MG4 EV Urban (2026) Review

Introduction

Ever since it first rolled off the production line almost four years ago, MG has been basking in the roaring success of its fully electric crossover, the MG4 EV.

After a somewhat uninspiring initial renaissance under Chinese ownership from the ashes of the failed MG Rover group, the MG4 EV knocked everybody for six.

Electric cars still command a premium over their combustion-engined equivalents today, but when the MG4 EV came along, this was even starker.

So, when MG announced the price tag, which was considered very low for an electric vehicle at the time, everyone assumed it would be rubbish. Yet it was anything but.

Somehow, MG appeared to have cracked the code: producing an all-electric car with all the bells and whistles, along with reputable practicality and performance, seemingly without cutting many corners.

Inevitably, MG’s crown didn’t last long, but it forced other manufacturers to up their game. But now the automaker is back for a second go with the new MG4 EV Urban - but all is not what it seems.

Despite the name, this isn’t a revised version of the MG4. It is a whole new car – even built on a different platform.

The MG4 EV Urban is the pure hatchback variant of the standard crossover-cum-hatchback MG4 EV – with a more compact battery based on newer technology, a smaller range, and an even more affordable price tag.

So, you may assume the Urban is smaller, right? Wrong. Counterintuitively, its dimensions are slightly bigger, enhancing practicality – but it’s not considered a crossover.

The Urban also comes with front-wheel drive (the MG4 EV is rear-wheel drive, except for the four-wheel drive XPOWER version), and has a simpler torsion-beam rear axle.

So, can it re-deliver on its sibling’s success? Let’s find out.

What are the Pros and Cons of the MG4 EV Urban?

Pros:

• Superb value for money
• Decent, if unexciting, handling
• Highly practical with a big boot

Cons:

• So-so ride comfort
• Loud road noise at higher speeds
• MG has a lower-than-average reputation for reliability

What are the first impressions of the MG4 EV Urban?

This may be a different car, but there is a resemblance to its older brother, the MG4 EV.

The bonnet curves down towards the front, with a sharp drop off, although the general shape is more rounded on the Urban.

There is an embedded splitter in the middle of the lower bodywork, and the look of the front end is similar, including chiselled cheekbones out to the sides.

The Urban has different creases at the sides, and, like the MG4 EV, they travel along both the upper and lower portions of the doors.

The MG4 EV’s wedge-shaped rear end is visible on the Urban, albeit in a more restrained way, while the Urban has its number plate lower down, enabling a larger MG badge to sit in the middle.

It is not unattractive and, to the untrained eye, could briefly be mistaken for its non-Urban sibling. But, peering closer, you can clearly see the differences.

What are the MG4 EV Urban’s key features?

The Urban is offered in a couple of trim levels.

Comfort gets 16-inch alloys, a 12.8-inch HD infotainment touchscreen with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, satellite navigation, digital radio, a seven-inch digital instrument display, keyless entry, and a heat pump.

You also get a reversing camera, black and grey fabric upholstery, LED headlights and taillights, rear parking sensors, and four speakers.

The range-topping Premium gets larger 17-inch alloys, a heated leather-style steering wheel, a six-way electrically adjustable driver’s seat, a wireless phone charger, and a 360-degree surround-view camera, as well as two extra speakers.

The poshest grade also receives power-folding door mirrors, battery pre-heating to optimise charging performance in cold weather, rear privacy glass, heated seats, ambient lighting, and ‘live services’ including traffic information and various infotainment system apps.

Power comes in two forms: the Standard Range, with 149PS, and the Long Range, with 160PS.

The Premium model, though, is only offered with the Long Range powertrain.

What is the range of the MG4 EV Urban, and what are the battery options?

As you may have gathered from the 'Standard' and 'Long' range names, a pair of battery sizes is offered.

The Standard Range version comes with a 42.8kWh (41.9kWh usable) battery, good for a claimed range of 201 miles.

The Long Range version, on the other hand, has a 53.9kWh (52.8kWh usable) battery, which can manage 251 miles in the Premium trim, and up to 258 miles in Comfort guise. The difference is likely explained by the Comfort’s inch-smaller wheels and thinner tyres.

Its batteries use Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) chemistry, which improves durability and suitability for constant use.

Of course, don’t expect to achieve these figures in the real world – anything around 70-80% of the claim is realistic.

What’s the performance and drive like with the MG4 EV Urban?

Its relation, the MG4 EV, can do 0-62mph in as little as 6.5 seconds (this can, in fact, be axed to a supercar-esque 3.8 seconds in the XPOWER version).

The Urban, however, is more pedestrian, taking 9.6 seconds to do the same with the lower-powered variant – though even choosing the more powerful electric motor only brings it down by a tenth of a second.

