MG MG4 Urban Review & Prices

This is the new MG4 Urban, and don’t be fooled by the name. While it shares a badge with the MG4 - our Car of the Year back in 2023 and one of the best electric hatchbacks you can buy - it’s actually a totally different car. When MG updated the MG4 line-up, it dropped the cheapest options in the range and replaced them instead with the MG4 Urban as a separate model.

It’s a bit like a supermarket’s premium and value lasagnes next to each other on the shelf - you can take your pick and you know you’ll be getting similar products, but one’s clearly bigger and cheaper while the other uses premium ingredients and probably tastes a bit nicer. One’s for feeding a crowd, the other’s a treat for yourself.

As a low-cost electric hatchback, the MG4 Urban has some really stiff competition. Alternatives include the Hyundai Inster, Fiat Grande Panda and - our favourite of the bunch - the Renault 5 E-Tech. In fact, the MG4 Urban is incredibly close to the Renault 5 in terms of pricing and specs, so the two almost beg to be compared.

The MG4 Urban definitely doesn’t stand out as much as the standard MG4. It’s not a bad-looking car, but where the MG4 is all sharp edges the MG4 Urban is more about curves. MG says the styling’s been inspired by the Cyberster convertible, and you can see a bit of that in the shape of the lower grille or the arrow-shaped taillights.

MG4 Urban: electric range, battery and charging data

Range: 201 - 258 miles
Efficiency: 4.7 - 4.8 mi/kWh
Battery size: 43kWh/54kWh
Max charge speed: 82kW/87kW
Charge time AC: 6 hrs 8 mins - 7 hrs 70 mins (0-100%, 7kW)
Charge time DC: 30 mins (10-80%, 87kW)
Charge port location: Front left
Power outputs: 149/160hp

However, its tall silhouette looks a little awkward, especially as the wheels seem to be too small for the car. It’s just pretty generic, which doesn’t stand it in great stead alongside the extremely eye-catching alternatives mentioned above.

It’s much the same story inside. Everything feels of reasonable quality, and the central touchscreen is a big improvement on some MGs of old. We also love that MG has fitted a physical panel of controls in the centre to give quick access to some key functions - lots of manufacturers could take a lesson from this.

However, the design is very staid, and there’s a total absence of colour, so it’s a bit yawn-worthy. There are also some quite cheap-feeling materials, but that’s to be expected at this price. Still, a Renault 5’s interior feels more premium as well as looking far more exciting.

None of the MG4 Urban’s alternatives can compete with it when it comes to space and practicality, though. Not only does it have a vast boot - almost 100 litres larger than a VW Golf’s - but there’s easily enough space in the back seats for a six-foot adult to stretch out.

There are two powertrain options for the MG4 Urban, a smaller battery model that can do 201 miles on a charge and a larger one that will do up to 258 miles.

Though neither of those figures make this a particularly viable car for long journeys, especially with only modest recharging speeds, they’re very competitive with the alternatives. If you want to go further on a charge, you’ll need to spend much more money on something like a Kia EV4.

Urban in name, the MG4 is also quite urban in nature - and by that we mean it’s at its best driving round town, where the great visibility, light controls and comfortable suspension work best. Out on faster roads, it can feel a little bit ponderous getting up to speed, and it’s not much fun to drive on a country road either.

But it’s definitely very, very sensible - and that combined with a low price tag is good enough reason to shortlist the MG4 Urban if you’re looking for a practical, small electric car.

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The MG4 Urban is very competitively priced, with its sub-£24,000 RRP bolstered by MG matching the government’s £1,500 EV grant. That makes the starting price a little under £22,000, just £500 more expensive than the entry level Renault 5.

That’s for the ‘Comfort’ model with the Standard Range battery, which nets you 16-inch alloy wheels, climate control, wireless smartphone connectivity, a reversing camera, vehicle-to-load functionality and the ‘MG Pilot’ suite of assisted driving tech. For £2,000 more you can upgrade to this model with the larger, Long Range battery.

