The new MG4 EV - is this a sign that electric cars are now affordable?

Could the new MG4 EV be a sign that electric cars are at last affordable?

There are reasons NOT to get an electric car. Let’s face it … the world is imperfect and challenging after all. There suddenly seems to be political, social and economic factors forcing personal and business customers down the electric car lease route. But even though our expert team are happy to work with you and secure your business, it’s important that the car and the finance package we utilise (contract hire) is suitable for your needs and requirements.

Only earlier this week, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), our industry regulator, announced some big changes to the financial services market. In particular, they have announced clearer standards of consumer protection to ensure that:

“consumers should receive communications they can understand, products and services that meet their needs and offer fair value, and they get the customer support they need, when they need it…”
(See Consumer Duty report here)

For leasing brokers like e-car lease, this means that we must ensure that the standards of customer care, service and information are at the utmost of standards. For us this just isn’t about contract hire being a suitable usership product for you or the business but it does mean considering the way in which the EV operates in conjunction with your lifestyle.

There are factors like range, charging speeds, charging times, charging infrastructure at home / workplace and whole of life costs which must be taken into account. This is precisely why the “living with your …” tools exist on the website as they clearly set out everything you or the fleet manager need to know in order to ascertain product suitability.

But is cost not an obstacle for a battery electric vehicle?

The first thing we do ask PCH, BCH and Salary Sacrifice customers is to understand that the monthly finance rental is just one aspect to take into account. On a standard driver-maintained contract hire agreement, the price you receive from our team will be based on the finance rental only without considering servicing, maintenance, tyres, MOTs, fuel or charging infrastructure.

Whether you want a combustion or pure electric car, you need to absorb all of these financials if you truly want to make a sage financial decision. While the actual cost of the vehicle is often determinative of the monthly price (the bigger the OTR, the higher the rental), there are other factors like residual value and whole of life costs which do need to br utilised as part of the assessment process.

As a starter, ask for a funder-maintained agreement in order to understand the inclusive cost of servicing, maintenance, tyres and breakdown recovery. As part of the process, we can introduce you to Rightcharge as part of a price comparison on the home or workplace charge point infrastructure. Their unique charge point website is an amazing resource for personal and business customers.

So are EVs more costly?

If you are reviewing like-for-like cars in petrol and electric format, it is often the case that the initial purchase price is higher with the batteries. While the Plug-In Grant from the UK Government did help minimise this, since its removal earlier this year, customers are reliant on the manufacturer or finance company applying discount or special offer rates.

But the gap is closing as more manufacturers not only make the shift to zero-emission but look to assist each other in the process with more JV’s and partnerships now in place. To meet the tough eco deadlines which many Governments worldwide are imposing on the automotive producers, there needs to be collaboration to meet this cost-effectively.

And it hasn’t gone unnoticed that the majority of the cars being launched are over £40,000 in cost, making them unaffordable for many UK customers. For company car and sal sac users, there is a big incentive on the tax element to use these battery options but the same advantage does not exist in the consumer market. In the last 18 months - 2 years, we have seen more cost-effective and affordable EVs like the Corsa-e, e-208, 500e and this MG, the MG4 EV be released in the public domain.

Will the new MG4 EV be the Car of the Year 2023?

MG are now one of the hot favourites for the EV manufacturer of the year in 2023. Not only will the new MG4 EV be available to officially offer in September 2022 but this Chinese manufacturer have already revised the ZS and overhauled the MG5 estate too! The icing on the cake is this new cheap hatchback, which will go head to head with the likes of the VW Id.3 and Cupra Born plus the other aforementioned hatchback options above. And the group really have choice and budget firmly on their agenda as they announce two key options to select including:

MG4-EV-Car-Lease-Salary-Sacrifice

51 kWh - a smaller battery which could cost as little as £25,000, will still be a practical and enjoyable daily EV hatch. Capable of 9 second 0-62 times, 125kW (or 168hp) and top speeds of 99 mph, this is still a relative pocket-rocket. Expect 155 miles in winter on a full charge with warmer weather opening this to 215 miles. A 7.4 kW AC charging capability enables 8 hour 0 - 100% charging times with the 100 kW DC paving way for 32 minute 10 - 80 % rapid charging capability; and
64 kWh - the- bigger battery could cost less than £30,000 making it one of the cheapest EVs to lease. Capable of 8 second 0-62 times, 150 kW (or 201hp) and top speeds of 99 mph, this is still a relative pocket-rocket. Expect 190 miles in winter on a full charge with warmer weather opening this to 260 miles. A 7.4 kW AC charging capability enables 10 hour 0 - 100% charging times with the 125 kW DC paving way for 31 minute 10 - 80 % rapid charging capability.

MG4-EV-Car-Lease-Best Offer

Built on the Modular Scalable Platform (MSP) this will be the first of the new state of the art MG models. And this model sets to build on the success of the new MG ZS, which adopts the SE, Trophy and Trophy Connect specification line-up.

As you can see in the latest picture of the MG4, much of the technology and digitisation which you see across German brands like Audi, BMW and Mercedes, plus the Tesla brand, are being adopted here - the floating 10.12% touchscreen is consistent with many other competing brands. Ergonomics and simplicity are clearly high up on the MG agenda.

And not unlike the best EV producer, Tesla, the latest model from MG will feature the over the air updates, so that customers can update their vehicle without needing to visit their local retailer. When you consider this amongst the purported OTR for the new MG hatch, it’s difficult to see there being a more popular EV in 2023. And when you combine the other options - the MG ZS and MG5 - you wonder which manufacturer will be able to match the success of the MG.