New MG 4 Urban vs Hyundai Inster vs Renault 5
Compact dimensions make these electric cars a perfect fit for the city, but which is the best when you want to head farther afield?...
The contenders
NEW MG 4 Urban Long Range Premium
List price £26,495 (with MG's £1500 discount)
Best price £20,851
Hyundai Inster Long Range 02
List price £23,225 (with Hyundai's £3750 'grant equivalent')
Best price £20,250
Renault 5 Comfort Range Techno+
List price £23,945 (with Government's £3750 Electric Car Grant)
Best price £23,250
The new MG 4 Urban. What is it, exactly? Well, it's not an MG 4. Confused? Yes, we thought that might be the case, so we'll try to part the clouds. Yes, it shares a moniker with the MG 4 EV (a car we've tested many times before), but the Urban is another animal entirely, with different styling and underpinnings. It's front-wheel drive, while the MG 4 EV is rear-wheel drive, and the nub is that the Urban is bigger yet cheaper than its namesake. Why MG didn't call it something different to avoid any confusion is lost on us too, but the fact is, on paper, the Urban looks compelling for anyone searching for a relatively affordable small electric vehicle (EV).
The Urban offers a choice of battery sizes and, therefore, ranges. The Standard Range can officially travel for 201 miles on a full charge; that's plenty for the city, but the Long Range version promises up to 258 miles. Enough for occasional intercity trips?
To find the best small EV for not only the city but also high days and holidays, we gathered two rivals with similar ranges: the Renault 5 (R5), which is our current favourite small electric car, and the Hyundai Inster - a car that has impressed us previously for offering a surprising amount of interior space within its dinky proportions.
We devised a two-day road trip of roughly 200 miles, starting at our office in Twickenham (near London). After driving up to Oxford - a city with notoriously narrow, winding streets - we'd head back down to Surrey for an overnight stop. From there, we'd pop to the Dunsfold test track for some performance testing, before finishing at a charging station back near the office. That way, we could charge their batteries back to 100%, find out how much energy they'd used, then calculate their real-world efficiency and estimated range.
The cars
Bearing in mind that we're testing their capabilities as occasional long-distance cruisers, it made sense to skip the cheapest trims and opt for versions that offer a few more creature comforts. So, while the MG 4 Urban line-up starts at £21,995 (including a guaranteed £1500 discount from MG) for the Standard Range, the top-spec Long Range Premium version we have here will set you back £26,495, and its 52.8kWh (usable capacity) battery promises an official range of 251 miles.
The R5 line-up kicks off at £21,495, thanks to the fact that the entry-level Urban Range version qualifies for the smaller of the Government's electric car grants (£1500). We're testing the bigger-battery Comfort Range in mid-level Techno+ trim, though. This almost matches the Urban's stats (52kWh usable capacity battery, 252-mile official range), but is usefully cheaper to buy, coming in at £23,945. This is aided by the fact that this version qualifies for the higher, £3750 grant from the Government.
Meanwhile, you can buy an Inster for a mere £20,005 in Standard Range form, because although (like the Urban) it doesn't qualify for a Government subsidy, Hyundai offers a 'grant equivalent' of £3750 off the brochure price. The Long Range version's larger battery (with a 46kWh usable capacity) officially gives it enough stamina to run continuously for up to 223 miles. And even in top-spec 02 trim, it's the cheapest car here - just - at £23,225.
Anyway, more on costs later; for now, let's talk about what they're like to live with.
Day one
We're not claiming this trip to be definitive in terms of testing the cars' range and efficiency; it's a snapshot of how they compare with each other in the prevailing conditions. Which, in regards to the weather, proved to be a couple of mild March days. To put the cars on equal footings, we charged them to 100%, selected their typical everyday driving modes, then set their climate control to 21deg C. And with the exception of the performance tests on day two, we aimed to drive them in convoy at sensible speeds, keeping up with the traffic.
Reviews editor Will Nightingale grabbed the Inster, senior reviewer Dan Jones took the R5, and I – your humble deputy reviews editor John Howell – was behind the wheel of the Urban.
Within a few miles of setting off from the office, we hit the motorways (M3, M25 and M40) and started making mental notes to compare. It quickly became clear that the Inster was the worst affected by wind noise, detracting somewhat from its cruising manners. It was present to a lesser extent in the others as well, though, and all three cars were producing similar, if not outlandish, levels of road noise.