The top-spec Premium costs a further £2,000 on top of that and gets 17-inch alloy wheels, rear privacy glass, heated seats and steering wheel, ambient lighting, a 360-degree camera and a wireless phone charger. That’s a very strong set of equipment that alternatives struggle to match - no version of the Renault 5 gets a surround-view camera, for example.

Comfortable around town, but not much fun on a twisty road or on the motorway

In town

As you’d hope from a car with ‘Urban’ literally in the name, the MG4 Urban feels very much at home around town. While it’s not particularly fast by electric car standards, it is a doddle getting up to speed with plenty of power from low speeds. You can also select between several levels of regenerative braking to help you slow down smoothly, including a one-pedal mode. The brakes themselves are a little grabby, though.

The MG4 Urban has a tight turning circle and great visibility (provided you remove the rear central headrest when it’s not in use) so parking and manoeuvring is easy, and the suspension deals quite well with speed bumps and potholes at low speeds.

On the motorway

The MG4 Urban struggles more than other small cars - even less powerful ones - to get up to motorway speeds, requiring a hefty prod on the accelerator. Once you’re there, it’s a bit noisier and not quite as settled as a Renault 5.

The MG Pilot suite of assisted driving tech works reasonably well - the adaptive cruise control operates smoothly and is a nice thing to have as standard - but the lane-keeping aids are rather draconian. At least it’s easy to customise which safety features you want turned on or off via the MG Pilot Custom menu in the drop-down box of the central touchscreen.

On a twisty road

The regular MG4 is one of the very best electric cars to drive on a twisty road, but sadly that prowess hasn’t translated into the MG4 Urban. It’s a totally different car under the skin, and unlike the MG4 it’s actually front-wheel drive.

As a result it doesn’t have the same kind of balance or character as the MG4, and it doesn’t have the eagerness or quick steering of the best front-wheel drive alternatives like the Renault 5 either. It’s not awful, but it doesn’t encourage you to push on - the steering is too light and lacks any feedback, and the brakes are too grabby to really feel natural.

The most practical small electric car you can buy - with capacious back seats and a huge boot, but not really any clever features

The MG4 Urban is taller and longer than the regular MG4, and is closer in dimensions to cars from the class above like the Renault Megane E-Tech and Nissan Leaf. That pays dividends when it comes to practicality.

There’s loads of space in the front for tall people, with lots of seat adjustment - though MG still doesn’t fit adjustable lumbar support, which is a pain. The tall roofline means you can set your seat up high for a good view out and not struggle for headroom, and there’s good storage for odds and ends - the centre console has cupholders, an underarm storage compartment, a place for your phone (with wireless charging on top models) and a really handy tray ideal for chucking wallets, keys, or other pocket detritus.

Space in the back seats

The MG4 Urban’s rear seats are even more impressive than the ones up front. A six-foot adult can easily get comfortable - there’s lots of headroom, ample kneeroom, and even space to slide your feet under the seats in front so you can slouch a bit more.

There’s also a completely flat floor, making it easy to slide across to either side, and enough width that three adults can get surprisingly comfortable, for short journeys at least. There are small door bins, but no fold-down centre armrest which is a shame. Even so, it puts the rear seats of the Renault 5 and even the surprisingly spacious Hyundai Inster to shame.

There’s plenty of room for a child seat, with ISOFIX points easy to access and nice wide-opening rear doors.

Boot space

The MG4 has a massive 479-litre boot, and though this figure is measured up to the roof rather than the parcel shelf it still translates into a space that absolutely dwarfs the 326-litre Renault 5 or 351-litre Hyundai Inster.

Better yet, there’s a huge 98 litres under the load floor, ideal for keeping your charging cables or other items out of sight when you don’t need them.

