Rear-wheel-drive means that the back wheels of the car are the ones that get the power from the engine. This can make the car handle better, especially when driving fast.
The Audi S5 is a stylish car that goes fast and feels luxurious inside. It's a sportier version of the regular Audi A5, and people like it for its good looks and smooth drive.
The MG Urban is a small electric car that's easy to drive in the city. It has features like a heat pump to help keep the car comfortable without using too much energy.
The Renault 5 is a small car made by Renault. It was popular in Europe for being easy to drive and park, and it has a lot of space inside for passengers and luggage.
The Dodge Challenger is a big, sporty car that looks cool and goes really fast. It's famous for its strong engines and classic design, which many people love.
Range is how far an electric car can go before it needs to be charged again. It's important because it tells you how practical the car is for driving long distances.
The Puma Gen E is a small SUV from Ford that is designed to be sporty and practical. It's great for city driving and has modern features to make it user-friendly.
The MG Cyberster is a new electric sports car that looks really cool and is designed to be fun to drive. It's part of MG's effort to make exciting cars for the future.
MG is a car brand that makes budget-friendly vehicles, including electric ones. They have been around for a long time and are now focusing on making cars that are good value for money.
The Tesla Model Y Performance is a fast and efficient electric SUV. It's designed for better performance compared to regular models, making it fun to drive.
The Tesla Model 3 Performance is a faster version of the Model 3 sedan. It's designed for those who want a sportier driving experience with quick acceleration.
The Tesla Model S is a high-tech electric car that can go really fast and doesn't need gas. It's known for its long battery life and cool features that help with driving.
MOT is a yearly test in the UK that checks if cars are safe to drive and meet environmental rules. Cars older than three years need to pass this test to be allowed on the road.
The Audi A6 e-tron is a luxury electric car from Audi. It's designed to be comfortable and high-tech, making it a popular choice for those looking for an electric vehicle with style.
The Volkswagen ID.7 is a new electric car that has a lot of room inside and is easy to drive. It's part of Volkswagen's plan to make more electric cars for everyone.
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is a new electric car that looks cool and has a lot of tech features. It's designed to be eco-friendly and has a roomy inside for passengers and cargo.
The Hyundai Tucson is a small SUV that is popular for its good looks and useful features. It's a great choice for families or anyone needing extra space.
The Renault Modus is a small family car that is easy to drive around town. It's designed to be comfortable and has a lot of space for passengers and their stuff.
The Genesis G80 is a fancy car that has cool features like being able to close the doors automatically with a button. It's a luxury sedan made by the Genesis brand.
The BMW M3 is a fancy car that is built for speed and fun driving. It's a more powerful version of a regular BMW, and people who love cars often talk about it because it's exciting to drive.
The Genesis GV70 is a luxury SUV that offers a lot of nice features and a stylish design. It's made by the Genesis brand and is meant to compete with other high-end SUVs.
The Renault Zoe is a small electric car that's easy to drive and park. It's great for city driving and has a good amount of space inside for passengers and luggage.
'163 miles' means that the car can drive that distance on one full charge of its battery. It's important for electric cars because it tells you how far you can go before needing to plug it in again.
LIVE
Hi, Max. He's Jim, and this is the Charging Status EV podcast. Hey there, mate.
I'm all right. We've been in a nice cosy setting here.
It's nice and cosy, isn't it?
There might be a bit of chat in the background, because we're not the only people here, but
we were at the launch of the MG4.
And the MG4.
And the MG4. Yeah. So the MG4 Urban, which is a completely new car, and then the MG4
has also had a refresh, the thing we know to be the MG4, but they're both going to
be on sale at the same time, aren't they?
Yeah. So both are on sale next week, as of recording.
Right.
So pretty good, really. The original MG4, I call it, has had a very small update on
its exterior, but the interior has had a massive improvement, because that was one thing that
was lacking on the old one, I find, and then they've got the MG4 Urban, which is a bigger
car in nearly every way, but they've been targeting practicality, and it's got smaller
batteries.
And interestingly, at this point in the day, I've driven the Urban, you've driven the
other one. I've just realised, we've left all this on the side.
People don't expect professionalism.
No, not from us.
Not from us, do they?
