Four People Who Had Never Driven an EV Took the MG4 Urban Out for a Day. Here Is What They Said.

The Electrifying channel decided to put the MG4 Urban in front of people who have no stake in the outcome. Four drivers, none of them EV owners: Anika from Berkshire, who drives a petrol MG3. Zenia from Worcester, who drives a 2010 diesel Mercedes estate and has never been behind the wheel of an electric car. Moses from London, running an Audi Q2 with one previous EV experience he describes as not particularly impressive. And Adam from Surrey, who has a plug-in hybrid Volvo and is at the stage of considering going fully electric.

The MG4 Urban is MG's compact electric hatchback, built from the ground up as an EV rather than converted from a petrol platform. That distinction matters: no bulky engine under the bonnet means more interior room, and no exhaust system running the length of the car frees up floor space. Claimed range is around 258 miles, and the car can rapid charge from 10 to 80% in about 30 minutes.

The moment that surprised everyone most was one-pedal driving. The MG4 Urban has five levels of regenerative braking, from gentle coasting through to a mode where lifting off the accelerator brings the car smoothly to a complete stop without ever touching the brake pedal. Zenia's reaction was immediate. Moses called it "sick." All four agreed within about 30 seconds that it was the best feature of the day.

Drive modes cover eco, normal, sport, and custom. The custom mode lets you set your own preferred combination of acceleration response, steering weight, and regen level, which means the car ends up feeling different to each driver. That genuinely personal setup is not something you get in most cars at this price point.

The boot floor has two positions. In the higher setting you get a manageable boot. Lower it and the depth nearly doubles, accommodating prams, large luggage, or whatever else you were convinced would not fit. Zenia, who has a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, did the maths out loud and concluded her pram, the nappy bag, and her daughter's activity gear would all fit without rearranging anything.

The team challenged all four to find all 30 storage areas inside the car. They made it to 20 before running out of time.

Final verdict from the group: super smooth, surprisingly practical, dangerously easy to drive. The consensus was that the step from a petrol or diesel car to the MG4 Urban was smaller than any of them expected, and for two of the four, genuinely changed how they were thinking about their next car.