MG4 XPower Review 2025: Price, specs & boot space

If you thought hot hatches still required a petrol engine, the MG4 XPower turns that convention on its head. It sums up this breed of performance car perfectly with its practicality, keen pricing and pace that you'll struggle to match anywhere else. Anyone who wants a hot hatch but is leaning towards an EV - the MG4 XPower is your answer.

Unlike the variations on a theme offered by Audi and Mercedes-AMG, the MG4 XPower comes in a single specification. This means 435PS from the twin electric motors, a 64kWh battery and 239-mile claimed range, and all for much less than a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N costs.

To find similar performance and agility in an EV, you need to look to the much more expensive Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. It's brilliant but expensive, so you may prefer the Cupra Born that is slower but less of a hit to your wallet. Kia's EV6 GT is quicker from rest to 62mph but is similarly priced to the Hyundai.

From the petrol-powered world, the Audi RS3 and Mercedes-AMG A45 S are the main contenders for the MG4 XPower's performance. However, you might also look to that bastion of the hot hatch crowd, the Volkswagen Golf GTI or its R sibling. There is also the Golf GTE as an electric alternative, but it's nowhere near as rapid as the MG.

If you are wondering why MG can make the XPower for such a keen price, it's not because the cabin is flimsy or cheaply screwed together. Some of the plastics are a bland and more easily scratched than those in a Volkswagen Golf, but it all feels sturdy to put up with family life.

What is missing is that final detail level of finish you get in an Audi or Mercedes-AMG, but all of the MG's switches and controls work just fine.

Like other MG4 models, the XPower comes with a 10.25-inch 'floating' touchscreen for the infotainment. It's set high in the centre of the dash to make it easy to see and reach.

The screen responds quickly to any touch, though the menus are not as intuitively arranged as in some rivals. You learn to navigate through them quickly enough, but we'd prefer physical buttons for the climate control instead of doing this through the screen. There are some shortcut buttons below the screen for certain functions, which is a relief.

If you'd rather have some more familiar on-screen dealings, the MG4 XPower comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to pair with your phone and its apps.

With XPower version of the MG4, the infotainment also contains some additonal features, so you can choose a track driving mode or select a screen with a G-meter to see how much cornering force is being generated. Gimmicky? Yes, but a bit of fun too.

The beauty of hot hatches is they keep all the practical nature of the model they are based on, and the MG4 XPower is no exception to this.

As a result, you get good head, leg and shoulder room for passengers in the back seat. It's a bit tight for three to sit side-by-side if they are all adults, but kids won't erupt into full-on war when they are plonked together back here. You also get two Isofix child seat mounts and the doors open wide to make it simple when fitting them and loading in the more junior members of the clan.

Turning to the boot, the XPower has the same 363-litre boot as the rest of the range, which falls short of a Kia Niro or Volkswagen ID.3. Tip the 60-40 split and fold rear bench and you can free up to 1165-litres of cargo space. Again, it's fine but far from the most generous in this size of EV hatch.

The MG4 XPower uses the same 64kWh battery as the Long Range versions of the standard model. This delivers a claimed 239-mile driving range on a full charge, but that will soon deplete if you make the most of the combined 435PS from the twin electric motors - one for the rear axle that does most of the work plus a front motor that comes into play as required.

When using the full potential of the MG4 XPowers motors, the car will cover 0-62mph in just 3.8 seconds. That makes it only fractionally slower than the much more costly Kia EV6 GT, which does the same sprint in 3.5 seconds but costs north of £60,000.

With the battery charged to 100%, MG says the XPower can cover up to 239 miles,  though this obviously depends on how much fun you have with the car's 435PS power on tap.

Driving in town, MG also claims the XPower can cover up to 328 miles helped by the one-pedal driving mode to make the most of its regenerative braking.

The driving range of the MG4 XPower is one of the few demerits of this EV hot hatch, but it's not so low it could be a pain in daily driving. It's also not much less than you get in a Kia EV GT that is markedly more expensive.

Even riding on its 18-inch wheels and performance tyres, plus the firmer suspension of this hot hatch model, the MG4 XPower remains quiet on most roads. There's a little chatter on rougher surfaces, but nothing that has you reaching to turn up the radio volume or raise your voice to talk with passengers.

Even at motorway speeds the MG4 XPower is impressively refined, making it a good choice for those who spend plenty of time behind the wheel.

The MG4 gained a full five-star rating from Euro NCAP when it was tested, though occupant protection did not score quite as highly as some rivals. Even so, it still does well and looks after other road users as much as those in the car, plus there is a raft of safety assistance included.

Those systems cover the usual ABS brakes, ESP traction control, and tyre pressure monitoring, as well as six airbags and Isofix child seat mounts. On top of that, you get automatic emergency braking as part of the MG Pilot Advanced Driver Assistance System.

Also included with this package of tech is lane keep assist with departure warning, traffic jam assist, Intelligent Speed Limit Assist with traffic sign recognition, adaptive cruise control, driver attention alert, rear cross traffic warning, blind spot detection, and automatic high beam help. A door opening warning is also bundled in as part of this pack.

The MG4 XPower comes with the same seven-year, 80,000-mile warranty as all of the company's cars. For time duration, this is as good as any, thought the mileage is slightly less than you get with a Kia EV6 that lasts up to 100,000 miles.

Thanks to MG keeping the MG4 XPower's looks subtle and the price down, it sits in group 40 (out of 50) for insurance, which is very reasonable for an EV hot hatch. Compare that to the Kia EV6 GT and it resides in group 45, while the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is in group 49.

From the start of April 2025, all EVs will pay a basic £10 in Vehicle Excise Duty for new cars. After that, the MG4 XPower will require a standard £190 annual payment for road tax.

As the MG4 XPower costs less than £40,000 even if you pick an optional paint colour at extra cost, it doesn't attract the punitive expensive car levy of £410 extra every year until it passes its fifth birthday.

The MG4 XPower is a standalone trim within the 4 range and comes with whole host of kit as standard. Among all this, you get the bespoke XPower 18-inch wheels, orange brake calliper covers, aluminium pedals, Launch Control, track mode display, and black Alcantara upholstery.

The rest of the spec provides rear privacy glass, reverse parking sensors, vehicle to load charging plug, heated front seats and steering wheels, climate control, and 7.0-inch driver information display. You also get a 10.25-inch infotainment touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, four regenerative brake modes and five driving modes to pick from, one-pedal driving function, auto headlights, and electric windows all-round.