MG Motor India is all set to bring in its fourth model in early 2023. Interestingly, it will be a compact electric car with 2-seats layout that will be positioned against the newly-launched Tata Tiago EV. Called the MG City EV, the model will hit Indian roads by June 2023. Rajeev Chaba, President and MD, MG Motor India, said that the company believes in “offering good value along with contemporary technologies” to its customers.
With MG City EV, the carmaker aims to create a niche segment and won’t be as affordable as its rival – Tiago EV. Chaba has further revealed that the upcoming compact electric car will have up to 60 percent localized components in the first phase. It will reduce its dependence on imports and the locally assembled battery pack will help achieve aggressive pricing. If reports are to be believed, the British automaker will source the battery pack from Tata AutoComp.
The upcoming MG electric car will be based on its sister brand Wuling’s Air EV underpinning the brand’s Global Small Electric Vehicles (GSEV) platform. The architecture supports multiple body styles. The compact EV has boxy stance with squarish headlamps placed above an angular front bumper, slim fog lamps, nose with a full-width light bar connected via chrome strips, a charging port door featuring MG’s logo, and body coloured panel at the bottom edge. Read – Is MG Hector Strong Hybrid SUV Coming To India?
Some of its other design highlights include 12-inch steel rims with plastic hub caps, a curved windscreen with a horizontal light bar stretching across the number plate housing, and small taillamps. The Air EV has a wheelbase of 2010mm and it measures 2.9 metres in length. That means, it will be smaller than the Maruti Suzuki Alto.
Powertrain setup of the small electric car includes a battery pack with capacity of around 20kWh – 25kWh. It delivers power worth 40bhp and a range of 150km in real world condition.
