LDV Edeliver 7 vs MG Im5

What's the difference?

There’s room for improvement, but that room is getting smaller. For urban daily fleet or solo operation, using the convenience of back-to-base overnight charging, it offers a compelling alternative to diesel in terms of real-world driving range, performance, payload, warranty/servicing costs... and zero tailpipe emissions.

The MG IM5 Performance is fast, comfortable, quiet and super refined. Putting some minor spec and active safety niggles to one side, it offers the features, tech and price to match it with its well-credentialled and already popular mid-size EV sedan competitors. Is there room for one more? We think there should be.

The SWB Low Roof rides on a 3000mm wheelbase, which is 366mm shorter than the LWB models. As a result, its compact 4998mm overall length makes it well suited to work duties that require quick steering response and easy manoeuvrability in tight spaces. Plus its 1990mm height allows easy multi-storey car park access.

The front wheel-drive chassis has MacPherson strut front suspension, a leaf-spring solid-beam rear axle and four-wheel disc brakes, with the 77kWh lithium-ion battery mounted beneath the floor to optimise cargo bay volume.

It has a clean and streamlined appearance, with a functional grille that is “required to cool any later ICE (internal combustion engine) variants” according to LDV. So, in this application, it serves no purpose other than a styling feature.

Dark grey composite mouldings are used on the lower body sections to absorb the unsightly bumps and scrapes often inflected on these areas in hard-working vans.

The cabin’s interior has an upmarket look that creates a nice working environment, with a harmonious mix of colours, seat fabrics and soft-touch materials that display good fit and finish.

However, there’s no bulkhead to separate the cabin from the cargo bay, resulting in not only higher noise levels but also no protection for occupants from shifting cargo.

The cabin floor is covered in non-slip rubber finished in a smart ‘checker-plate’ pattern that's easy to wipe clean. The dash layout is uncluttered and the controls are easy to reach and intuitive to use. The transmission shifter is a stalk on the steering column.

Although the passenger bench seat has no adjustments, the centre position is surprisingly spacious, even for people my height (186cm) as it provides about 60mm of knee clearance from the dash. However, the centre passenger must also sit with their feet in a split-level position, due to a higher centre-floor section.

Playing spot the straight line on the outside of the MG IM5 is like an automotive design version of Where’s Wally? There aren’t many, in the midst of an unrelentingly curvaceous exterior treatment.

At close to five metres long and two metres wide the IM5 is appreciably longer (+211mm), a little wider (+27mm) and a bit taller (+33mm) than a Tesla Model 3. Think BMW 5 Series in terms of overall size.

And the soft-form shape is functional; the swoopy liftback boasting an ultra-slick 0.24 drag coefficient.

That said, I’m not convinced by the ‘Periscopic’ cameras informing the driver assistance systems from the front guards. They scream tacked-on afterthought. But a touch-only initial opening function for the flush door handles is cool and makes life easier.

The curves continue inside with soft-padded surfaces around the dash and doors, but the straight edge obviously came out for the 10.5-inch central media screen and vast 26.3-inch upper display. There are next to no buttons; even exterior mirror adjustment is directed from the screen to a multi-function steering wheel control.

System software (powered by a Qualcomm ‘Snapdragon’ chip) is lightning fast with a two-finger up and down swipe shortcut function on the central screen for ventilation and other functions.

The interior is light and bright thanks to the enormous panoramic sunroof. It’s been fine in cooler winter conditions during this test but it could be interesting to revisit in the heat of an Aussie summer

There are two interior colour schemes available - the ‘Highland Grey’ of our test car or ‘Dover Beige’ for those brave enough to live life with the threat of scuff marks on your shiny new car’s glamorous but vulnerably light interior.

With a typically hefty 2300kg EV kerb weight, its 3650kg GVM allows for a sizeable 1350kg payload rating which is more than competitive with ICE rivals.

It’s also rated to tow up to 1500kg of braked trailer but with its 4250kg GCM (or how much it can legally carry and tow at the same time), that would require a substantial 900kg reduction in vehicle payload to 450kg to avoid exceeding the GCM. So, keep these numbers in mind if you plan to tow heavy.

The cargo bay is lined to mid-height and accessed through a kerbside sliding door with 990mm opening width, or through symmetrical rear barn-doors with 180-degree opening that’s handy for forklifts or when accessing loading docks.

The load floor, with its non-slip rubber surface, is 2547mm long and 1800mm wide with 1390mm between the rear wheel-housings.

