MG Motor UK MG4 review

There’s plenty of space up front, a flat floor and not much room for feet for those in the back. The boot is only ok, small hatchback-sized at 363 litres, and there’s no frunk to stow cables, so they’ll probably live under the second level of the floor. The comparative lack of rear legroom meant the MG4 hasn't been as popular as you'd think with Uber drivers.

How’s things for the driver?

Up front, you get a 10.25-inch driver’s display (was seven inches before) and a 12.8-inch floating touchscreen in the middle. Below that are useful metal switches for basic climate and volume functions, and hazards. Oh and the mirrors and windows get real switches too. This makes us happy.

The centre console is double-deck, the upper level housing the electric handbrake rocker and rotary gear selector, plus a wireless phone charger and twin cupholders. Be warned that heady acceleration in the XPower will send your phone flying out. A bin lies below the centre armrest and there's another tray near the floor. It's a pretty standard EV layout that takes advantage of the absence of an exhaust/transmission tunnel.

Materials are good but not great, though certainly improved from the pre-facelift car. A strip of silvery fake-carbon along the dash enlivens it, and plenty of touchpoints – vents, cupholders, switches – have metallised surfaces.

How’s the touchscreen?

Fuss-free and functional. It does without the jazzy graphics and dancing displays that are only ever a distraction in more premium marques, so does less to draw your attention away from the road. It's a connected system with traffic for the nav, but you'll probably use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto which are wireless as standard.

And the boot?

The 388 litres you get back there are more generous than an E-308 and ID.3, but well short of what you’ll find in a Megane E-Tech or EV4. Fold them flat (well not quite flat, but you know what we mean) and suddenly you’ve got 1,164 litres of room to play with. Or 0.000466 per cent of an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Splash.