No.
Yeah. So you said the interior is a big upgrade. I haven't even looked at the new one yet.
The MG4, MG4, which we'll snappily call it, but I always thought the rear-wheel-drive
version of that car, rather than the X-Power, was such a cool thing to drive, just a short-wheel-based
rear-wheel-drive, and it felt like a proper, proper driver's car, but it was let down by
the interior.
Yeah. The interior is now, it's a mismatch of, mitchmash, mismatch. Mitchmash, I've
got MGS6 and the S5 with the MG4 now, so it's a combination of the two. And it's a massive
improvement because you've got better quality materials. The touchscreen actually is quite
good now, and we've got physical buttons for all the climate stuff, which is great.
Has that got a heat pump now or not?
Not sure, because the Urban has a heat pump.
Yeah, this is one of the things with the Urban. So the Urban's front-wheel-drive, really,
it's a completely different car, really, isn't it?
But every one of the Urban's has got front-wheel-drive, which has got a heat pump, which I think is
amazing, especially when you consider it starts at 23.5, and then it goes up to 28, doesn't
it?
Yeah, and actually, I think it's 21.5 with the Grant, the MG Grant.
It's about £1,500 Grant.
It's about £21 something.
Is it? Well, I thought it was £22, or nearly £22.
Might be a £5 under £22, which is incredible.
And they do not send interest on them, which is pretty crazy. The thing with that one is
it's got massive boot and loads of rear legroom. This is not an infomercial, by the way. We
turn up at these things to give honest opinions. We don't get paid by anyone or anything like
that. So I don't want this to come across like an infomercial at all.
But we're looking at something that's similar price to Renault 5, similar price to the Insta,
that's a much bigger car.
The top two trims are what, 258 miles a range?
Roughly, yeah.
Is it?
Yeah.
With a heat pump, they don't charge particularly fast.
No.
Was it 87 kilowatts?
Roughly, yeah.
Higher ones, but LFP back through.
Like, it just looks like an amazing price. I think MG as a brand now are quite well
established in the UK.
But now the Challenger brands are coming from China, which they were a Challenger brand.
But it's a sign that they're aware of that, and they're kind of like, here you go then.
Yeah, so they've offered two different trims. So it's interesting, the MG4,
as we know it, the original one, doesn't even exist anymore in China.
They've discontinued it as far as I understand them. The MG4 Urban is the MG4.
So I think they've left, I think if they only had the MG4 Urban here, we'd be lacking that
drivability that we're used to from the existing MG4. So yeah, it's good.
I've taken the MG4 out on some B roads earlier, because it was horrible and raining,
but it did seem really fun still, which was good.
They have given it a bit more range as well.
Yeah, so the old MG4 had a smaller 49 kWh battery pack, I think, and they've dropped that,
and the new ones only got bigger batteries. And then if you want a smaller range of a car,
you go for the MG4 Urban now.
Obviously life would have been easier if they called the Urban something else.
MG Urban. Yeah, that would have worked quite well.
Yeah, there's a thought. But there we go. So it all gets a bit confusing when we're talking
about these things, and even between us. I mean, I was down, which one of you driven,
and I said to the guy, I have the MG4 Urban, and he's like, okay, so you need an Urban.
I'm like, no, you've driven me Urban. So you need standard MG4. Here's one. And I'm like, that's an
Urban. Yeah, I think that's one thing that's not. They do the range quite simply, don't they?
Because it's like three trim levels. The only options, paint, which is fantastic.
Yeah, which is brilliant. But the naming of them is perhaps a little bit confusing.
Yeah, yeah. I guess the most natural rival for that Urban would be the full Puma Gen E,
wouldn't it? I'd say so, yeah. I mean, you could even say they've had a look at the design of the
Puma Gen E possibly in places, although the design guy who was telling us they've modelled it off the
Cyberster, which... Yeah, I thought the design was really good out of the Urban. I mean,
when that car got announced, it was basically not going to come here at all. Originally,
I was really quite disappointing, but glad they had bought it. It looks quite nice.
Yeah. It's a nice understated design, quite friendly looking, whereas the
standard MG4 is a bit more aggressive and quite angular. Yeah. Yeah, so it's quite nice.