That means it can carry up to two standard 1165mm-square Aussie pallets, two 1000mm x 1200mm Euro pallets or up to three 800mm x 1200mm Euro pallets.

And with its 1328mm internal height, it offers a competitive 5.9 cubic metres of load volume.

It’s also equipped with six load anchorage points plus bright LED lighting and a large handle at the front of the side-door opening to assist access.

Cabin storage includes a bottle-holder and bin in each front door, plus smaller bins above and below. There are also bottle/cupholders on each side of the dash and the driver has small bins on each side of the steering column.

There’s also a single glove box and a slender storage shelf above it for small items. And the centre seat’s backrest folds forward and flat to reveal a small work desk, with two more cupholders and an elastic strap to hold documents or laptops in place.

There’s plenty of breathing room up front and in terms of storage one of the first things worth calling out are the long but relatively narrow door bins. No good for anything above unusually slender bottles, even if they’re lying down.

No conventional glove box in the dash, but there is a large lidded box (cooled and heated) between the seats that doubles as a centre armrest. It’s supplemented by a big stowage area underneath the flying buttress style centre console.  

There are two cupholders in the centre console as well as a wireless device charging pad in front of them with a vaguely phone-shaped oddments bin alongside it.  

Move to the rear and the IM5’s 75mm wheelbase advantage over the Tesla Model 3 is clear. Heaps of knee and headroom for me at 183cm sitting behind the driver’s seat set to my position. 

But… the seat sits low which pushes your knees up into the air to the point where my thighs are not contacting the seat cushion. Even though the rear seat reclines to a certain degree it’s a problem compounded by a chronic lack of room for your toes under the front seat. Awkward.

There are map pockets in the front seatbacks, modest bins in the doors and a fold-down centre armrest with two cupholders. Adjustable ventilation in the rear of the front centre console always makes life in the rear seat more pleasant.

The car also houses ‘Strong Magnets’ at various points around the cabin and boot, with a configurable adapter able to lock a phone or tablet into place for the entertainment of, in our case, back seaters. 

Speaking of devices for entertainment, there are two USB-C sockets and a 12-volt outlet in the front and another USB-C and 12V in the back, so charging isn’t an issue. 

The IM5 is a liftback so the boot aperture is generous and a capacity of 457 litres with the rear seats up is decent for a car of this size, although that’s less than the Tesla Model 3 (594L) which has an additional well under the floor. 

Still, enough room for the largest (124L) and smallest (36L) suitcases from the CarsGuide three-piece luggage set with some room to spare.

The power tailgate can be operated hands-free via the key or an always welcome under bumper kick function.

Volume expands to 1290 litres with the rear seats folded and there’s a modest 18-litre ‘frunk’ under the bonnet.

The bad news is a repair-inflator kit rather than a physical spare wheel, but the better news is the IM5 Performance can tow a 1500kg braked trailer (750kg unbraked).

The IM range also features the ‘MG iSmart’ app allowing remote control of various functions including charging, checking vehicle location and route planning. 

At $80,990, drive-away, the IM5 Performance sits at the top of a three-grade line-up that starts with a 75kWh RWD Premium model at $60,990, followed by a mid-spec 100kWh RWD Platinum for $69,990, both drive-away.

Its most prominent competitor is arguably the Tesla Model 3 Dual Motor AWD ($80,900), with others including the BYD Seal Performance AWD ($68,798), Hyundai Ioniq 6 AWD Epiq ($86,500) and Polestar 2 Long Range Dual Motor Performance ($80,380).

Worth noting, too, the IM6 range - essentially the same car with a taller SUV body - has the same model walk-up and identical pricing.

Once you’ve crossed the $80K threshold it’s fair to expect a decent basket of standard fruit and aside from the dynamic and safety features we’ll get to shortly, the IM5 Performance comes to the party.

Highlights include a double-glazed panoramic roof, power-adjustable (12-way driver, six-way passenger) heated and ventilated front seats (also heated in the rear), dual-zone climate control, 20-speaker audio (with digital radio), 256 colour ambient lighting, a power tailgate (with hands-free function) and 20-inch alloy rims.

There’s also adaptive cruise control, a heated steering wheel, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, LED headlights, keyless entry and start, wireless device charging (50W), a 10.5-inch central control screen and a sweeping 26.3-inch upper screen; the right side for instrumentation and car data, the (touch-sensitive) left side for multimedia and other onboard functions.