That is nowhere near as quick as numerous rivals, but then for a family hatchback it’s hardly underwhelming, either – after all, some competitors are above 10.0 seconds. The fresh MG still feels keen under hard acceleration, though, feeling quicker than it is.

In terms of handling, MG has offered plenty of customisation options. There are different settings for steering weight, meaning it's effortless when you're navigating the tight turns of inner-city streets and heavier when you’re travelling along fast, rural B-roads.

As a result, it’s a jack of all trades, offering decent manoeuvrability in all driving situations and feeling well-balanced around corners despite a simpler suspension than the regular MG4.

There is plenty of hold around bends and, though body roll is noticeable, the Urban never struggles to get its power down onto the road.

To say it’s fun to drive would be an exaggeration. The original MG4’s rear-wheel drive certainly gives it the edge over the Urban – but this new vehicle is more of a driver’s car than some other family hatchbacks.

Mind you, the Renault 5 is much more entertaining – yet still cheaper – but it sacrifices a great deal of practicality.

Ride comfort in the Urban is okay, but not brilliant. It is on the firm side, which helps with the handling. However, you can easily find yourself jostling around in your seat on imperfect road surfaces, while you feel hard thwacks through the chassis over pitted, eroded asphalt.

We would be tempted to stick with the entry-level model, whose smaller wheels improve the ride quality somewhat.

The Urban also gets quite loud at higher speeds thanks to tyre noise, though wind din isn’t too bad at all.

There are four regenerative braking modes – one is an 'adaptive' setting that adjusts itself, and three tweak the severity from minimal to maximum. If you want to enable true one-pedal driving, though, you have to delve into the infotainment system to enable it.

How fast can the MG4 EV Urban charge?

Charging speeds aren’t particularly quick - in fact, they’re more leisurely than the regular MG4, though slower speeds are typical for a car in this market segment.

It tops out at 87kW in the Long Range model, and 82kW in the Standard Range model.

As a result, a 10-80% DC top-up takes exactly half an hour in the former and slightly less, at 28 minutes, in the latter.

If you’re using a home wallbox, AC charging is limited to 11kW, taking seven-and-a-half hours with the Standard Range model and around nine hours with the Long Range model. Want to know more about charging an EV? Check out our guide to charging your electric car.

What are the running costs and emissions for the MG4 EV Urban?

The Urban will be very cheap to run, especially if you mainly charge it up at home.

It is priced to be inexpensive to lease, too, with MG hoping it has the same wow factor as the MG4 did when it was first introduced.

That means you won’t need to worry about the Expensive Car Supplement adding heavily to your road tax (Vehicle Excise Duty). And the bill, while not free for electric cars anymore, will only cost you £10 for the first year, and £195 thereafter (subject to annual increases).

Zero emissions make it attractive as a company car, although that applies to every electric vehicle - and they’re becoming increasingly common.

Sadly, MG has a mixed reputation for reliability. To compensate, MG offers a seven-year warranty, which is on par with Kia's. But you're here to lease - so you won't care about this aspect.

However, you should know that servicing is required every 15,000 miles or every twelve months, whichever comes first.

What’s the interior and technology like with the MG4 EV Urban?

For such a cheap car, the MG4 EV Urban’s interior looks solid. The steering wheel has a flat top and bottom, creating a hexagonal shape, and its sizable spokes are bathed in silver trim, including a double spoke at the six o’clock position.

You find more silver trim on the gear selector, around the top edge of the cupholders, and on the air conditioning controls beneath the touchscreen.

Some soft-to-the-touch plush surfaces also give off a premium feel. Unfortunately, though, that’s not the real headline, as MG has had to cheapen the Urban somewhere, so the top of the dashboard and doors are made from hard plastics, which detracts from the cabin quality compared with the regular MG4.

Never mind, though, the large tablet-like 12.8-inch infotainment touchscreen in the MG4 Urban is pin-sharp. It offers pleasant graphics, a simple and intuitive menu layout and a system that’s reasonably responsive to swipes and touches.

Beneath the screen, you'll find physical controls for the air conditioning, following complaints from MG4 EV customers about the lack of them. This feedback helped improve its previously overcomplicated infotainment system. That same amended system is to be found in the Urban, while the physical climate controls add convenience without cluttering the minimalist cabin design.

The touchscreen is complemented by the seven-inch, and equally tablet-like, digital instrument cluster. Despite being on the small side, you can still see all the information through the steering wheel. And it’s equally effective at presenting important data to you in a decluttered format.

Overall, aside from the hard plastics, it's a very pleasant interior to look at. Oh, and we mustn’t forget to mention that the Urban has two USB-C ports in the centre console, as well as a third in the back.

