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MG's New Electric Roadster

12K views 108 replies 23 participants last post by  slowindown  
#1 ·
Thoughts? Similar group as the 124 with the ev exception.


 
#3 ·
Not bad, and I guess a step up from buying an eBike. :)

Yeah, I'm not a fan of EV's... especially in the guise of a sportster. For me, a big part of driving a sportster type vehicle is the visceral experience of hearing the engine speak to you... rowing through the gears... Electrics seem to gut that experience, and even if you install one of those fake engine noise generators, it's just not the same thing. Sure, eventually I know I'll end up owning an EV SUV. So I'm not completely against EVs. I'm just not convinced they're the planet saving solution they're promoted to be, and I certainly don't want a fake owner experience. An EV sportster, IMHO, is kind of like a Shelby kit car built over a VW chassis. As Cannoli noted, this little MG itself looks pretty nice (with the exception of the hokey rear lights, which in some aspects seem to take design cues from a few of the Lambos. Now what would make that MG really nice is if it was paired up with a nice ICE. That would make it really sing.

But, given that there are no MG dealers in Canada, I guess the whole thing is a rather moot point.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Our company car / family hauler is now an EV, a Skoda Enyaq. I would not consider buying one at this time, but the tax break and massive fuel cost saving added up to an upgraded car and a cost reduction of £13-16k over the next 4 years. I'd be daft not to try it!

The troubling part of this is, it makes the 124 feel very old-fashioned and clunky, especially on the work commute and in traffic. The Enyaq is not the perfect car, or very exciting, but it is very quiet, smooth, comfortable and effortless ...

I have to take the Abarth out deliberately to some challenging roads to remind myself what it is for - Which works just fine, but I do wonder if an open EV sportster might not also be entertaining ...

I may see if I can get a test drive - My biggest objection to the sporty EV so far is their ownership of the MG name!
 
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#8 ·
The troubling part of this is, it makes the 124 feel very old-fashioned and clunky, especially on the work commute and in traffic. The Enyaq is not the perfect car, or very exciting, but it is very quiet, smooth, comfortable and effortless ...

I have to take the Abarth out deliberately to some challenging roads to remind myself what it is for - Which works just fine, but I do wonder if an open EV sportster might not also be entertaining ...
Amen.

We have a Tesla 3 LR and it is the perfect family hauler (though a Y might be better 10% of the time for large packages). For short runs in town and long ski or car camping trips, with two teens and a big dog, we will never go back to fossils. And, the Abarth is a perfect complement for turning corners and having a little zippy fun, but I fully agree that cars of this our current era are complicated and cost a bunch to run. I figure my 1989 944t was about the perfect blend of perfect driving and a thing I could still fix myself, though I almost bought a 1973 914 instead.

I simply don't get the hate for EVs at all especially from people driving big danger boxes with automatic transmissions. SUVs and trucks are a menace in N America, as any roadster driver knows.
 
#7 ·
It's cheaper and better looking than the Camaro, Mustang, and Corvette convertibles and it does a better job than most of us hiding its weight. Those competitors all have much higher top speeds, heck, even our car has a higher top speed than the base model in the video. The 3.5 second 0-60 of the two motor version is more enticing; so, my fellow Americans, when you think about how the car handles, what if you could snap your fingers and turn your two-ton pick-up truck into the hottest babe in town? It's scary to think that the EV convertible future could be Chinese, but if we put a tariff on good-looking convertibles then they will probably just get assembled in Mexico, so for the here and now, I'd give this version of the EV future a Mighty Good.
 
#9 ·
Nice looking for sure (again except for those stupid tail lights). But practical as a real world sports car? As with most EVs, which would seem to be OK and acceptable for metro/urban use, does an electric sports car really make sense? If one lives in a major metro area and were to heading out for a short sporty jaunt on the local country back roads and planned to be back home in a couple of hours (as with our video host) - OK/fine - this new MG just might be an ideal candidate. Or if one were to be happy and satisfied driving their nifty little sports car around within the metro area all the time and never planned on venturing forth to do battle with real roads, again this sporty little EV might be just the thing. But if that same someone were to head out down the road on a planned 3 week road trip on the back roads seeking the best driving byways and scenic secondary highways one could find then this little beauty probably ain't gonna cut it. In fact absolutely wouldn't cut it unless one wanted to make a major detour on a regular schedule every 3 or 4 hours or so to a major or at least a good sized metro area to seek out a charging station. And then one would have to hope there was an open slot and that the chosen charging station was in fact operable.
As nice looking as it is, I'll pass Thank You!
 