There’s more and it’s clear this car at least matches or betters its direct competitors for included equipment.

Our test vehicle has a permanent magnet synchronous electric motor which produces up to 150kW of power and 330Nm of instant torque, delivering drive to the front wheels via a single-speed transmission.

The driver can select three levels of regenerative braking intensity. We used the strongest setting to ensure optimum battery top-ups when driving. This setting also requires minimal use of the brake pedal, due to powerful retardation each time the accelerator is released.

There’s also a choice of three drive modes. ‘Eco’ ensures minimal battery drain but performance is restrained and speed is capped at 90km/h. ‘Normal’ offers a good compromise in engine response and energy use, with speed increased to 120km/h. ‘Power’ is also capped at 120km/h but offers the most energetic performance and consumes the most energy.

The MG IM5 Performance is powered by an electric motor on each axle - the rear (372kW/500Nm) more powerful than the front (200kW/300Nm), for overall outputs of 572kW (that’s close to 770hp) and 802Nm of pulling power.

The official term for that amount of grunt is… a lot. And we’ll get to what it means on the road in the Driving section shortly.

LDV claims our test vehicle’s 77kWh battery can deliver a (WLTP) driving range of up to 318km. The battery was fully charged when we collected the vehicle and we drove 211km. This comprised mostly city and suburban driving, about 50km of which was hauling a one-tonne-plus payload.

At the completion of our test, the dash display was claiming average energy consumption of 26kWh/100km. So, based on that figure, LDV’s claimed range of more than 300km from a single charge (unladen) is credible.

The 77kWh battery takes about eight hours to charge from five to 100 per cent using an 11kW AC home charger, or around 43 minutes for 20-80 per cent using a 78kW DC charger.

The MG IM5 Performance features an 800-volt electrical architecture which means the 100kWh NCM battery can accept a DC peak charge of close to 400kW.

Only snag is the highest you’ll currently find in Australia is 350kW. But even at that rate you’ll still be looking at a 30-80 per cent charge in just over 15 minutes. Maximum AC charge rate is 11kW.

Claimed range is 575km (WLTP) which is less than the Tesla Model 3 Dual Motor AWD at 629km.

Over a week of city, suburban and some freeway running we saw average energy use of 20.6kWh/100km which is on the high side for an EV of this size but maybe not for one with this kind of performance potential. 

There’s no handle on the driver’s windscreen pillar to assist climbing aboard, or a driver’s left footrest, both of which would be welcome additions. The driver’s seat is comfortable and the flat-bottom steering wheel with height adjustment provides ample space.

It has clear eyelines to the large door mirrors but vision through the central rear view mirror is obscured by the thick central join of the symmetrical rear barn-doors, which is wide enough to block vision of a vehicle travelling behind. Asymmetric doors would alleviate this.

Being a solid-walled van, there’s a huge blind-spot over the driver’s left shoulder, but fortunately the left door-mirror is assisted by blind-spot monitoring. And there’s rear cross-traffic alert when reversing out of driveways or loading docks. These active aids should be mandatory on all solid-walled vans.

We’re often critical of steering and ride quality in Chinese LCVs but the eDeliver7 has refreshing chassis refinement, from its responsive and nicely-weighted steering to its relatively supple unladen ride quality.

The single 150kW/330Nm electric motor provides an effortless surge of acceleration in all drive modes, with the Power setting producing enough instant torque to make the front tyres chirp on occasions.

Its near-silent operation also ensures deceptive acceleration, which is why the absence of a digital speedo is a glaring omission and needs to be included.

The EV silence, though, is largely negated at speeds above 80km/h due to tyre roar emanating from the rear wheel-housings, which can be intrusive enough to require raised voices. Noise-absorbing materials in the cargo bay (like the HiAce’s full-length roof-liner) would be useful.

To test its load-hauling ability, we forklifted 975kg into the cargo bay. Combined with our two-man crew, this 1155kg payload was less than 200kg shy of the van’s 1350kg limit.

The rear leaf-springs barely flinched under this loading as they compressed only 25mm, which engaged large cone-shaped jounce rubbers above the springs that provide a smooth-riding second stage of support.

Impressively, changes in ride quality and acceleration were minimal, as it proved more than competent in hauling this big payload on a congested city and suburban test route which typified the urban environments these vehicles are designed for.