But with the higher battery in the Urban, when you look at it, to get to the bigger battery version,
with that EV Grant, 24 grand, which is mad. And it'll do 258 miles WLTP and it's got a heat pump.
Yep. Every car's got wireless Apple CarPlay, wireless Android Auto,
loads of room in the back. You could get three adults in the back of that car without a problem.
That's impressive. And there's tow room under the seat in front, because that's one of my big bug
bears at the moment, is rear tow room. And 577 litres of boot space. Yeah. It looks very promising.
And a seven year warranty. Yeah. No, MG warranty.
Oh, okay. There's a lot of these brands now are advertising big warranties, but after three years,
the amount you're actually covered for is pretty low. Oh, okay. Yeah. And I think MG is one of those
where it's a seven year warranty. Okay. But I haven't read it word for word, I must admit.
Okay. All 80,000 miles. And which again, to be fair, most of the competition is giving you
three years and that's the end of that. Yep. So even if you're covered for this much after three years,
that's that much more than you would get on a Ford, for example. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah.
But yeah, we just thought we're actually here together. So might as well film a podcast.
Yeah. Yeah. What'd you drive down here in? Got the Model Y performance at the moment.
Yeah. The new one. Yeah. Spoilers. Well, you don't have to spoil it. What do you think of it?
It's good. Yeah. Yeah, it's really good. It handles really well. It doesn't handle, which
obviously sounds quite silly saying it, but it doesn't handle quite as well as the Model 3
performance. Yeah. It's a bigger car, but the range is good. It charges quick. Yeah. And it goes
like stink. And I think, I think it's the best looking model why they've ever done. Because
when I reviewed this... That is a low bar. I know. Well, and if you are some people, it's not. I know.
But if you ask me, I mean, I've got sight and everything. I know I'd have to wear glasses,
but I can see. So when the when the facelifted Model 3 made a Y came out, I reviewed that
recently. It didn't just look a bit weird. And the light bar at the front, I don't know,
whereas the performance, it just solves all of those problems for me because it just looks mad.
It does look a bit more purposeful. It just looks great. And the seats are really comfortable.
You've got thigh support on the seats now, which is a first. So yeah, it's good. I like the
cheap one, the standard as it is now. Yeah. Well, actually, they've changed the names again.
How have they? They just call it Model Y now. Oh, is that it? Yeah. Right. Okay. So Model Y or
Model Y performance? You've got Model Y and then Model Y premium and then Model Y performance,
I'd say. Right. So the Model Y pause. Yeah. The fact that hasn't got the light bar,
I think it's quite cool. They could almost do that as an option, like no cost option.
Do you want the light bar? Yes or no? Yeah. But I guess they're all about one size fits all and
that keeps the production cost down and blah, blah, blah. But yeah, ideal world and all that.
Yeah. I think it looks great. The design looks awesome. I've got it in a couple of weeks,
actually. It might be the same car. All right. So don't trap any farts in it or anything. I'll
leave it Greg's surprise for you. Yeah. Yeah. I came down in the something that's very not
electric. Right. Yeah, four litre BMW X3 M50. So is that the X3 M? No, it's the X3 M50. Okay.
Yeah. And I mean, it's great, obviously. But I mean, the weather was absolutely atrocious.
I drove for two and a half hours to get here yesterday. And for all of those two and a half
hours, my wipers were at max and really like only just keeping up. It was atrocious like driving
conditions. Absolutely atrocious. And then the hotel where I stayed last night had a tiny,
tiny car park. And I thought, I haven't actually looked to see how much this BMW cost yet because
it arrived on my drive yesterday and I had to leave five minutes later. But I thought,
this is a car that I don't want to be taken into a very tight car park. Yeah. You don't want to
get a car like that and say, thanks for the loan. It's crashed. Yeah. Yeah. Although MG4.
Oh, yeah. Oh, I won't bring that up again. That was your first press car, wasn't it? Three years ago.
Yeah. Three years. That's mad. Maybe it's a few months in change. But yeah,
to be fair, never you've been doing it for three years, you would assume you would have got
better in that time. I haven't. I've got worse. Yeah, still just as useless as before.
