexibility?

David Hearty, MG Motor Australia: The MSP, or Modular Scalable Platform, is what the MG4 is built on, and this is our first vehicle that's been built on this platform.

What we get with that is a rear-wheel-drive hatchback that has a lower centre of gravity, but that doesn't have intrusions. It feels open and spacious inside because you don't have traditional (transmission/driveline) tunnels going through the middle of the car.

One of the other important things with the MG4 EV, that might get overshadowed, is that it is really quiet and peaceful inside.

Therefore, the benefits you have are a great handling car, with a lower centre of gravity, and being able to position the batteries in the vehicle where they belong, low and integrated within the floor, you can put the wheels at the corners and allowing the car to come together in a great package.

Australia is a very important market for the brand, so the team has taken on feedback with things like ride quality to ensure that, for Australia, we got a vehicle that was fit for the conditions that we have here. Not just for the roads, but also for hot weather and ensuring that we can cope with the required long range that can bridge the gap between hard-to-reach cities.

Trent: Obviously, MG has delivered these cars at an affordable price, but when you get inside, and you close the door it feels like a premium experience, it's quiet, and it's insulated. Is that important to be able to deliver at a cost-effective price?

David: We want to make electric vehicles affordable for everybody, which is our stance and our position, and we want to keep continuing that position moving forward. With any vehicle, the interior is the place that we spend most of our driving experience, so important things for us are tactile, you'll notice that we have a leather-wrapped steering wheel in the vehicle and that the controls are functional, easy to navigate, and easy to get to.

It's great to see that, in Australia, the adoption of EVs in a country that has some geographical challenges has been so strong in the last couple of years. We're really excited to see more EVs on the road and to be able to bring premium products like the MG4 through to customers at an affordable price.

Trent: Now onto the fun stuff. We hear a lot about terms like Vehicle to Load (V2L) and Vehicle to Grid (V2G). There are a lot of people watching who don't understand what this terminology is and how it allows us to think of the vehicle as more than just a way of getting from A to B.

David: With V2L, you can use it for a wide range of applications - powering external devices using the car's battery.

We've had customers tell us stories about using it in remote locations for powering tools on their properties, we've also used it at South Sydney Rabbitohs NRL Club to power a ball launcher for the team during the training session.

Trent: You really can power anything!

To find out more about the MG4, watch the video above, or to learn even more about the way electric cars are brought to our roads, catch up on the full program of Drive Electric 3: Built from the Ground Up below or at 9Now.