It was also clear that the R5 was the quietest at 70mph, plus it kicked up the least suspension noise. In the Urban, I had to deal with the most clatter over rough roads, although not to the extent that it was getting on my wick.
The Urban has the best brakes, though. They're the most progressive, so it's the easiest of the three cars to slow smoothly. The R5's brake pedal can be sharper and takes time to acclimatise to, while the Inster's brakes are the most abrupt. And when it comes to high-speed ride, the Urban is the most settled, its fairly soft suspension doing a fine job of smothering out pimples and potholes alike. There's some gentle side-to-side lolling at times, but it's a comparatively comfy long-distance companion.
The R5 has a noticeably firmer set-up, so Dan was keen to see if that would translate to it being the most fun to drive, when we found some twistier roads. On the motorway, though, it feels better tied down than the others, so it settles quickly after bigger bumps, but washboard surfaces tend to agitate it more.
The Inster, meanwhile, is the exact opposite. It filters out all the surface chatter but, being less clamped down, it's bouncier over a series of crests and is the least comfortable overall. Still, considering motorways aren't their obvious habitat, the consensus is that all three are proficient enough cruisers.
With the miles rolling by, it was an opportune time to assess the cars' driving positions. Again, Will was the least happy, and not just because he's naturally grumpy; it was due partly to the Inster's armrest. He's tall (just over six feet), so he had the driver's seat all the way back. The door armrest is quite short, though, and his elbow was too far back to find it when he sat naturally; if he moved his arm forward to compensate, it rested on hard plastic. The other two cars have longer door armrests that accommodate taller people, and they're finished in a nice, padded material. All three have well-padded centre armrests, though.
They also get height and reach-adjustable steering wheels, but again Will found a problem. The Inster's steering wheel didn't extend out enough for him to feel completely at ease, and he needed it set higher than he'd have wished, otherwise it blocked the top of the digital driver's display. Dan and I had similar frustrations with the view of the instrument panels in the R5 and Urban respectively, but to a lesser extent.
The Urban and R5 have better driver's seats than the Inster. Their cushions proved cosseting on the consistently straight sections, while their exaggerated side bolsters offered good support through the long, sweeping bends linking one motorway to the next. Will, on the other hand, needed to prop himself up through those long sweepers; the Inster's seat is short on lateral support, and, with a shorter cushion, the under-thigh support could've been better.
None of these cars has adjustable lumbar support, but no one was complaining too loudly about having back ache, and we all agreed it was great that these cars have physical buttons to work the basics - things like the climate control and sound system. The R5 even has a simple button that you press twice to turn off the car's speed limit warning and lane assist; both can be annoying at times, so being able to do it easily is a real boon. In the others, doing this involves rifling through the infotainment touchscreen - which we'll talk more about later.
Eventually, we made it to Oxford, where the Urban's ride continued to impress, gliding over speed bumps in a manner that the springier Inster and firmer R5 couldn't match. And it was here that photographer John Bradshaw wanted inner-city snaps of the cars on the streets around St Peter's College - which, incidentally, credits Mark Carney, the current Canadian Prime Minister, as one of its notable alumni. You couldn't find a better spot to check out our cars' urban credentials: narrow streets populated by meandering pedestrians.
We expected the Inster, being the shortest car, to feel the most nimble. As it happens, the R5 has the tightest turning circle, followed by the Urban - in that respect, living up to its name. But I needed to keep my wits about me in that car; its heavily raked windscreen pillars create bigger blindspots to conceal pedestrians, and, with the chunkiest rear pillars, my over-shoulder vision was the most limited. The Inster, meanwhile, with its more vertical front pillars, offered Will the best view directly forwards, and his rearward vision was the clearest. That said, the R5 was barely any worse, so Dan was finding it a breeze to manage in such tight confines. All three cars have rear parking sensors, but the Inster adds front sensors, and the Inster and R5 each has a rear-parking camera. The Urban has a more sophisticated 360-degree surround-view system to ameliorate its relative weaknesses.
Snaps taken, it was time to head off to our overnight digs in Surrey. Now, we had enough range to get there, but not for performance testing the following day, so a 'splash and dash' charge en route in Guildford seemed sensible.
None of these cars has a mind-boggling peak charging rate, the best being the R5's 100kW, with the Urban and Inster at 87kW and 85kW respectively, but a boost to 80% told us how fast they charge in the real world. We set the Inster and R5 to stop charging at 80%, but you can't set a charge limit on the Urban; the logic is that there's no need, because its LFP (lithium iron phosphate) battery can be charged to 100% without degradation. Instead, we kept an eye on it and stopped at 80% to match the others.
