MG Europe recently presented the MG 5 EV for the European market, a completely new electric station wagon for our part of the world. And what does MG do? The brand casually presents a completely new generation of the 5 in China. How about that?
Earlier this month, MG Europe presented the MG HS, also intended for the Dutch market, a big brother of the ZS EV that will only appear on the Dutch price lists as a plug-in hybrid. At the same time, MG Europe presented the 5 EV for the English market, an electrically powered station wagon of which it cannot be ruled out that it will also come to the Netherlands in the long term. However, that MG 5 EV is nothing more than the electric version of the Roewe i5, sold in China since 2017, but with MG logos.
That is no coincidence; like MG, Roewe is a brand of the Chinese manufacturer SAIC Motor. In China, MGs 5 are also supplied with combustion engines, but these are completely different cars that share their basis with the Roewe 350. The MG 5 is not only available as a hatchback, but also has a sedan brother in the form of the MG GT. A new generation of the MG 5 / GT has now been presented in China, which does not share its carriage, but does share its basis with the several years old Roewe i5, which is therefore coming to England as MG 5 EV. Are we still there?
The Roewe i5 (electric Ei5 variant) that comes to England as MG 5 EV.
The new MG 5 has a much more modern looking body than its predecessor. The design is almost Korean, with a little imagination it could just be a Hyundai. In the design of the rear lights we perceive a hint of Peugeot, but the whole shows absolutely nothing wrong. The MG 5 is 4.68 meters long and has a wheelbase of 2.68 meters. The engine list will include two 1.5-liter turbo petrol engines from GM. The most powerful version delivers 173 hp, although a 120 hp version is also available. Later this year, the new MG 5 will hit the Chinese market.