MG HS PHEV 2021 Long-Term Review

UPDATED 2/12/2021: It doesn’t matter to me whether an aspect of a car’s operating mode is a glitch or a feature. If it’s not doing what you expect it to do, or convention tells you it should do, it needs to be addressed.

So this is the situation in which I find myself after our comparison of the 2021 MG HS PHEV and the Toyota RAV4 Cruiser Hybrid.

I had noted that even in the MG’s EV setting (electric-only drive), at 100km/h the petrol engine would kick in – with battery charge over 90 per cent.

Not long after that comparison was published, the PR chap for MG contacted us to explain that this is a designed-in trait of the MG HS PHEV.

To conserve battery charge and prolong overall range, the petrol engine will fire up at freeway speeds if the difference between the ambient temperature and the temperature selected for the climate control is nine degrees or more.

So if the temperature outside is a chilly 11 degrees, and you have the heating set to 20 degrees, the combustion engine will run at 100km/h, even if you have the car driving in ‘EV mode’.

That’s contrary to my expectations and experience with plug-in hybrids. But, I had to find out for myself.

So on a 15-degree evening, I donned a jumper, sat myself down in the MG and set out – with the climate control off. And yep, it ran exactly as the MG PR bloke said it would, remaining in EV mode for 70 of the 80km drive.

For the last 10km I did crank up the climate control, in the interests of my health and wellbeing.

Fully charged, the MG posted a range of 63km at the outset. That – coincidentally or otherwise – is also the car’s official electric-only range, according to the federal government’s Green Vehicle Guide.

Naturally, the battery was depleted well before I arrived back home. Electrical power was consumed at the rate of 15.4kWh and petrol consumed at 3.2L/100km.

That’s much lower than the figure of 5.7L/100km posted by a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV tested in a comparison with the RAV4 Hybrid early last year.

The big difference there, of course, was that the Mitsubishi was being tested at the height of summer, and the climate control was running for the entire drive – cooling rather than heating though.

What those two figures tell us is that climate control makes a substantial difference to the amount of fuel you’ll use in a plug-in hybrid.

Another point I learned from this exercise is that the MG is undeniably more efficient on a longer run, at higher speeds and with fewer stops, than it was during a drive home from work one evening – 15.4kWh for the test drive, versus 25.5kWh on the commute.

But even then, how much of its new-found efficiency during the open-road test was due to more time cruising, and how much was due to leaving the climate control off?

For the commute home from work, the MG began fully charged, during a very busy peak hour. The sun had set, so lights were on, as was the climate control. It took just over an hour to complete the 17.8km journey.

The MG ran the entire trip in EV mode alone and consumed power at the rate of 25.5kWh, which is not spectacularly good for this type of vehicle, but understandable in the circumstances.

By journey’s end, 66 per cent of the battery charge remained, and the MG would travel a further 42km, which suggests its 63km electric-only range is fairly conservative and should be easily achievable in the real world.

But a word of warning, the MG HS PHEV in EV mode is far from the most exciting car around.

It’s much more engaging to drive with the extra power from the petrol engine. And perhaps that’s not what people want from a plug-in hybrid SUV.

Will they expect some lively motoring in electric-only mode? Should a plug-in hybrid be a de facto battery-electric vehicle if you never drive more than 63km on a round trip?

At least the MG will recharge from fully depleted to 100 per cent capacity on a 10-Amp outlet in eight hours. That in itself is a redeeming feature.

By no means the only one for the MG, however.

UPDATED 18/10/2021: MG’s sales base in the Aussie market is moving ahead in leaps and bounds, and the 2021 MG HS Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) mid-size SUV can take some credit for that.

Helping attract attention is the MG HS PHEV’s price, launching earlier this year at $46,990 drive-away. That rose to $47,990 on July 1, 2021, but it remains competitive against an increasing set of small and medium plug-in hybrid SUVs.

Standard features fitted to the MG HS PHEV include 18-inch alloy wheels, auto-dipping LED headlights, heated/fold-in power-adjustable mirrors, a sunroof and powered tailgate. There’s also rear parking sensors, rain-sensing wipers and keyless entry/starting.

Inside the MG, the standard kit consists of dual-zone climate control, a multifunction steering wheel, leather-accented upholstery and front seats that are heated and power-adjustable (six-way for the driver and four-way for the passenger). The driver’s position also has manual lumbar adjust.

For infotainment, the MG stumps up a six-speaker audio unit, satellite navigation, advanced smartphone integration (Apple CarPlay/Android Auto) and a trip computer. Metallic paint is optional for the HS PHEV, at a price of $700 extra.

A seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty protects the MG HS PHEV, and roadside assistance is available for the same period.

MG covers the PHEV’s lithium-ion battery for the same timeframe as the rest of the car – seven years and unlimited kilometres. Scheduled servicing occurs every 12 months or 20,000km.

The conventional MG HS is rated by ANCAP at five stars for crash safety, based on the safety organisation’s 2019 test regime.

But the plug-in version doesn’t share that rating; ANCAP specifically excludes the PHEV model, in fact.

Among the standard safety features in the 2021 MG HS PHEV are emergency braking lights, tyre pressure monitoring, blind spot monitoring, all-round camera monitoring, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), forward collision warning, adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, traffic sign recognition and rear cross traffic alert.

The HS PHEV comes with its own warning sound to alert pedestrians at low speeds – and the sound is particularly noticeable in the last few metres before the MG pulls to a halt.

While the MG’s headlights proved to be very effective on both low beam and high beam, the automatic high beam assist system, which earned praise during our comparison of this car and the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, suddenly stopped operating during the course of a nocturnal test run.

The turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine under the bonnet of the 2021 MG HS PHEV is not exactly silky-smooth after you’ve been driving the car in electric-only mode.

And when the MG makes the transition from electric-only to petrol power there’s a subtle bump felt from the powertrain.

If you want straight-line performance from the MG HS PHEV, you have no choice but to drop out of EV mode to trigger the petrol engine, which is undeniably a decent performer for its displacement.

The HS in EV mode is pretty slow, but it will stay in that mode at speeds up to the legal open-road limit – provided you don’t use the climate control.

Once the difference between ambient and selected temperatures reaches or exceeds nine degrees, the MG will drop out of EV mode and run the petrol engine to keep the battery charged. It will also fire up the petrol engine if the driver turns on the rear-window demister.

At least one other plug-in hybrid we’ve driven in winter – not a direct competitor to the MG – will continue to draw on battery power alone in the same circumstances.

MG is not wrong in keeping the battery charged (especially in a kinder driving environment like open-road cruising), but it does seem odd after driving other plug-ins. It anticipates that at the end of the freeway the traffic will slow and that’s when a fully-charged battery will benefit the environment more.

The closest direct competitor to the MG is the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, and unlike the MG, the Outlander is much more reliant on electric power to supplement the petrol engine’s torque for driving the wheels.

The Outlander engine channels torque through a single reduction gear to the drive wheels, which means its performance is hampered by the lack of steps in the transmission. In contrast, the HS does feel pretty zippy when the petrol engine is running.

It takes eight hours to recharge the HS PHEV to 100 per cent from zero using a 10-Amp outlet.

On a commute home from work one evening, mixing it up in badly congested traffic, the MG travelled 17.8km in just over an hour and burned through electrical power at the rate of 25.5kWh/100km (no fuel used), with 66 per cent of the battery charge remaining at the end of the drive for a 42km range.

That overall efficiency is not wonderful, but the MG might have fared better if the traffic had been lighter and the average speed had been higher. The headlights were operating too, as was the climate control system.

Also of note, the combined distance travelled (17.8km) and the range remaining (42km) hints at a significantly better range in kinder circumstances than MG’s official figure of 63km.

Fitted with Michelin Primacy 235/50R18 tyres all round, the 2021 MG HS PHEV is not that supple over smaller, sharper bumps, but it copes fine with larger and longer humps in the road.

At higher speeds the steering weight loads up and provides acceptably good feedback on winding roads, and the MG turns in fairly well by mid-size SUV standards.

That said, it can’t match the front-runners in the segment for roadholding. It’s on par with a plug-in hybrid Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV tested a few years ago, but not the GSR variant reviewed more recently.

And while the MG’s braking system will respond appropriately in an emergency, the pedal feel is soft and spongey.

As a final comment on the MG’s dynamic prowess, the stability control can be quite intrusive at times.

Being a medium SUV, the HS PHEV has the right sort of hip point to make access to the cabin easy, and the driving position is generally good.

Having the indicator stalk on the left of the steering column is not ideal, but controls and instruments are otherwise simple to use and read.

The front seats are certainly comfortable too.

Using the infotainment system can be a painfully slow process – not just to load the satellite navigation system, as we complained during the comparison with the RAV4 – but for all sorts of functions, including switching off the climate control or changing the music source.

While the HS PHEV can be especially quiet in EV mode, squeaks from the soft fixtures in the cabin and muffled rattling can be heard on rougher country roads.

Although the HS PHEV couldn’t compare with the Toyota RAV4 for packaging in our recent comparison it still provides generous headroom and legroom for adults in the rear.

There are adjustable vents in the rear of the centre console, plus two recharging USB ports underneath.

Two fold-out cup holders and a lidded storage receptacle reside in the centre seat arm rest when dropped down.

And in the event that the driver needs more luggage space than usual, the rear seats not only fold down, they also lock in place, which is a bonus.

The high boot floor leaves a shallow load space, which is where the MG’s plug-in hybrid powertrain and battery have some impact on packaging.

There’s a tyre repair kit below the boot floor, but makes little difference to the luggage capacity, although MG claims a volume of 451 litres nonetheless.

The boot floor lifts and can be held in raised position with a hook and string from the underside to access the tyre repair kit. This is a nice touch, leaving a consistently flatter load area with the seats folded.

The 2021 MG HS PHEV didn’t win our comparison against the Toyota RAV4, but nor did the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV when it went up against the Toyota around 18 months earlier.

So that speaks volumes for the overall competence of the Toyota, rather than many inherent concerns with the MG (or the Mitsubishi, for that matter).

Assessed in isolation, the MG HS PHEV is actually an endearing machine. It’s attractive and comfortable. It’s certainly affordable too, and the long warranty is a significant factor in cost of ownership.

If you can live with the occasional quirk – the slow-loading infotainment system, for instance – and the whole operational aspect of MG’s take on plug-in powertrains, the HS PHEV presents itself as a vehicle with plenty to offer.

But we’re early into our long-term test. Watch out for further updates as we assess just how well MG’s plug-in hybrid slots in as a family member.

How much does the 2021 MG HS Plug-In Hybrid Essence cost?
Price: $47,990 (drive-away)
Available: Now
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol-electric
Output: 119kW/250Nm (electric motor: 90kW/230Nm)
Combined output: 189kW/370Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Battery: 16.6kWh lithium-ion
Range: 63km (ADR)
Energy consumption: 19.2kWh/100km (ADR)
Fuel: 1.7L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 39g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested