After debuting its two new upmarket electric cars at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last week, MG has announced UK pricing and specifications for the IM5 saloon and IM6 coupé-SUV.
More recently known for its sales success towards the budget-end of the UK market, offering a more affordable pathway into electric family car ownership with the arrival of the MG 4, MG is now targeting the likes of Tesla and Polestar with this new upmarket model range.
‘IM’, which stands for ‘Intelligence in Motion’, is a brand positioned as a more premium alternative to MG cars in Asia and Australia. Now, SAIC Motors – which owns both MG and IM – plans to sell these IM models with the MG nameplate in the UK.
For now at least, both the IM5 and IM6 are branded with the IM logo instead of the MG logo we are used to in the UK.
MG IM5 saloon
The IM5 will be MG’s first entrant in the electric executive saloon class, challenging the sales of the BMW i4, Polestar 2, Hyundai Ioniq 6 and Tesla Model 3. It’s slightly larger than those models, being almost 5m long, but aims to offer a long list of standard equipment at a very competitive price.
Three different powertrain options will be available at launch, starting with the entry-level Standard Range model. This rear-wheel drive 295hp variant has a 75kWh battery that offers a driving range of up to 304 miles on the government lab test cycle, and can complete a 0-62mph sprint in just under seven seconds.
The saloon range will also include a larger 100kW battery option, which will be offered in both rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive configurations. The 407hp Long Range model claims up to 441 miles of travel without recharging and complete the same sprint in 4.9 seconds. (For comparison, a top-spec Tesla Model 3 ‘Long Range’ has an official battery range of 421 miles).
The sportiest of the lot is the 751hp all-wheel drive Performance model, which can accelerate to 62mph from stationary in a hypercar-rivalling 3.2 seconds, for a reduced maximum battery range of 357 miles.
All models come with a 11kW AC on-board charger, and the 100kWh version are compatible with DC charging speeds of up to 396kW, which replenishes 70% of battery charge in an estimated 17 minutes. The Standard Range model with the smaller battery can only charge at up to 150kW, so your charging times will not be any quicker.
Inside, a 26-inch screen (actually two 13-inch screens blended almost seamlessly together to create a single screen) sits across the top of the dashboard, merging the infotainment touchscreen and digital instrument cluster into one display. An 11-inch touchscreen is also mounted to the angled centre console, which is used for adjusting air-conditioning and other car functions.
UK pricing will begin at £39.5K for the Standard Range model, sliding just under the £40K threshold the government’s Expensive Car Supplement, saving you about £600/year in road tax for your first five years.
The mid-spec Long Range models is expected to be the best-seller of the range, priced at £45K but getting the bigger battery with fast charging, more than 100hp of additional power and an extra 140 miles of driving range.
The top-spec Performance model is priced at £48.5K, with that fairly ridiculous 750hp power output, all-wheel drive, and larger 20-inch wheels riding on premium Pirelli tyres.
MG IM6 coupé-SUV
While the IM5 poses a fresh challenge to Tesla Model 3 sales, the high-riding IM6 is instead a direct competitor to the popular Tesla Model Y SUV.
As with its saloon sibling, three different versions will be available at launch, but there are some differences. All IM6 models are powered by the same 100kWh battery pack, as the larger body and additional weight would have brought the rage down to much on the 75kWh battery and it still probably wouldn’t have come in under the £40K government tax threshold.
The entry-level Long Range model, therefore, is broadly aligned with the mid-spec IM5 model. It gets the same rear-wheel drive 407hp motor set-up, which in this case provides up to 338 miles on the official government test cycle, and can complete a 0-62mph sprint in 5.4 seconds.
The mid-range 751hp Performance model parallels the same spec on the IM5, and will be one of the most powerful SUVs on the market. An all-wheel drive model with electric motors on both axles, it can reportedly complete the same sprint in 3.5 seconds, which is just two tenths short of the V8-powered Aston Martin DBX S. This performance boost comes with a reduced single-charge travel distance of 313 miles.
A range-topping Launch Edition will also be available with identical technical specs to the Performance model, but adding adaptive air suspension that claims to improve ride.
Inside, the IM6 comes with the same on-board tech package as the IM5, featuring the 26-inch display across the dashboard and a separate 11-inch screen on the infotainment console. Rear cabin space is better and the boot notably larger, which also includes a deep underfloor storage section as well.
Reflecting the speed at which Chinese brands move, both cars were shown off last week, had their first media drives this week, and the first customer cars are already on a boat and heading this way. Customers will be able to place orders from any MG showroom very soon, taking delivery of their cars from September.
That sums up what we know about the new IM5 and IM6 so far. Have these new electric cars piqued your interest? Keep an eye out for The Car Expert’s test drives and Expert Ratings on these new models in the coming months.
