A cheap electric car with 500km of driving range? Meet what could be the basis for the new 2025 MG2 EV hatchback

MG recently revealed to overseas media that it is working on a smaller companion to the new and larger MG3, and that it would be an affordable fully electric model.

The comments, made to Autocar by the brand’s UK product planning chief, David Allison, indicate that a concept MG2 already exists and could hit the market by 2025.

He said: “There’s a huge opportunity for someone who can get to the four-metre EV for around €20,000 (AU$33,000). I think someone can do that with an acceptable range, decent-sized car around that price, and I think that person will clean up with it, and why not us?”

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Interestingly, this week, MG’s sister brand in its Chinese home market, Wuling, announced a new version of its city-sized Bingo hatchback, packing an impressive 510km driving range from a relatively small 50.6kWh battery pack.

Wuling, which is a joint-venture between MG’s SAIC parent company and General Motors, said it achieved this impressive range from such a small battery pack thanks to a new lithium-ion battery pack with a much-improved temperature management system, a new compact electric motor and a new cooling system which it says is capable of 97.5 percent energy efficiency. 

Don’t expect performance to set the world on fire, though, with the electric motor producing just 75kW/180Nm, and while the driving range would still be impressive, the 510km number is to the more lenient CLTC standard compared to the WLTP number more widely accepted in Australia and Europe.

Thanks to an ultra-efficient battery and motor, the new Wuling Bingo can travel a claimed 510km on a single charge.

In China, the price for the Wuling Bingo equipped with the 50.6kWh battery pack is the equivalent of AU$21,053, making it well within the price range once you add import costs and duties.

While the Wuling Bingo seems like a shoo-in for an MG2, it thus far is only produced in left-hand drive, and wears cutesy city car styling in contrast to MG’s increasingly angular and aggressive styling. Still, it is not inconceivable that the brand may produce a version of the Bingo wearing a design closer to that of the MG3 or MG4 hatchbacks.

MG could surprise us with an all-new small car model, but a re-styled version of the Bingo seems like it would be a shoo-in.

Currently the most affordable electric vehicle in Australia and therefore the bar to beat for the MG2 is the BYD Dolphin Dynamic, which starts from $38,890 before on-road costs and incentives. It packs a 70kW electric motor and has a 410km driving range. For context, the Dolphin is slightly larger than the Wuling Bingo, at 4200mm long, compared to 3950mm.

The Bingo is also available with four battery pack sizes, at 203km, 333km, 410km, and now 510km. Charging speed is 50kW, allowing a 10-80 per cent charge time in 30 minutes for the 410km version, but you could expect more like 45 minutes for the 510km version.

Charging speed is 50kW, allowing a 10-80 per cent charge time in 30 minutes for the 410km version, but you could expect more like 45 minutes for the 510km version.

Equipment as is typical for Chinese vehicles is pretty high, with LED headlights, and dual 10.25-inch screens for the digital dash and multimedia touchscreen.

Given Allison’s comments to Autocar that “it's not inconceivable that you could go from concept to production in as little as two years” and that “it would be great if we could get something like that in the market by the end of next year”, we expect to learn more about the MG2 soon.

The MG2 also won't be the only new MG electric vehicle to be built in right-hand drive in the coming years, with reports that the MG Marvel R mid-size electric SUV currently sold in Europe will also go right-hand drive for its next iteration.