Oh, dear. But yeah, we mentioned potholes, I think on the last episode,
and they're potholes around here. Bloody hell. It's unbelievable. It's really bad. Yes.
Yeah. We're in the Chilton Hills, I think. Yeah. Is it Marlowe? I don't know. I don't know.
I just sent my sat-nav and blinked where I am. Yeah. But yeah, the state of the roads is
absolutely atrocious. I mean, they're bad enough already, but there's rain we've had recently,
which is the sort of stuff you read about in the Bible if you're that way inclined.
I mean, I don't think the roads in this country have ever been worse, have they?
No, they're really bad at the moment. There's somewhere I got off the M40. That was it. I
turned left off the M40, and there was a massive dip in the road that people were slowing down for
so they could navigate it like an off-road course. I read something the other day, and I
actually wrote a little article afterwards about cars that are most likely to fail their first
MOTs, and everyone used it as like an anti-EV. It was all spun that way. Yeah. But
because I think out of the top 10, there were like four EVs, and it has a Model Y and has a Model
3 in there. But the thing that a lot of people missed, I think, with that story is that in three
years, those cars have normally never been on a mechanics ramp. So nothing's been picked up on
them. They've had no maintenance whatsoever. And one of the things they seem to be doing is
top mounts with shocks and brake corrosion is the other thing, which my model was,
squeaks like anything when you go in the road. This one did, actually. Right, yeah.
Already, yeah. This one's not really old. And my three did it the other day.
But with the roads as they are now, that's going to only get worse, isn't it?
You put a lot of stress on our car. It's just going to get worse. And obviously, when it's a heavy
car, the shocks are going to take the brunt of it. But I don't know, I feel like I should be able to
give the bill to the government and say, well, I've done my bit. I've paid my tax.
And send email in and voice through. Yeah. I've got my first tax request for the Model Y yesterday.
All right. Yeah. Because when the tax came in, I did that thing where I just taxed it before I had to.
So I got 11 months. But yeah, 195 quid for my zero emissions vehicle.
Thanks, government. Notice I put an S on the end to avoid blue team or red team going bananas.
But yeah, I feel like you should be able to, for things like that, for shocks on a new car,
you should be able to go, sorry, government, but you didn't keep your end of bargain up
and actually fix the road. So therefore, pay that for us. Cheers. Do you think it would work?
Give it a go. Can't be a harm, can it? Just send an unstamped letter.
They can pay to receive it then. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
What else have you been driving lately? You've been quite busy, I think.
I had the A6 e-tron last week. Oh, yeah. I loved that, actually. Yeah.
The ridiculous thing about it is the price. Oh. And they've just silly little things,
like in the interior, the door pull handles to get out. They've got like a blanked off switch on them.
And it's an 80,000 pound car. And it was a lovely, lovely thing that I totally fell in love with.
It's not the most luxurious interior or the most anything really, but
like if I had a company car today, it would probably be that because I had A3s and A4s,
and it was a natural kind of fit for me. And the consumption was also way off the claimed figure,
the WLTP figure. Oh, yeah. Whether it's been atrocious, everything's been on,
but I was getting 100 and something under WLTP. I think it's 435 on the one I had.
Yeah. And I'd worked out I was going to get 320 to 330. Which is still really good.
Amazing. Yeah. Like more than anyone needs. Yeah. And it's on 800-volt architecture.
Yeah. So you can charge it ultra rapidly. So it's utterly, utterly fine.
But I would have been happier if that was
even 350 in the winter and like 38390 in the summer.
But no one needs to do 400 miles in a stretch. And yes, you can plug it in for
10 minutes and it'll probably put 80 miles, 100 miles into it. But it was a bit off.
But the price was just off 80,000 pounds. Yeah. Too much.
Yeah. But even ID7, if you go for a nicely specced ID7, you're 60-ish.
Yeah. You know. Yeah. When you look at that compared to what you can get from Genesis for that price.
Yeah. Like, why, why? Like. I know. That's, yeah. Yeah. I'm not sure.
What about you? What do you have last week? I've had the Model Y for just under two weeks,
just based on, I needed it longer because of this week. I'm actually
recording another video tomorrow, the X-Pen G6. Right. Okay. I didn't have time to give the car
back and stuff. So I needed it for a bit longer. So I can't remember. I think we've just discussed
what I had last time, whatever it was. Oh, okay. Not really sure. Yeah, we probably did.
