Bruce Newton’s best electric car of 2023: MG4

It’s time for our editors to vent about their electric car experiences and expectations!

It isn’t the most gobsmackingly impressive electric vehicle I drove in 2023 and in some ways it’s very irritating, but add it all up and the MG4 take my vote as the best EV rolled out in Australia last year.

It’s an electric car range that starts with a circa-$40,000 budget buy and extends all the way to a dual e-motor hot hatch that comes in just under $60,000 before on-road costs.

It’s also a ground-up EV design. So it’s got the right platform, is rear-wheel drive in most derivatives (all-wheel drive in one) and releases an impressive amount of interior and storage space. It looks good inside and out, drives well and has battery and range options varying from acceptable to very good.

There are other small Chinese EVs such as the BYD Dolphin and GWM Ora that compete in this pricing space too, but neither of them offer the same broad range as the MG4.

Where the MG4 lets itself down is in the details. It’s becoming a constant lament but the Chinese brands don’t know how to properly tune lane keeping and driver monitoring systems to be supportive rather than intrusive.

Then, the MG4 doubles down on the mistake by making the driver switch them off every time the car is started. Jeez… On top of that far too many basic controls have to be managed through a multi-level infotainment screen that has a haphazard response to touch.

You can find yourself driving down the road stabbing at the screen, being bonged at by the driver monitoring system while the lane keeping dodges imaginary obstacles. VERY IRRITATING!

But if you can learn to live with that stuff, then the MG4 is otherwise a thoroughly convincing and competent way for EV newbies to get into the game. And right now, that’s exactly what is needed – more EVs drivers and more affordable EVs for them to drive.

Biggest EV surprise of 2023: Kia EV6 GT

In a matter of weeks at the start of 2023 I got to drive the Audi RS e-tron GT and the Kia EV6 GT. Traditionally, no contest right; German thoroughbred versus a Korean SUV.

But in the end I preferred the Kia.

The Audi was stupidly, insanely fast in a straight line and handled like it was magnetically attached to the road. But the EV6 GT wasn’t that much slower and thanks to its local tuning by Kia’s chassis guru Graeme Gambold, it felt more in contact with the bitumen and communicated what was going on to the driver with more intimacy.

It helped the EV6 GT was $140,000 cheaper as well – although still expensive with a six-figure price tag.

It was a reminder how dramatically and quickly the onset of EVs is changing the traditional balance of power in the automotive industry. Loyalties baked in over decades are being challenged and even severed in this exciting new age.

The electric car I am most looking forward to in 2024: Chery Omoda 5 BEV

Consulting EV Central’s in-depth guide to new EV metal heading our way in 2024, I’ve got to admit that nothing truly stands out. They all look interesting and I definitely have a deep and abiding interest in how they all perform.

But I don’t see a new low-priced entry-level model amongst them that drops us into the low $30K or even high $20K bracket. That’s what I really want to land locally in 2024.

Maybe the Chery Omoda 5 BEV will get somewhere near it … but probably not given the petrol versions start at about $35K.

But I will be looking forward to driving that car anyway, even if it is one of innumerable SUVs headed our way.

That’s because the ICE version of this vehicle has the most egregiously bad tuning of its driver assist systems on the market. It makes the MG4 look very, very good.

Chery says it is back in Australia for the long haul and will do whatever it takes to be a success. So how about some proper tuning of the safety systems? And while you’re at it, fix up the ride, handling and steering, because they are not great either.