MG4 Trophy

MG is taking on the establishment with this affordable EV hatchback and it might just be the best of its kind

- STUART GALLAGHER

CARDS ON THE TABLE, I'M NOT THE biggest fan of MGs. A Volvo 480 once tried to take my legs off when it decided it wanted to come through the passenger door of the MG Midget I was a, er, passenger in, and after two MGF long-term test cars and the now Mrs G's own hateful example, if I ever sit in an MGF again it will be too soon. The fact that people handed over their money for one instead of an MX-5 remains one of the world's biggest mysteries. That I turned down a free MX-5 and sold a 306 Rallye to fund the purchase of said Gallagher-household MGF is a decision I still can't explain nearly two decades on.

Enough of the therapy. The MG4 EV is neither a two-seater sports car nor a hot hatch with some red stickers and bold claims of out-accelerating a Ferrari Testarossa, but it is quite possibly the best electric-powered hatchback on sale today although admittedly that's a pretty shallow pool of excellence to go fishing in.

Obvious and natural rivals come from the usual suspects within the VW Group (VW's ID.3 and Cupra's Born), Renault's Mégane E-Tech and electric variants of other 'traditional' size hatchbacks. The MG's trick, however, is that despite its similar footprint it doesn't take on the look and presence of a crossover/SUV and is all the better for it. Its wedge design isn't to all tastes and it suits more sober exterior colours than the Volcano Orange pictured here, but while it could never be described as a clean, flowing design, neither is it a high-riding anonymous blob.