Dividing kilowatts delivered by time taken gave us their average charging speeds for that session: R5 best, at 72kW, followed by the Inster at 70kW and the Urban at 64kW. That means a 20-80% charge should take just over 30 minutes for the Urban and a touch less for the others.
Day two
With some free time before heading to the track, we returned to the subject of the cars' interiors. We all agreed that, subjectively, the R5's interior has the most showroom appeal, but in terms of objective quality, the Urban is at least its equal, if not slightly better.
It's all relative; both manufacturers use harder plastics where they can to keep the costs down. But using a few choice materials - 'denim' made out of recycled plastic in the R5, faux suede in the Urban - gives them a sense of plushness. The reason that the Urban edges it is down to its switches and knobs, which operate with more precision. The Inster's interior is the outlier; it's generally robust enough and fit for purpose at the price, but it's awash with cheaper-feeling plastics that feel more basic.
In regard to front space, the Inster's tall, boxy profile over-delivers on head room, to the point where you ask yourself how much you really need. The others have more than enough for six-footers but, crucially, much more leg room and broader, airier interiors - especially the Urban's, which is the roomiest. As mentioned earlier, Will is more than six feet tall and needed the Inster's driver's seat slid all the way back. That's because it's tight on leg room, and because it's also the narrowest, his right shoulder was butted up against the door pillar.
The Urban also has the most storage space, with the biggest glovebox and door bins. The R5 isn't bad on this front, but the Inster's door bins are slim, and while it has plenty of oddment trays, they aren't rubber lined, so anything you put in them slides around. When it comes to rear space, it's like the Urban has been bewitched; it doesn't look leagues bigger from the outside, but from within it really is. There's easily enough head and leg room for a couple of tall adults in the back, and the seats are the most comfortable and supportive of the bunch.
The Inster's impressive head room continues to the back, and it's the only car here with rear seats that slide and recline. If you slide them all the way back, rear leg room is impressive given that it's the shortest car of the trio. It doesn't match the Urban's, but a pair of tall adults will fit in the back. No more, though; there are only two rear seats; the others have three.
Technically, three can sit in the back of the R5, but in reality a pair of above-average-height rear passengers will struggle. It'll call for jiggery-pokery with the position of the front seats to eke out enough rear leg room, and while head room is just about acceptable for taller passengers, it's far from generous.
The Urban also won the boot test. We managed to cram six carry-on cases into its main boot compartment and a further two in the large well under the boot floor. That's eight cases in total, which, for a small car, is incredible. And it's the only car here with a height-adjustable boot floor. If you slide the Inster's rear seats fully back to accommodate rear passengers, you'll be able to fit only three cases on board, but that's only one less than the R5, which managed four cases.
It was time to head to Dunsfold, so we needed to prime the cars' sat-navs. All of them offer Android Auto and Apple CarPlay if you want to bypass the cars' built-in navigation and use your phone's instead, and you can connect wirelessly in the Urban and R5; you need a USB-A cable to connect your phone to the Inster.
The R5's infotainment system is the best of the trio, with built-in Google Maps functionality, responsive software, logical menus and generally big icons. The Inster may have a slightly bigger screen (10.3in versus the R5's 10.1in), but its icons are smaller and its software laggier. The Urban has a 12.8in screen, but its menus are fiddlier and its software just as laggy as the Inster's.
The route to the test track involved some flowing A and B-roads, and it's fair to say Dan's impression that he was in the sportiest car was confirmed. While the R5's steering was too light for his taste in Comfort driving mode, it takes on a decent bit of heft in Sport, and the taut suspension kept body lean well in check. The R5 was the most eager to change direction, zipping gamely through switchbacks.
The Urban didn't feel out of sorts on the twisty roads, though. Its steering is light around the straight ahead, but I found that it gains weight (albeit a little unnaturally) as you crank on some lock. The softer suspension equates to more lean, too, but my confidence wasn't diminished enough to lose step with Dan in the R5.
It was Will who was the least confident to push on. While he decided that the Inster's handling was adequate rather than poor, the remote-feeling steering, exaggerated body lean and comparative lack of grip made it the least nimble of the trio.