Is the MG4 EV Urban practical, and how big is the boot?

It is easy to find a supportive, elevated driving position in the MG4 Urban, which gives you a good view of the road ahead. The front pillars aren’t too thick, either - and the windscreen is large for a family hatchback.

The rear pillars are much fuller, though, and rounded at the bottom, further impeded by the side supports for the roof spoiler, which also has a taillight hanging down from it. As a result, your over-the-shoulder view is compromised, and it limits the amount of light that can reach the back seats.

Space-wise, though, the MG4 EV Urban is excellent for a car in this class. The front seats are roomy, there are stacks of headroom and legroom, and the cabin is sufficiently wide to accommodate two broad-shouldered adults.

In the rear, there's surprisingly generous legroom and headroom. And although the middle seat is narrower than the outer seats, fitting three adults there won't be as uncomfortable as it would be in most comparable cars. The flat floor in the rear, thanks to the lack of a tunnel running down the middle of the MG, also helps.

The boot is a splendid size, too, measuring 479 litres in the Comfort model (470 litres in the Premium model) – dwarfing the regular MG4 EV’s 388-litre offering.

It gets better too, because you may see the Urban’s boot space quoted as 577-litres (Comfort) or 568-litres (Premium) – and that’s because those figures include an additional 98-litres of space beneath the boot floor. If you include that underfloor storage, then it beats just about any other hatch in this segment.

Space expands to 1,364 litres (Comfort) or 1,362 litres (Premium) with the rear seats folded down in a 60/40 split - lots more than the stock MG4 EV. The boot floor is also height-adjustable in the Premium model, eliminating the loading lip.

There are many storage spaces inside the cabin, too, with sizable door bins and a spacious cubby beneath the central armrest. The Urban also houses two central cupholders in the front and a tray at the bottom of the dashboard.

How safe is the MG4 EV Urban?

Safety is where MG excels. Nine of the automaker’s last twelve cars tested earned a five-star score from Euro NCAP, with its electric cars performing particularly well.

That is the case for the MG4 EV Urban, too, which was awarded five stars, an 87% score for adult occupants, 85% for children, and 80% for safety assists.

The rating was no doubt helped by a large suite of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) known as MG Pilot. This technology includes automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, intelligent speed limit assist, traffic jam assist, lane departure warning system, lane keep assist, intelligent high beam control and driver attention alert.

If you opt for the Premium model, you also get blind-spot detection, lane-change assist, rear cross-traffic alert, and a 360-degree surround-view camera.

Can I choose optional extras with the MG4 EV Urban?

MG doesn't really offer optional extras, as they're largely made obsolete by a generous standard equipment list.

You do get a choice of colours, though, with white being the default body shade, while grey-ish green, blue, black, dark grey, silver and red are available for a little bit extra.

What are the rival cars to the MG4 EV Urban?

The Urban’s main competitors are the BYD Dolphin, Citroën e-C3, Hyundai Inster and the Renault 5 E-Tech.

The Vauxhall Corsa Electric and Peugeot e-208 are both credible alternatives.

Volkswagen’s ID.3 and the Cupra Born are also worth considering - and Cupra is bringing the Raval soon, which will be a more direct foe than the Born.

MG4 EV Urban final verdict?

The MG4 EV Urban is impressive once you properly factor in the leasing price.

Sure, you can see where the sacrifices have had to be made – you can feel them, in fact - with the hard, scratchy plastics inside the cabin. But most cheap cars with this kind of interior look cheap, dull, mundane and second-rate - and the Urban looks anything but.

The MG’s performance feels quicker than it actually is; it’s superbly practical, spacious beyond the reach of most rivals, and it handles reasonably well for a car not built for the driving experience. However, the ride comfort could do with some improvement.

All things considered, we’d be leasing this electric car for the value, so we’d stick with the entry-level Comfort trim, which, as the name suggests, is more comfortable.

If you’re happy to spend a bit more and want something even more engaging, it’s fortunate that the similarly named (and newly improved) 2026 MG4 EV is also available to lease.

Where to next?

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**Score based on Select’s unique meta score analysis, taking into account the UK’s top leading independent car website reviews of the MG4 EV Urban.

**Correct as of 11/03/2026. Based on 12 months initial payment, 5,000 miles annually, over a 48 month lease. Initial payment equivalent to 12 monthly payments, or £2,907.48 (Plus admin fee) Ts and Cs apply. Credit is subject to status.

Every lease deal is a fixed monthly cost for the whole of your contract, apart from changes to government costs, e.g. VAT changes or road fund license cost changes and in certain specific cases where the funder changes the price. Electric range quoted is WLTP.

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