#12 ·
Vegans and EV owners. I see a trend... lol
 
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#18 ·
We’re firmly wedded to the ICE experience. And despite the advances and advantages of EVs, they have a long way to go. Meanwhile, nobody is going to outlaw my 124 or force me to own an EV. My 124 relationship is more likely to end over lack of spares after a catastrophe of some sort that can’t be fixed. EV zealots are a lot like vegans. When you meet one it’s the first thing they focus on and it’s the only way. What a PITA! Very boring people, and many don’t even drink either.
The MG is interesting but I won’t have a Chinese car. I already own too much of their future landfill!
Best regards
Pete
 
#19 ·
All this talk about EV's and none about Hydrogen. Toyota, Audi, Lexus, Hyundai, BMW, Honda, MB, Ford, GM........did I miss anyone...............all turning development to Hydrogen powered cars (technically still electric powered at the end of the day) with the same motors, invertors, electronics, etc., as their EV cousins. Costs to develop and produce Hydrogen vehicles is spiralling downwards. Gas/petrol stations much more easily converted for hydrogen (although storage is a big safety issue right now), fueling times same as ICE cars with no waiting as with EV charging. Heavy goods vehicles can transport more weight for further distances with diesel refuelling times. EV's statistically with recent studies have been found to induce anxiety from owners who worry about planning trips around non-existent charging points, the possibility of running out of battery charge, etc. A high percentage have said they wished they had never bought an EV because of all the charging hassle.

Likely I will be long gone when the next generation of cars fully takes over and there is no more ICE. Long live ICE!
 
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#25 ·
The tail lights? Hot Wheels. The car? Ponderous. The discussion? Popcorn.
 
#26 ·
I have to give E for effort. Nice looking spider, 50LBS it s a bit pricy, maybe comparing to the Z4 bmw it must be in range, but to declasify the MX5 the Chinese have a long way to go. But when it comes to NA,if it does, they need to sharpen the pencil. 350 miles it s pretty good.
Time will tell
 
#28 ·
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against EV’s. It’s just that, to me, they don’t make sense as a small roadster convertible. (See my post about manuals vs automatics)

EV’s can be wickedly fast in any iteration. Sedan, wagon or suv. So why screw around in a small, cramped, impractical car when you can basically have the same experience in something larger and more usable.
 
#30 ·

The relevant part from today's AP report "the tax rate on imported EV's will rise to 102.5% this year". My lobbyist will be hard at work carving out an exception for two-seat convertibles.
 
#31 ·
As I understand it (and we had this reported in the UK news) this is Chinese EV's, not all imported EV's. The whole article is about taxes on Chinese products.
 
#33 ·
You quoted the article you linked. It specifically talks about Chinese EV's and products. Your statement about the "relevant part" alludes to this being taxes raised in the US on ALL imported EV's. Has nothing to do with the UK and our imports. I simply stated this has been reported in the news over here.
 
#39 ·
I’ve followed the science and policy of EVs in depth as part of my job, and have owned multiple electric cars in my household for over 10 years.

Electric cars are simply superior in nearly all respects. Yes, including taking road trips where there is no way I’’m taking the 124 on a road trip. 350 mile range and superchargers and charging at hotels and the comfort of an EV makes road trips far more pleasant, and cheaper, and less tiring, in my Tesla.

Except EVs have/had 1 failing: there is no small light two seater roadster EV. (until now? we will see)

Thus I bought my first gas gar in over 10 years to solve that problem with the 124 Spider. Doing so confirmed for me all the ways in which EVs are superior: going to the smelly gas station, annoying oil changes and concerns with check engine lights, OBD scanners, looking at schedule to replace parts like timing belts, water pumps, brakes that actually wear out, even not having a full tank of fuel every morning, the list goes on and on. Years ago I would have been fine with it for a daily driver. but now, with options, I enjoy it for a fun sunny weekend and occasional AutoX car, but no way I would prefer it to the other options I have for a daily driver or road trip car, or really any trip where I have to have the top up. But glad we all have options and there are more options to come.

At some point future generations will think about gas cars the same way we think about horse carriages, oil furnaces, outhouses, broadcast radio and cable tv — very useful at the time, but now novel historical curiosities in the march of progress.

Glad to see MG/China/whatever contributing to that progress and giving more options.
 
#42 ·
Electric cars are simply superior in nearly all respects. Yes, including taking road trips where there is no way I’’m taking the 124 on a road trip. 350 mile range and superchargers and charging at hotels and the comfort of an EV makes road trips far more pleasant, and cheaper, and less tiring, in my Tesla.
Unfortunately I disagree strongly as the infrastructure in the UK is appalling for EV's. This is why people suffer from stress and anxiety when taking trips. They have to plan around charging points and then usually hours of waiting to get the use of a charger. Superchargers? Not likely because only a few cars can use the very fast chargers so they are all low outputs at charging stations in the UK. So, maybe Stateside it's all great, but not so over here.
 