First things first, the IM5 Performance is supercar fast. This 2.3-tonne five-seater blazes from 0-100km/h 3.2 seconds and with its dual motors combining to produce 572kW/802Nm, eye-widening performance always resides underneath your right foot.

But it’s not all about straight line speed. Ride comfort is excellent. Underpinned by an all-new platform, the IM5’s suspension is by double wishbones at the front and multi-links at the rear. But the key to its bump and rut smoothing ability is air suspension and ‘continuous control’ active damping.

Fold in double-glazing on the full-length glass roof and side windows, as well as active noise cancellation and you have a serene interior environment at any speed. Also worth noting the front seats are great; as grippy as they are comfortable.

Not only that, despite its relative heft, this mid-sizer steers well, too. Not the last word in road feel but it points accurately and the standard rear steering helps with prompt (but never jerky) cornering turn-in. Flick to ‘Sport’ mode and the IM5 is up for some enthusiastic running.

The rear wheels can turn up to 12 degrees in the opposite direction to the fronts at slow speed, which makes for a usefully tight 10-metre turning circle. But above that, at lesser angles, it adds extra stability and decisiveness in the way the car steers through even tight, twisty sections.

Rubber is top-shelf Pirelli P Zeros on 20-inch alloys (245/40 fr - 275/35 rr) and it grips hard, especially in the wet weather over much of the test period. Braking is solid, as it needs to be, with ventilated discs all around and four-piston callipers at the front. 

No adjustable regen braking but you can feel the ‘Cooperative Regenerative Brake System’ (CRBS) doing its thing when you lift off the accelerator. 

The physical rear view is modest thanks to the slope of the back window reducing its functional area for the driver to that of a 1950s VW Beetle. Even the interior rear-view mirror is tiny and folds up into a recess in the headliner if you’d prefer life without it.

But that’s where a rear camera view popping up on the upper screen display (accessed via the right-hand steering wheel click control) comes in handy. Side camera views are also available as is a 360-degree overhead view, which makes parking straightforward.

If you need more parking help there are various self-parking modes including a nifty ‘Curbside’ function that will realign the car hands-free if you’re parallel parked too far out from the kerb.

In a similar vein, a ‘Rainy Night’ mode projects left and right rear views onto the main screen using AI to enhance clarity and highlight pedestrians and cars.

Overall the ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) are relatively unobtrusive but we found ourselves switching off the incessant overspeed chime that sounds for 10 seconds if you creep over the indicated speed limit, even when the system has misfired on the correct speed. For example, 40km/h school zones on a Sunday.

The over-zealous driver distraction warning also occasionally issued a visual and audible slap on the wrist when I was looking straight ahead. Tellingly, there’s a specific quick screen for turning both these functions off, but it kinda defeats the purpose of having them in the first place.

We also found the adaptive cruise control to be hesitant in multi-lane environments, reducing speed occasionally because the system seemingly believed a car was set to merge, when it wasn’t.

No independent ANCAP safety assessment at this point but there’s a full suite of active safety tech onboard including AEB, lane departure warning, blind spot detection, rear cross-traffic alert & braking, forward collision warning, lane-change assist, tyre pressure monitoring and heaps more. And we touch on how it all operates in the Driving section above.

There are no less than nine HD cameras, 12 ultrasonic sensors and three millimetre-wave radars on duty.

If a crash is unavoidable there are seven airbags including full-length side curtains and a front centre bag. Multi-collision brake also minimises the chances of subsequent impacts after an initial crash. There are also three top tether points and three ISOFIX child seats anchors across the second row.

All right on the pace for this part of the market and the IM5’s competitive set.

LDV's warranty for the eDeliver 7 is five years/160,000km whichever occurs first, plus five years/unlimited km roadside assist.

The lithium-ion battery has a separate eight year/250,000km warranty.

Scheduled servicing is every two years/30,000km, with a capped-price of $1393 applying to the first three services up to six years/90,000km. That’s an average cost of only $464 every two years.

The MG IM5 Performance is covered by a seven-year/unlimited km warranty, which is a plus, but the catch is it’s conditional on authorised dealer servicing. Go elsewhere and the term drops to a more common five years/unlimited km. The drive battery is covered for eight years/160,000km, which is the norm in the Aussie market

Servicing is required every 12 months or 20,000km with charges averaging $586 per workshop visit for the first five years, which is on the high side for an EV, even at this price point, the average bumped up by a more than $1400 doozy at year four.

MG IM models are sold (with service available) through all of MG’s 100-plus dealerships across the country, so no concerns there.