MG’s range in Ireland includes electric, hybrid, and plug-in hybrids since the brand’s relaunch in the Irish market in 2021.

BY TRISH WHELAN

The HS Plug-in hybrid SUV is marketed as a good option for families and eco-conscious drivers as it combines the space and style of a full-size SUV with the efficiency and low running costs of electric driving. The model competes in the C-segment crossover-SUV segment.

Although owned and built by the Chinese SIAC Motor Company, MG cars are produced with European drivers in mind, and this is evident in their styling. 

The front’s diamond grille with the big MG badge in the centre attracts plenty of attention. My car had side running boards to help get in and out, bright 18-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels, and roof rails. The design has a 2,765mm wheelbase, which allows for a spacious cabin and good luggage capacity. 

High-quality materials and premium finishes are evident throughout the cabin. The nicely designed soft leather sports seats offered great comfort and supported my back. The driver’s seat has power six-way adjustments but no memory settings, while the front passenger’s seat has just four-way adjustments. Both seats can be heated. However, the tan-coloured upholstery in my car wouldn’t be my choice. 

The straight-across dash is dominated by the 10.1-inch floating infotainment touchscreen, which provides weather updates, live traffic information, access to Amazon Music, and smartphone connectivity for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The customisable 12.3-inch driver information screen provides current speed and allows a selection of drive modes: comfort, normal or sport. 

Big side mirrors are set high and merge with the thickness of the a-pillars, which made me extra cautious when approaching roundabouts. Blind spot monitors helped a lot. The transmission selector is on the central console along with the electric brake.

My top exclusive-grade car had keyless entry, push button engine start, front fog lights, rear parking sensors and rear wiper, dual zone auto air conditioning, ambient lighting, 12v power socket and USB port, an electric parking brake with autohold, downhill-descent and power tailgate. 

The 360-degree surround-view camera allows excellent visibility all around the car.

There’s no volume button on the dash, only on the steering wheel, along with voice control and a ‘favourites’ star button that brings you to the driving assist screen, where you can turn off all the annoying alerts before you drive off. I turned off the driver fatigue alert and the driver distraction monitoring, the latter with a camera fitted on the lower a-pillar. It tells you to focus on your driving if you glance away from the road for even a few seconds. I retained the active emergency braking with pedestrian and bike detection, rear cross traffic assist, door opening warning, and rear collision warning, all excellent features in a family car. 

The rear provides good leg room even behind a six foot tall person in front, and good headroom for most adults. Rear seats split 60:40 and can recline for extra comfort. A very low tunnel won’t cause foot problems for the person in the middle rear seat. 

Luggage space of 507 litres can extend to 1,484 litres with rear seats down, and so can accommodate a big amount of the ‘stuff’ a family needs to take along with them. The boot has a high floor and an area below for cables. 

The PHEV powertrain consists of a 142ps 1.5 petrol engine paired with a 154kW electric motor and 24.7kWh battery, which makes the car quite sprightly and allows a 0-100km/h time of 6.8 seconds.

There’s a (claimed) fully electric range of up to 120km, ideal for urban commutes, though the 258hp entry ‘Excite’ model has a shorter electric range of 52km. The combined petrol/EV driving range is over 1,000 km.

When the electric range runs out, the car automatically switches to the petrol hybrid engine. My car returned a frugal fuel consumption of 4.8 L/100km over a lengthy drive.

The voice control was unable to understand when I asked to change radio stations, and the big reversing camera went AWOL on the first day, but reappeared the next morning. 

The model is one of the best-value large PHEVs on the Irish market. A lovely car to drive once you have turned off the frustrating alerts. All models are backed by a manufacturer’s warranty of seven years, or 150,000 km.