Test – MG 5: Recharge and travel times in our super test

The MG 5 Extended Autonomy is intended to be versatile. It is still necessary to take the road calmly. This is the subject of this part of the test from Supertest.

Our various test benches have already passed, and the MG 5 has demonstrated relative sobriety. With its 57 kWh battery, the Break promises a combined autonomy of 358 kilometers in our typical loop and 255 kilometers of autonomy on a long journey exclusively on the highway. It’s true and that puts it in the good average for the sector. However, it has a maximum charging capacity of 87 kW on fast stations, which is significantly lower than the competition. What distorts its versatility?

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MG 5 Recharge Curve: Completely useful in 35 minutes

With this recharge power, the MG 5 promises to be at full power from 0 to 80% in 40 minutes with its peak advertised at 87 kW. The power was slightly exceeded because during our recharge and curve acquisition testing, we recorded a maximum of 90 kW. This puts it on the same level as the MG ZS EV, which failed to reach the indicated value of 92 kW.

From the start of the charge, the energy rises to its maximum and forms a slightly upward plateau of up to 40% charge, when the first step is felt. The curve gradually decreases to 80% load, the power is 52 kW. It is true to some extent in absolute terms, but also in relative terms, since it is barely 42.2% below the maximum advertised strength. For comparison, the Renault Megane e-tech has a reduction rate of 68.7%!

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The curve is less radiant then, because the power drops rapidly, reaching 21 kW at 90% and 7 kW at 95%. You have to wait another 11 minutes for it to reach 90% and the full tank to 100% is carried out at 1h13. But again, it’s better than what we noticed with the MG ZS EV. Note also that the terminator provided fluctuating fit with the Efacec terminals of the Allego network, but to a lesser extent compared to ZS. However, with other operators, there is no problem, not even with the Tesla Supercharger!

Autonomy regained: 158 km in 30 minutes

On a long drive exclusively on the highway, we observed an overall autonomy of 255 km, or 178 km of “useful” autonomy on a 10–80% full tank as always recommended. But it is the autonomy that is regained by recharging time that matters most to drivers. So here is a table showing these values ​​in 15 minute increments of 10% SoC. A simple regular stop at the station while sipping on a coffee provides nearly 90 kilometers of independence.

How much do MG 5 packs cost?

Aside from Total Énergie and a few other less present operators, minute-by-minute billing is no longer important on motorways. Ionity recently changed its tune, simplifying the calculations, although this does not always prove to be the most attractive solution. Either, we’ll do it. During our various tests, the MG 5 consumed an average of 43.2 kWh according to the stations display between 10 and 80%. In Ionity, it is a useful full value of €29.81 (€0.69/kWh). In Fastned, the note drops to 25.49 euros, while in Electra it takes 19.01 euros.

On this typical flight, we did three refills for a total of €47.1 excluding the operator fee. In the Darvault service area (430 km), where the last recharge was carried out, this represents a cost of 10.95 euros / 100 km. Depending on the solution chosen to find the SoC, this will raise the total cost price between €11/100km (home shipping) or €13.30/100km (Electra shipping for example). Remember that AC charging is made easier with 11 kW as standard.

Route Planner: No solution on board

The latest addition to the lineup, the MG 5 still doesn’t offer a route planner. This is the only real drawback, as drivers will have to make careful calculations before starting and trust their estimates. Other than that, you can use apps like ABRP or Chargemap, both of which showed the same expectations. For this 500-kilometre journey, the two systems offered three different stops for an hour and 10 charges in total.

From our side, there were many solutions available to us. The first is to follow one or more applications through the layout of our usual stations (Fastned station in Saint-Ambreuil and Ionity stations in Maison-Dieu and Darvault). We also imagined a bolder road map, which would have allowed us to reach the Lochères region on a full tank, with approximately 3% battery remaining upon arrival. Ambitious, for what seems to give us only 5 minutes of cool off in total.

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We finally decided to stop three times, and drove the first to Electra station in Bonn. A modern intermediate solution, which is especially easy to travel the other way. We’ve added 55 minutes of recharging in total to our usual 4 hours and 20 minutes of driving. With our constant rate of 4 minutes per stop (development time and power off/recharge), the total time for this 500 km trip was 5 hours 27 minutes. That’s finally what we can expect from a compact electric station wagon with a battery under 60 kWh, and here it gets even more interesting, and faster than the MG ZS EV.