When MG first landed on Philippine shores, it made quite an impression and logged in some very good sales numbers. They provided a level of product design, functionality and freshness at a price that spoke value to many.
Can they do it again this time with full-electric vehicles?
The Marvel R is one of their attempts, and we shall see. It is a somewhat traditional SUV, four doors and rear wheel drive, so it will be familiar and convenient. But it is fully electric, which presents both opportunities and questions.
It uses a 137 Kw powertrain with 70 KwH of battery, and has a stated up to 402-km range, which should be more than sufficient for daily use and at home charging. Charging port is Type II.
But how does it feel when you actually drive it?
Walking up to the sleekly-designed and executed SUV has you appreciating the look and the features of a more upscale offering from the brand known more for value. A folding/ unfolding door handle pops out, and as you enter, you see lots of leather and lots of screen. On the white Alpha variant we had, the black leather seats and sidings were soft and smooth to the touch, with shaping and curving lines. A crisp clear 12.3-inch screen is tucked into a shaped enclosure in the dashboard for the driver, a large rectangular 19.4- inch screen (with a Corning Gorilla Glass top) is on the console and stretches pretty prominently from the middle of the dashboard down. Everything fell to hand rather easily, a good amount of room for the rear passengers, as well. It is rated as a five seater, so no middle bump in the rear seating. Air conditioning venting to the rear passengers in the console between the front seats. There are four USB ports and four cup holders all around the car, and it has wireless charging and a powered lift gate
How does it drive? Hop in the front seat and you will find that the gear shift of the two gear system is actually a knob that sits on the center screen. Hard acceleration isn’t hard so much as it is smooth and building, which means you shouldn’t have jarring starts but the car can gain momentum quickly and smoothly if you want it to. In a short slalom run, the car had smooth transitions from side to side with not too much sway, though we did not in any way push the heavy SUV hard. The car uses aluminum alloy subframes for a combination of rigidity and lightness. It isn’t meant to be a sport crossover, more a pleasant capable daily driver. Steering is light but with some resistance, so easy to use when parking in tight spaces even if one-handed.
Which you shouldn’t really do anyway, so put your coffee cup in one of the four cup holders when you do this.
What is the end result? Electric vehicles have a higher entry price than what people have come to expect from MG, but in this car they have matched things up with a proper level of trim and sophistication. It will come down to how much you value the positives of the fully electric powertrain and whether you want to have a car that allows you to ignore the traffic scheme that actually makes people keep more and older cars on the road. This car will appeal to early adopters (in this market at least) who want to try full electrics but are already comfortable with the MG brand. It is a smooth performer with proper functionality and finish, a step up from other brand offerings. In a sea of relatively unfamiliar newcomers, it may be those with a track record that will draw this range of buyers into trying full plug-ins.
Get in the cars and drive them, make the decisions yourselves. The good thing is: you now have so many choices.