I've got the Tesla Model 3 pause. Yep. On the 20th, I think, is the launch for that.
Okay. Well, February. Yeah. So I'm guessing it'll be kind of what we saw with the Tesla Model Y pause.
Which will be very similar car, suspension, maybe not quite so good. And they haven't finished the
frunk. Yeah. But we'll wait and see. It'll be interesting to see how they price that one. I
think they've announced it yet, have they? I think they have. Oh, have they? I think so.
What's that going to start from? Some amount of money. I will check. I will check one second.
Don't think it's too, but I think you can order it today already. Oh, yeah.
There's already on the configurator, yeah. Right. So look. Yeah. It's £37,990. Okay. So
basically the same as they did with the Model Y, which is not
two or three grand off and started there. But it will force more people into paying
a bit more for the premium. Yeah. But I'll be interested to see because
the Model 3, the new Model 3 has obviously been around longer than the Model Y. So
I wonder if the suspension will be different.
Mm-hmm. Because obviously the way they did it with the Model Y is it was quite a quick
transition really, wasn't it? Yeah. So I wonder if it will still have the good suspension.
I mean, you know, I much I love the drive than the Model 3, the Highland, as it were.
And if you can get that, then all they've done is take the screen out of the back,
change the centre console and haven't finished the front. You still got the sunroof in that one.
So. Oh, have they not covered it ever? That's still there. Right. Not sure why.
That's an interesting. I'd imagine it's something to do with the centre pillar thing.
Because the Y has a completely flat roof. Yeah. Whereas the 3 has that thing in the middle.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, they said the reason they did it in the Y
covered it is so they could use imperfect glass. Oh, really? Yeah. That's the whole reason for
covering it. They say that the glass panel actually provides more structural rigidity in
that setup than if they put metal there. Oh, really? So they want the glass for the strength.
They can use cheaper glass. But they can use stuff with slight imperfections that they wouldn't put
in a standard car. That makes sense. A premium car. Yeah. Performance car. Yeah. Not a blank.
The Model Y pause. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right, people, not enough of you are following us
on YouTube. So please subscribe. If you're listening to this on your chosen podcast platform,
please follow, like, share, subscribe, generally give thanks and love in any way that you can.
Because, yeah, it all helps. It does. Yes. Yeah. There we go. What have you got coming up in terms
of events and different things you'll drive in soon? I've got a Hyundai Drive Day tomorrow.
Hyundai? Hyundai. He said Hyundai. No. And I think I've booked out the Ioniq 5,
the standard one. They've got the N there, but I'm just not going to put myself through it again.
And something else, I can't remember what else I've booked. Oh, the Tucson, I think,
because I haven't had the latest Tucson. Nice. And then I've got a couple of JQs coming up.
I think they're plug-in hybrids, but I can't quite remember, or modus. Oh, you mean the event
we've got? Yeah. It's a modus. A modus. Yeah. There you go. And then next month, I'm going to meet
Jonathan Portfield at Shoreham Car Orchins. Oh, nice. And have a mixtrain in some used cars.
I might do a little video there, or if not, I'll help Jonathan do one. I don't really know.
Sounds good. Looking forward to that. Where is that? Is that up north somewhere? Shoreham.
Near Brighton. Brighton. Yeah. That's a bit of a drive for him, then.
Just a bit, yeah. Given that he lives in Auckland. Jesus.
He gets around though, doesn't he? He does, yeah. I mean, he's driven to Spain again. I think he's on
his way back pretty soon. Is that a play to him? Yeah. But yeah, I mean, Jonathan seems like a
used EV space as well. So that'd be really good, actually. I'm looking forward to that. Unfortunately,
I can't go on the day of the actual auction. So I'm going to be there the day before. But I think
on the day of the auction, Andrew Till's going to be in there, and they're going to do something
together. So that'd be good. Yeah. Pretty good. Yeah. What about you? Likely, I've got a motor event.
