MOSTLY GREAT

Is this crossover a better- resolved version of the likeable MG 4 hatchback?

- STORY: ILLYA VERPRAET

Sometimes reviewing cars can feel like shouting at clouds.

But in the case of the new MG S5 EV, the product presentation felt a bit like having our MG 4 EV road test read back to me. It's clear that for its latest car, the Chinese brand looked at feedback from customers and the media and set about addressing the main criticisms.

Annoying ADAS? Here's a shortcut button to turn them all off in one go. Crap interior quality? Here's some more fabrics and soft-touch materials. Not enough buttons? Here's a couple of well-chosen knobs and switches.

In short, the S5 is a crossover version of the 4 and is bigger and better in almost every way for not much more money. We like the 4, so slam dunk, case closed, right? Well, the picture is a bit more complicated than that.

At 4,476mm long and 1,633mm tall, the S5 is noticeably bigger in all directions than the 4 and pretty much the same as the Skoda Elroq and Renault Scenic EVs. Underneath, it's mostly familiar from the 4. It arrives with the same two battery packs as that car did. The Standard Range has a 47.1kWh LFP battery and a 177bhp motor for 337km of range, while the Long Range has a 62.1kWh NMC battery and gets a slight power boost to 228bhp. That gives it 476km of official range in SE trim or 460km in Trophy trim.

There's no word of an Extended Range version yet, but we expect the S5 to get the 74.4kWh battery as well.