The rear seats fold down easily but don’t lie totally flat, and the fabric on the rear of them feels a bit delicate - so be careful if you’re sliding anything with sharp edges across them.

The MG4 Urban’s cabin is easy to use, but it’s not very stylish

The MG4 Urban gets a different cabin to the regular MG4. Subtle changes include a gear selector mounted on the steering column, freeing up some room in the centre console for storage - which is a nice touch.

It does, however, get the same touchscreen infotainment system as that car (since the MG4’s 2026 facelift, anyway). That’s a good thing - it’s quite responsive, but MG’s listened to customer feedback and put shortcuts in to make achieving basic functions such as turning the safety kit on and off much easier.

That’s bolstered by a small panel of physical controls just underneath the screen, giving you eyes-free access to some of the climate controls as well as a volume dial. This is something the Renault 5 and Hyundai Inster do really well, and it’s great to see another manufacturer giving us some physical buttons instead of routing everything through the touchscreen.

There’s wireless smartphone connectivity if you’d rather use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto than MG’s own system, and top-spec cars get a wireless phone charger on the centre console to make the most of this.

If we have one complaint it’s with the way the cabin feels. It’s not that it’s not posh enough - the hard plastics on the dashboard are to be expected at this low price, though we wish MG had upholstered the door tops to make a comfier resting place for your elbow.

It’s more that the cabin doesn’t feel very fun or characterful, even in top spec cars. Everything’s grey or black, the design is very strait-laced and it’s not as charming as a small car can be. The Renault 5, with its barmy yellow seats and denim dashboard trim, or the Fiat Grande Panda with its blue seats, bamboo glovebox and translucent plastic, both feel much more interesting to sit in.

There are two powertrains available for the MG4 Urban. The Standard Range model gets a 43kWh battery pack and a 149hp electric motor. That’s good for a maximum range (according to official tests) of 201 miles, in line with entry-level models of the alternatives. A basic Renault 5 will do 192 miles, and the Fiat Grande Panda can do 199 miles.

There’s also a larger Long Range battery, which is 54kWh in capacity and paired to a slightly more powerful 160hp motor. It can do 258 miles on a charge - or 251 in the better-equipped Premium model, thanks to its larger wheels. This again is very close to the competition, as top-spec Renault 5s can do 252 miles, and the Citroen e-C3 Aircross Extended Range will manage 249 miles.

Charging speeds are pretty average too. Most alternatives have a 100kW max topup speed or higher, but the MG4 Urban tops out at 87kW. That means around a 30-minute top-up from 10-80%, which is about the maximum you’d want to wait.

As an electric car, the MG4 Urban pays the lowest rates of benefit-in-kind company car tax and yearly vehicle excise duty.

Euro NCAP tested the MG4 Urban back in 2025 and awarded it a full five-star rating. Its scores of 87% and 85% in adult and child occupant protection are pretty impressive for a small car, too.

Every car gets the MG Pilot roster of driver assistance kit - in addition to the autonomous emergency braking, emergency lane-keeping assist and speed limit alert you’d expect, you also get niceties like adaptive cruise control with lane centring, blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert - real big-car stuff.

Not all of this equipment is fantastically implemented, though. The alerts for speed and driver distraction are very annoying - you’ll want to turn them off almost instantly if you’re anything like us. Luckily, MG makes this easy to do with the new ‘MG Pilot Custom’. Just set up your profile with which safety features you’d like on and off, and then you can activate this with a shortcut in the dropdown menu of the infotainment screen. Really easy and a great feature, much like the ‘My Safety Perso’ switch in the Renault 5.

MG’s reputation isn’t the best here - it’s come flat last in the Driver Power owner satisfaction survey for several years on the trot. Owners report a higher number than usual of faults with their cars, as well as criticism of the dealer service and speed of repair.

At least a standard seven-year warranty should mean you won’t be left out of pocket, and faults are typically related to electrics and infotainment rather than safety-critical or powertrain issues. But still, not a great start.