X-Pane tomorrow. X-Pane tomorrow. So that's two modus in a few weeks' time. And then I've got the
Genesis G80, the new one. Oh. Yeah. Oh. The one where you can close the doors from a button.
Oh, hello. Yeah. And then you've got the GV70 after that as well. Right. So back-to-back
luxury. Nice. I had to close doors on the button in that BMW i7 I had. Oh, yeah. And
absolutely no reason to ever use it. And it actually takes longer than just closing the door.
But the amount of joy it brought me every time I did it, which was every time I needed to close
the door. Well, in this Genesis, what you can do is you can, if the doors are open,
you can close it from the driver's seat, both of them in the back, from the back doors.
And then the doors and sows are open from a button, and you close them, they close like that.
So. Boys in their toys. I know. I thought it was a good size, but maybe it is small.
Great. I also saw the new Twingo in person. Yeah. It's really cool, isn't it? I went to London
last weekend for work and then popped in to go into the Twingo because I was so excited.
Yeah. And yeah, I was in there by myself because no one else was in there. Right. I don't know why.
In the middle of the day on a Saturday, no one in there. Maybe because you went in. I think it's
as I enter the door, sort of put everyone else in. Yeah. Yeah. It's just a sort of fun vacuum.
Yeah. Yeah. That's me. But I'm impressed. It's not a very big car, but they packaged it really
well. It looks so cool though, doesn't it? It looks amazing. Yeah. And the seats slide around in
the back. The boots are good size. The interior has got a Renault Zoe steering wheel and bits and
pieces from that, which makes sense. Yeah. But they've got the same software as they got in the
Renault 5, so it makes sense. Do we know how much that's going to be yet? Under 20 grand. Yeah.
I just, I'd like to know how much under. I reckon 17. Yeah. If I tell you what, if it was,
that could do very well. But with this today at 22, it needs to not be $19,995.
No, it needs to be, I reckon it'll be $17. Yeah. Because you'll get 163 miles out of it.
Geez. On a battery that's around the same size as a Renault Honda E.
Which is like VWE up range, isn't it? Yeah. Officially. Yeah. And it's got,
doesn't have a heat pump. That's not included. And charges feed limited to 50k kilowatts.
Can you get a heat pump? No. I don't think you can option that either.
That's a shame because that was one thing with my, me that I had, my electric, me electric,
is that, you know, winter range was probably 90 or 100 miles.
And maybe 130 summer, but like the thermal management bits missing. I get why they wouldn't
put it in their cheapest possible car. But I always think that it should be an option now.
Like we've seen the effects of it in this country and the benefit of having one.
And if you don't think there's any benefit or you don't need it, don't option it. But otherwise,
800 quid or something. I tick that box. Yep. No, I would. But also the fact that the,
in terms of price and the fact that Renault 5 is around 21 grand at the moment with the
discounts and stuff because it gets the government grant. It needs to be not too close to the 5.
It needs to be a bit further down. So yeah. Yeah. It needs to be way off than it really.
I reckon 17, hopefully. And then that might sort of inform what VW does with the ID one. Yeah.
We shall see. Exciting times. Indeed. We're not going to film some more colors,
am I? Yeah. I've got another one to film. You've got another one to film. Yeah.
All right. Thanks so much for watching or listening to the Charging Status podcast.
You can find all my car reviews at the interface cars on YouTube and my website,
theinterface.uk. What about you, Jim? You can find me at notaguro.co.uk or on the YouTube channel,
which is definitely not a guru. Fantastic. Thanks for watching or listening and we'll see you again
next time. Bye-bye.
About this episode
The episode dives into the launch of the new MG4 and MG4 Urban, highlighting significant interior upgrades and practicality features. The hosts discuss their driving experiences, comparing the two models and their battery options. They also touch on the competitive pricing and features like heat pumps and warranties. Additionally, there's a light-hearted banter about their current vehicles, including a Tesla Model Y and a BMW X3 M50, while addressing the state of UK roads and common issues with EVs. The episode balances technical insights with personal anecdotes, making it engaging for listeners.
Alex and Jim are back together in person to talk about the new MG4 and the MG4 Urban, with the latter starting at a very competitive price. They also discuss the Tesla Model Y Performance that Alex has been driving and the new ultra-cute Renault Twingo.
