The 17th Annual Shanghai Automotive Show was the stage MG used to showcase its latest offering. The MG E-Motion, a fully electric concept sports car, was unveiled as the latest offering from the Chinese owned, British heritage brand.
The E-Motion is MG’s vision of the future and as such, MG aims to push innovation and technology towards the next generation of vehicles, while still holding true to the principles of current vehicles.
On the outside, the E-motion harks back to MG’s sporting heritage with a sleek coupe profile, which provides a very modern take on the BGT coupe from MG’s glorious past. It is hard to argue that the E-Motion is anything other than a striking car, the headlights are modelled on the London Eye, the vertical rear light clusters are reminiscent of decades worth of MG design. The E-Motion concept shown at Shanghai demonstrated unconventional “butterfly doors”. However, it is likely that if the E-Motion went into production they would be replaced with conventional doors. The forward profile is very similar to the MG ZS mini-SUV, and this very much seems to be MG’s new design language.
There are hints from Mercedes Benz in the grille design too, which MG refer to as the Starlight Matrix front grille. When examining the design of the E-Motion there are hints of other famous brands that can be recognised such as the silhouette of the Jaguar F-Type or the new Aston Martin DB11, both of which share the same British Heritage and history as MG.
More design flair is to be found on the roof, where an elongated glass roof adds even more sharpness to the already striking looks of the E-Motion, keeping the interior light and airy. With these looks alone the MG E-motion certainly evokes emotions, of lust, awe and longing.
Underneath, the E-Motion features an all new drivetrain, a “pure-electric” modular architecture, which MG developed completely in house. Although no official figures have been announced regarding brake horse power or torque, this drivetrain enables the E-Motion to travel from 0-62mph in around 4 seconds and provides a sustainable range of between 300 and 350 miles. This level of performance would put the E-Motion on par with other top-spec EVs. Not only that, the E-Motion would be within grasp of super cars which are currently being powered by petrol and petrol-hybrid engines.
Inside the technology doesn’t stop
The E-motion will feature a top-of-the-range infotainment. It is touted to have connectivity and be fully internet compatible. This should enable the infotainment system be remain up to date and will be attractive for the targeted market of younger buyers.
Matthew Cheyne, Head of Marketing and Sales for MG UK stated that he would expect the E-motion to begin production in approximately 2020 with a price tag around £30,000. However, with the MG6 being withdrawn from the UK market in 2016/17 it could be hard to promise that the E-Motion would be a success in the UK market. This opinion may be even more compounded when faced with the market segment currently, and what competitors who have been longer established might have on offer.
In the current EV market, there are which the E-Motion would be going up against. The Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe are some of the bestselling electric cars in the UK currently, and as such are priced about £10,000 cheaper than the MG’s supposed price. Further to this are two offerings from VW in the Golf GTE and E-Up!. The E-Motion would also have to complete with the likes of Electric car giant, Tesla who have been ruling the EV world with their Model S. With these thoughts to consider, MG might find themselves a little bit E-Motional.
