2026 MG4 review: Smart updates are bang on the money

February 13, 2026 Matt Allan

Are the 2026 MG4’s better range and upgraded interior enough to keep this big-value family hatchback relevant?

It’s fair to say that the MG4 has been a success story for the Sino-British car maker since it launched in 2022.

MG was already reaping the rewards from cars like the ZS when its first pure EV arrived and started flying out of showrooms. Since it arrived in the UK, the MG4 has accounted for pretty much half of all MG’s EV sales. With 49,000 units sold, it is the country’s fourth best-selling EV of the last four years.

You might think “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. But the EV world moves quickly and after enjoying an almost unique position when it launched, the MG4 now finds itself up against a tide of rivals offering similar price, range or practicality.

So MG has had a rethink and decided to do two things. Firstly, it has launched an all-new even cheaper car to compete with low-cost B-segment hatchbacks – the confusingly named MG4 Urban. Secondly, it’s given the original MG4 a major overhaul.

Sales figures show that very few people bought the entry-level “short range” version of the MG4, so that’s been ditched and the Urban has taken on that shorter-range lower-cost mantle. That means the MG4’s starting price is now higher, but you get more range and power than before as well as a significantly updated interior.

Design interior and technology

With the MG4 update, the brand says it focused on the things that needed fixed — quality and user interface – and didn’t worry too much about other elements.

The exterior design is virtually unchanged. In fact, aside from a new single-piece rear spoiler, some new wheel designs and three new paints including the fetching Ealing Green, the MG4 looks exactly as it did before.

It’s a slightly oddly proportioned thing, with a short snout and high back end that makes it look a bit like a dog snuffling around on the pavement. Still, that’s not put off the near-50,000 buyers over the last four years, so we’ll not get hung up on it.

The focus on the updated MG4 has clearly been inside. The old car’s interior was a disappointing mishmash of cheap, thin materials and a truly awful user interface, both of which have been comprehensively addressed here.

You won’t be fooled into thinking this is a £50k premium car but the overall material and build quality is a major step forward and allows the MG4 to sit comfortably among its rivals.

Switchgear looks and feels more robust as do the dashboard and redesigned centre console. Elements like the air vents, heater controls and drive selector don’t feel like they’ll come apart in your hands. It’s perhaps not as solid as the best in class but it feels on a par with something like a BYD or Renault.

As before, there’s plenty of space on board for four adults and the MG4 will work well as a family car. The only shortcoming is a 388-litre boot that is some way short of the best in class, or the cheaper MG4 Urban.

Among the most notable and welcome changes to the MG4 is a slim bank of physical controls beneath the touchscreen. These sensible, tactile dials and buttons control the air conditioning and volume without in any way spoiling the look of the dashboard, and address one of the biggest problems with the old car.

The whole old infotainment system has been swept away and replaced with a 12.8-inch touchscreen running all-new software, and the difference is night and day. The old interface was so poorly designed and slow to respond that it was virtually unusable. The new system is clearer, more logically laid out and so much faster to respond. It’s also customisable and you can set up your own shortcuts for functions including the ADAS system.

That driver “assistance” setup is the final area where MG has really listened and responded to feedback. The previous iteration was one of the most inaccurate, intrusive and dangerously aggressive systems out there. So MG has completely recalibrated it to be less sensitive and calmer in its inputs. It’s also made it far easier for drivers to create their preferred setup and access it via an easy shortcut. Virtually every other Chinese brand could learn a lesson from it.

Battery, motor and performance

As part of the strategy to create space between the MG4 and the cheaper MG4 Urban, the “regular” MG4 has dropped its cheapest, shortest-range powertrain.

That’s no great loss, as virtually no-one bought it anyway. Most buyers plumped for either the Long Range or Extended Range variants and they’re the ones that MG has retained.
The new entry-point is the Long Range model with a 61.7kWh battery, 189bhp motor and a range of up to 280 miles.

Above that, the Extended Range packs the same 74.4kWh battery as before but with an improved 338-mile range. It also gets a power boost to 241bhp. That cuts the 0-62mph time to 6.2 seconds, compared with the Long Range’s 7.5 seconds.

There’s also the bonkers XPower, which delivers 429bhp from a dual-motor setup, covers the 0-62mph run in 3.8 seconds and will do 251 miles on a charge of its 64kWh battery.

While all that power sounds tempting, the Extended Range feels plenty punchy enough. There’s a sharp response to throttle inputs and it will put on pace easily whether you’re pulling away or attempting an overtake. It can scrub it well too thanks to four stages of well-calibrated braking regen, including a single-pedal option.

The original MG4 was notable for surprisingly quick steering and the updates retain that sharpness. It feels lively and more “switched on” than a lot of rivals, thanks in part to that sharp steering and in part to its rear-drive nature. The steering is perhaps still a little light but it avoids the vagueness and slop that blights most Chinese-built cars.

Tip it too quickly into a corner, though, and you’ll discover an element of body roll that’s at odds with the slightly stiff-jointed ride quality. This firmness can sometimes feel a little brittle on badly surfaced roads.

Officially, the Extended Range model achieves 3.8m/kWh. In the real world, I saw a very respectable 3.5m/kWh, translating to a real range of around 270 miles. Charging peaks at decent enough 144kW, but a 10-80% charge takes a disappointing 40 minutes.

Price and specification

Part of what drove the MG4’s success was its relatively unchallenged value, and MG has worked to maintain that while creating room for a cheaper model beneath it.

So where the range once started at around £27,000, it now starts at a fiver shy of £30,000. However, that gets you the bigger battery as standard, which is effectively £2,750 cheaper than the equivalent pre-facelift spec.

There’s just one well-specced trim level – Premium, which includes auto-dipping LED headlights, 18-inch alloy wheels, heated seats, a 360-degree camera, wireless phone mirroring and charging, plus vehicle-to-load ability as standard.

If you want the extra power and 60 miles of range from the Extended Range model, that’s £32,995.

Even the overpowered X Power model comes in at just £33,995 – £2,750 less than before.

Verdict

It’s hard not to like the updated MG4.

The badge doesn’t carry the cachet of a VW or even a Kia, and some rivals perhaps have a more high-end or flashier feel, but the MG majors on delivering a usable, sensible family EV.

It has taken the original car and apparently fixed all the major problems around quality and user-friendliness while retaining the space, performance and value that made it popular in the first place.