We put the new MGS5 EV through the wringer of daily life – school runs, charging, office, shop trips and weekend adventures. Can this small electric SUV make sense for the average Australian family?
Sponsored by MG
Let me start with a confession – I wasn’t sure the 2025 MGS5 EV could handle everything that I was about to throw at it. A wriggling toddler, school runs, trips to the shops, office and running around as part of my role as presenter of Drive TV.
It’s a lot for any car, let alone an electric one – and a small SUV, at that. Would I be stranded somewhere waiting for it to charge? Would it be too small? And I hate to say it, but would it feel premium enough inside?
Forget your average car review – welcome to the toughest test I could imagine for any new car, a week with the Lydka-Morris clan. Can an electric SUV really work for my Australian family?
MGS5 EV: First Impressions
Some of my motoring journalist colleagues in the Drive office say that MGs aren’t what they used to be. They don’t mean they’re no longer quaint, mid-engine sports cars made in a village somewhere in Britain. They mean that the interior quality, fit and finishes have come a long way.
They’re right. Sitting inside the MGS5 EV, I’m struck by the amount of space for a small SUV, and how nice it feels.
MG says the ultra-thin battery – mounted under the cabin floor – is shorter than the height of a Coke can, meaning more headspace all-round, and more leg-room in the back. No more clunky drivetrain under your feet. With its wider cabin, there’s also plenty of space to spread out for a small SUV.
As for the finish, the materials feel upmarket, and I love the suede-feel finish around the centre console. Wireless Apple CarPlay (or Android Auto, if you’re an Android user) presents beautifully on the 12.8-inch infotainment display, and the standard panoramic glass roof of my Essence-spec test car lets in a huge amount of natural light.
And can you believe it – there are physical buttons for the air-conditioning. Actual buttons!
MGS5 EV vs The School Run
Now, I know I won’t have to preach to the choir about this one, but anyone with a young family knows that school mornings are absolute chaos. With a toddler in one arm (wriggling like an eel), a bag over one shoulder, and another in the other hand, thank the heavens for the MGS5 EV’s power-operated boot, which requires a simple wave of a foot under the rear bumper to open.
Inside, with its myriad clever nooks and crannies, the MGS5 EV somehow swallows up everything swirling around in a standard day.
I live in Sydney, which everyone knows is a nightmare for narrow streets and squished carparks. The MGS5 EV’s 360-degree parking camera is an absolute godsend. Especially when you’re trying to squeeze into a tiny space as a near-three-year-old is belting out their best rendition of The Bluey Theme Song.
RELATED: Visit the MGS5 EV Showroom
Charging the MGS5 EV at home
It turns out, needing to plug in a smartphone every day for the last decade or two has prepared me well for an EV. Plugging it in at home felt natural, and I used the MG iSmart app to set a charging schedule (for use with an off-peak electricity plan, or home solar). By morning, it was fully charged and ready to go with 425km of range anew. And, I could forget worrying, ever again, about needing to pull into a petrol station with a child in the car.
MG claims you can charge this particular spec from 30 to 80 per cent in just 19 minutes – which is excellent – all you’ll need to find is a fast charger. If you’re charging at home using a home-installed wallbox, MG estimates it will take 7.5 hours to charge from zero to 100 per cent. Sounds like a decent night’s sleep to me!
Weekend Life with the MGS5 EV
The MGS5 EV’s 453 litres of boot space means you can pack a couple of small suitcases or a suitcase and a pram, a hold-all, a gym bag… essentially, this boot is more than capable of hosting a family getaway. In fact, we managed to transport a bed and all its parts in this car the other day, along with my entire family, too. So it may be small, but it is mighty.
Working for Drive, I spend a lot of time in many new cars. And something I love about the MGS5 EV is that you can set up custom profiles for the active safety features – turning them off easily with every drive, or selecting exactly the assistance you want and need. I love this feature for a family road trip because, for a drive along highways to a city I don’t know, I want different safety features than when I’m just doing short drives around suburbs I know like the back of my hand.
MG S5 EV: The Verdict
I was pleasantly surprised with the MGS5 EV. I thought it would be too small, recharging would be fiddly, and, given the impressive price point, the interior would lack the quality I hoped for.
It may be a small SUV, but it’s big enough for a family road trip and strikes that brilliant balance of practical and fun. And it looks good, which helps.
There’s also knowing it’s got a 10-year warranty and a five-star ANCAP safety rating.
Despite the entry-level price tag, MG hasn’t cut any corners, and as a young mum, I have to give them five stars of my own for this. For driver safety, the MGS5 EV Pilot Active Safety Suite includes advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) like Adaptive Cruise Control, Traffic Jam Assist, Active Emergency Braking, Blind Spot Detection and Lane Keep Assist.
Easy and economical, especially when recharging at home, I could see the MGS5 EV being an ideal second family car for us. The only other confession here is that I was more than a bit glum to give it back.
The post Does the electric MGS5 EV make sense as an Aussie family car? appeared first on Drive.