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#46 ·
This feels like a bit of a generalization. Regardless, things are charging ahead, charging ahead I say.... https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ticle/2024/may/05/uk-installs-record-number-of-public-electric-vehicle-chargers
These UK Tesla owners have no stress or anxiety road tripping in the UK. https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/road-trip-scotland-to-england.305516/

For now, and for a while, anyone intending to road trip their EV very much should probably insure that it can use the Tesla Supercharger network. In the US that will be open to most other new non-Tesla EVs. not sure about other countries.
Sorry to say that neither of you live here. If you did you'd know that the UK is far behind it's schedule for charger installations which of course the newspaper article doesn't tell you. You'd also know that there have been instances of 6 hour waits with queues of 22 Tesla's in one instance all waiting for a charger, so quoting a handful of people from a forum hardly equates to anything valid as far as what we see regularly in the news and various publications here. Record numbers of people are trading in their EV's to go back to ICE. Many disabled people are dumping EV's cos' those in wheelchairs cannot access most of the chargers due to kerbs and steps being placed in front of them or the charge cables being too high to reach from a wheelchair. Yup, they forgot about access when designing them. I'm not here to argue, but I do live here and see the mess they have made of it.
 
#47 ·
Just throwing out there that what you are seeing is a media portrayal and may not be the day-to-day reality of EV ownership. There are challenges here, too. And? Just because there are challenges doesn't mean a thing isn't worth doing. And the challenges you're talking about sound somewhat anecdotal and not like, say, the actual facts that I presented in my linked article. I've owned EVs for well over a decade. I know there are issues and they require planning. The infrastructure here is lacking, too. And? That doesn't mean that EVs aren't a great option. And you and your ICE car are killing everyone on the entire planet. Hi. That's my hyperbole of the moment. You will find, however, that it's actually factual. Want me to link science to that one, too?
 
#51 ·
As some of you may know, I make multiple trips each year from the UK to mainland Europe. These road trips tend to be between 10 to 14 days, covering between 2,000 and 3,000 miles. I stay at the hotels I choose to stay at for my own reasons.

Almost, if not all, the hotels do not have electric charge points..... I don't mind as I drive a non-electric car. So for me it's not a problem.

If they do have charge points they are more often than not either being used, "out of use", or extortionatelly expensive. And I value whatever little time I have left on this earth.

So for me, EV is a non-starter...... metaphorically, figuratively, practically.

My parents truly believed that, during the Cold War, we were all going to be blown to smithereens. It didn't happen.

My siblings and peers mistakenly believe that, through Climate Change, the End of the World is Nigh..... it isn't.
 
#52 ·
Almost, if not all, the hotels do not have electric charge points..... I don't mind as I drive a non-electric car. So for me it's not a problem.
For ev driving you plan. Gasp. Dude… AFAICT you actually don’t know anything about driving an EV and you’re trying to apply what you think you’ve seen to driving one. Well, uh. I believe you may have misunderstood how it actually works.
 
#56 ·
As expected this thread is turning it into debate over reality itself.

EVs are neither going to save or abolish humanity. Climate change just might though.

In 2019 - 2021 I made about six trips back and forth from Montréal to Chicago, in our 2019 Tesla Long Range, and I think it was an extra hour for charging out of 23 hours. No deviations or forced stops or inconveniences. My schedule was usually four to six hours drive, stop to pee or eat, and repeat. That was five years ago through combinations of NY Ohio and Indiana, and Michigan and Ontario. Things have gotten better since then.

Sorry to hear that the infra in the UK is so poor. We rented a Model Y and drove around France a couple of years ago with zero issues, is all I know.
 
#57 ·
We rented a Model Y and drove around France a couple of years ago with zero issues, is all I know.
But, gasp! How did you not die? How did you not run out of electricity in the middle of nowhere? It's not even possible - I drove around every hotel on your route and didn't see a charger (although I wasn't actually looking for chargers).

Right. As you said, it's a debate over reality itself. Those who haven't had the experience... Well, they don't seem to know what is going on around them, I guess. I was trying to say that in a nicer way but, well... Give me a break! And somehow climate change isn't real, either. Arthur did say it best and most honestly there... It's our problem to deal with.
 
#58 · (Edited)
Sorry to say that neither of you live here.

. . . Record numbers of people are trading in their EV's to go back to ICE.
LOL. I don’t live in the UK (anymore) and the picture you paint is what people who learn about EVs get from reading newspapers and not communicating with actual owners first hand.


This way when I'm driving down a lonely stretch of two lane like New Mexico 371 between Farmington and Thoreau
LOL. Farmington has a Supercharger and Thoreau has a Supercharger in nearby Grants. Check out https://www.tesla.com/trips.

some people thought elevators and indoor plumbing and satellite internet were bad ideas. Shrug. It’s amusing to watch.

enjoy https://www.carwow.co.uk/mg/news/6825/new-mg-cyberster-price-specs
 
#59 ·
I like to look at issues, not as black or white, but rather as shades of grey.

Is driving an ice car going to kill the planet? No.

Is driving an ev going to cure the planet? No.

Will you be able to drive an ice car 20 to 30 years from now? Yes

Does a slowly broadening reach of evs reduce greenhouse gases and create energy independence? Yes.

United we stand, divided we fall. There’s plenty of room for everyone‘s opinion. Trust me. Plenty of room.

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