00:00europe is under an onslaught of chinese car brands some are obscure others like mg don't
00:06sound chinese at all but these days they are and this is the mg hs ph ev it features class
00:13leading
00:13electric range and a price so low you can basically skip this review and get one regardless of what i
00:19say however i'd really appreciate if you stick around even if it's just for fun so is this mg
00:24hs phdv any good let's find out i compared the mg hs phdv against the toyota rav4 phdv
00:32channel members can watch this review early and without ads
01:14mg is a british brand which like all of the british automotive sector experienced a few ups and many
01:20downs over the years mg had many owners and finally it was acquired by china's saik motor at first new
01:28mg models were designed in the uk but now a growing number of tasks is done in china chinese
01:35car makers lack heritage so the idea was to acquire mg and play the british history card while
01:41introducing modern looking cars so far so good in any case the mg hs is a compact crossover a competitor
01:50to the kia sportage mazda cx5 renault austral and toyota rav4 i see design references here
01:57a bit of mazda in the front and a bit of lexus in the back but if i were to
02:02describe the mg hs to you
02:04i would ask artificial intelligence to draw a crossover and it would probably come out something
02:09like okay maybe ai isn't as close to making people redundant as it's hyped i don't mean to say that
02:17the
02:17mg hs lacks anything in the design department not at all it's an elegant modern car it also attracts
02:23attention because many people don't really know what it is if you've seen a mazda or toyota crossover
02:28once you'll likely recognize other models from these brands meanwhile chinese automakers are still
02:34developing their design language and models in different segments from the same manufacturer often
02:39look completely different well i know car screens aren't everyone's cup of tea i think we can all agree
02:48that they are supposed to make the interior look modern here and now and possibly date it very
02:56quickly but that's a story for another episode if you've never seen one of those recent bmw or mercedes
03:02interiors up close this is a good approximation the wow factor you may also like the faux leather
03:09upholstery as long as you don't hear it squeak when you move the seats the last time i experienced
03:19something like this was in an early renault talisman speaking of seat adjustment the seat memory setting
03:26is on the screen so anna who's much smaller than me gets out and leaves her settings then i have
03:33a choice
03:34of either moving the seat with a button or squeezing in between the seat and the steering wheel starting
03:41the car waiting for the system to launch finding the seat memory settings menu and selecting my position
03:47what's wrong with the seat memory buttons on the doors or on the seat like in any other normal car
03:53there are more such quirks and i will talk about them later for now the cockpit simple and elegant the
04:00display in front of the driver is legible there are three themes to choose from including one with
04:05a panoramic map which even displays information about traffic jams there are several buttons on the
04:12steering wheel um and two joysticks that are poorly labeled one of them is an easy guess that's for the
04:20cruise control the other one must be for volume and tracks but i can't remember which way is volume and
04:26which way is the track also resetting the onboard computer seems to require two buttons and it's not
04:33the most intuitive setup as is the unmarked pull down menu from the top of the central display where you
04:42can
04:42adjust media volume among other things another brilliant idea just like that seat memory setting thing
04:52you want to learn and remember how to access two settings in the menu the first one is the driver
04:58assistance systems every time you start the car you have to turn isa off that's the speed limit beeper
05:04and definitely turn off driver attention monitor it goes off every time you look away from the road which
05:10drives me crazy because i want to look around before i don't know changing lanes the second is the charge
05:18settings mg hs ph ev may have a seven kilowatt onboard charger that can charge the traction battery in
05:24three hours but it's a single phase charger and some homes may not be able to output this much power
05:31on a single phase of course you can reduce the charging power in a energy settings menu but it returns
05:43to
05:43the default setting which is max every time you start the car to my best knowledge you can't change
05:50it from the app because there is a mobile app for this car so you have to click through the
05:55menu before
05:56each charge or limit the charging power on the wallbox side or increase your power allocation to 22 kilowatts
06:03to get seven kilowatts on a single phase or charge from a regular 230 volt socket with your granny charger
06:12android auto is wired and it doesn't really work the connection keeps dropping also usb ports are
06:18still usba the wireless charger isn't very powerful it's enough to maintain charge but not necessarily
06:24add a significant amount of charge to your device the cup holders are too close to the dashboard
06:29taller drinks will scratch this piano black trim element next is a drive selector parking brake and hill
06:37descent assist the storage compartment under the armrest is large the glove box is also quite big the door
06:44the door pockets are flat but deep
06:50so
06:50so
06:50so
06:50so
06:50so
07:10MG advertises the HS PHEV with an electric range of up to 100km WLTP, the brochure even
07:17mentions over 100km but that result isn't homologation data. In reality on a June afternoon
07:24with daytime temperatures around 25 degrees celsius I managed to cover 110km without starting
07:30a combustion engine. If the last section of my test route had not been on an expressway I'd probably
07:36have covered 120 maybe even 130km in electric mode. For most of the route the energy consumption was
07:44around 13kWh per 100km so with a traction battery capacity of over 21kWh this adds up to around
07:52150km on electricity. Let me know if you ever managed to achieve such results.
