MG S5 is a spacey, solid family EV that’s smooth on the road & a good price – but it struggles to stand out

MG has now passed a tipping point in the public view.

People fall into two camps.

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One group link the name with classic roadsters driven by blokes in tweed with socket sets.

The other group see MG as just another modern car maker.

They might or might not know it’s actually Chinese owned and built.

In just a very few years, the second group has come to hugely outnumber the first.

Mid-size crossovers are the cars everyone wants today, and MG has recently launched two.

The HS is petrol.

The S5 is the electric one.

The S5 is a ground-up electric design, with different styling and engineering to the HS. Not that you’d immediately spot it. They’re both pretty generic.

But as it has no engine, the S5 doesn’t have a big grille. Its daylight LEDs are mounted high up and the headlamps are below. It gives some interest to the featureless wind-cheating face.

Prices start at £28,495. That’s low for a family EV, but then the battery is small so the range short.

I drove the longer range one, good for a real-world 220 miles or so.

Inside, it’s big enough for a growing family, and the boot ought to take in most of their clobber.

But outside, it’s actually shorter than most big-selling family crossovers. So in a city it’s handily compact and parkable.

MG has raised its game for interior quality, too. It has well-trimmed dash and seats, a decent screen interface.

It’s not all screen-operated though. No need to jab at the screen just to change the ventilation. There are actual metal buttons, which both add an effect of jewellery and make it easy to use.

On the road, it’s quiet and smooth, like any good EV.

Acceleration is pretty strong in this top-spec version. Electric range is only average, but that’s because the battery is also smallish, pegging the price low.

It’s rear-wheel drive, so doesn’t spin a front wheel if you give it the beans out of a roundabout. The suspension rounds off most bumps, and doesn’t float so they shouldn’t need sick bags in the back.

So it’s an OK car at a good price. But is that enough?

Having established itself as just another modern car maker, MG needs to make itself look different.

Its cars are hard to hard to tell apart from so many other brands.

So MG has resorted to a social media campaign reminding everyone of its century-old tweedy sports car heritage.

Heritage that five years ago it was furiously running away from.

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