08:03MG advertises the total range of the HS PHEV to be 1000km. That's taking into account a fully
08:10charged traction battery and a full tank of fuel the capacity of which is 55L. This means an average
08:16fuel consumption of around 6L per 100km which after depleting the main part of the traction battery
08:22is a realistic result for a hybrid like this. The promised time from 0 to 100km per hour is 6
08:29.9
08:29seconds. I achieved 6.8 seconds on a wet surface. When accelerating you can feel that the car doesn't
08:37give you everything right away and then gradually releases more and more power. Thanks to this when
08:43taking off in a straight line even on a wet surface the wheels do not spin. And this PHEV has
08:50a total of 272
08:52horsepower. Unfortunately when taking off with wheels slightly turned the magic is gone and the front
09:01wheels fight for traction. Yes the HS is front wheel drive only regardless of the powertrain. And also
09:09regardless of the powertrain the MG can tow up to 1500kg. Other than that the driving experience is
09:16like in most compact crossover. The car drives okay, stops okay. MG waxes lyrical about the soundproofing
09:23in its promotional materials. However at motorway speeds you have to raise your voice to talk to the
09:35passenger. Visibility is terrible. Thick A pillars and massive mirrors are a recipe for a huge blind
09:40spot which can be dangerous at intersections or pedestrian crossings. The suspension is good on
09:45single bumps but on worse roads you can feel it is working hard. However it is still better than for
09:52example in Korean cars a dozen years ago or so. The adaptive cruise control with lane keeping assist is
09:58good. Much better than what I remember from other Chinese models that I have tested so far. And unlike
10:04many other Chinese models available in Europe the MG HS has already been assessed by Euro NCAP and has
10:11received a five-star safety rating.
10:21There is good legroom and okay-ish headroom in the rear. However the front seats don't slide back as much
10:28as in
10:28some of the rivals. This is as far as it will go. So there will be always a lot of
10:34legroom in the back
10:36but not necessarily a lot of space for taller passengers in the front.
10:41There are large door pockets, pockets in the front seats, an armrest with cup holders, an air-conditioning vent and
10:50two USB-A ports. A tunnel runs through the middle but it's flat. The backrest splits 40-60. There is
10:57no ski hatch.
10:59IceFix anchor points are only on the two rear seats but not in the front. The doors cover the sills
11:06but here we have the optional side steps which in compact crossovers only make it harder to get in without
11:12getting your trousers muddy.
11:14On rainy days all sorts of road dirt accumulates on these side steps and since they are very delicate I
11:20wouldn't actually step on them.
11:23The boot volume is 507 liters. It's got a regular boxy shape. Under the floor is the 12-volt battery
11:30and some element that I do not recognize.
11:33Unfortunately the cargo cover doesn't fit under the floor. There are also no shopping bag hooks. There is a button
11:39to close the boot lid.
11:42Prices for the MG HS start at €27,990 for the basic 1.5 liter petrol non-hybrid model. The
11:50PHEV starts at €39,990. This test car is the luxury trim.
11:56With options which are the brown interior and red paint it costs €43,640.
12:05Is the MG HS PHEV an ideal car? Far from it. Do legacy car makers have anything comparable at this
12:12price point? I don't think so. And how do you like the MG HS? Let me know in the comment
12:18section below.
12:21If you like my sarcastic, down-to-earth and possibly mildly amusing car reviews, join me every Friday at 3pm
12:28Central European Time.
12:30And don't forget to subscribe and like this video as it helps me with the YouTube algorithm.
12:35Thanks for watching and I will see you in the next one.