Will also had a hunch that the Inster would struggle to keep pace with the others at the test track, and he was right. Using our professional timing gear to measure the cars' acceleration, the Inster could muster only a relatively leisurely 10.2sec 0-60mph time. It has enough pep to get you up to motorway speeds, but it's far from zippy. The R5 clocked 0-60mph in 8.2sec, with the Urban just 0.2sec behind, helping them to feel more effortless on the road, with extra reserves for overtakes.
Costs
Our running costs were based on charging at Tesla Superchargers, which aren't as cheap as charging at home but are cheaper to use than other equivalent rapid chargers.
Our total mileage was 215 miles, and when we stopped for our final top-up to 100%, we worked out (taking charging losses into account) that the Urban had been the most parsimonious. With a respectable average efficiency figure of 3.6 miles per kilowatt hour (mi/kWh), it consumed £33.46 worth of electricity over the whole journey. The Inster wasn't far behind (3.5mi/kWh for an outlay of £34.56), while the R5 cost the most (£37.30), due to its slightly disappointing efficiency figure of 3.3mi/kWh.
We estimated that the Urban will be able to cover around 207 miles between top-ups in real-world use, compared with the Inster's 190 miles and 178 miles for the R5. Bearing in mind that our contenders underwent performance testing, these figures don't reflect their ultimate potential; they simply demonstrate the cars' relative capabilities.
The R5 is predicted to hold on to its value better than its rivals, and cash buyers can currently expect only small discounts from dealers on top of the Government grant. While the Urban is predicted to shed value the fastest, you can already get significant discounts to make it more tempting for private buyers, even if the Inster remains the cheapest cash buy.
What about if you're buying on PCP finance, though? Well, with a £2500 deposit and a 10,000-mile annual limit, the Inster is the cheapest at £323 per month over three years; the R5 costs £352 and the Urban £355.
Still, the Urban comes with extras that the others don't, such as electrically operated front seats. All three cars feature LED headlights, keyless entry, adaptive cruise control and climate control as standard, although the R5 is the only one that goes without heated front seats and a heated steering wheel.
The Urban also comes with some additional safety features, such as blindspot monitoring, and it's the safest, according to Euro NCAP, which awarded it five stars overall. The others achieved four stars and, checking out the finer details, the Inster was found to be weaker than the R5 for adult occupant crash protection.
The biggest concern with the Urban is MG's woeful reliability record. It finished 30th and last in the most recent What Car? Reliability Survey, although Hyundai in 14th place and Renault in 20th weren't spectacular, either.
MG's warranty lasts for eight years or up to 80,000 miles, compared with Hyundai's five years with no mileage cap and Renault's three years or 60,000 miles. All provide separate battery cover for eight years or 100,000 miles.
What Car? says
In this company, the Inster isn't the greatest long-distance small EV. It's still a good little car in many respects, especially when you consider that it really is great value for money. But while it can tackle longer drives, they aren't as easy as in the Urban and R5, due to its shortfalls in refinement, ride comfort and practicality and its slightly awkward driving position. Still, third place is no disgrace in such exalted company, and it acquitted itself much better than many other small cheap EVs — such as the Dacia Spring – would have done. The R5, meanwhile, is still a brilliant car in many ways. Beyond its eye-catching looks, it offers strength in depth. Its fine interior, sharp handling and well-controlled, quiet ride make it feel like a more expensive car to drive. Yet it also represents incredibly good value for money.
The main weakness of the R5 has always been practicality - passenger space in the back and the usefulness of its boot. Now, our research indicates that those features aren't that important to buyers of small cars, so if that was all the MG 4 Urban brought to the party, the outcome of this test would be very different. But the Urban is just as good as the R5 in many respects, and it has the advantage on ride comfort, the finish of its interior and the amount of equipment it comes with. So that extra space — and, let's face it, it's in a different league on that score - is a bonus without any drawbacks. Even its higher list price is largely negated by discounts, or if you're buying on finance or running one as a company car.
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1st – MG 4 Urban
What Car? rating 5 stars out of 5
Hyundai Inster review >>
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Hyundai Inster 02 Long Range
Engine Electric motor
Peak power 115bhp
Peak torque 108lb ft
Gearbox 1-spd automatic
0-60mph 10.2sec
Top speed 93mph
Official range 223 miles
MG 4 Urban Long Range Premium
Engine Electric motor
Peak power 158bhp
Peak torque 184lb ft
Gearbox 1-spd automatic
0-60mph 8.4sec
Top speed 99mph
Official range 251 miles
Renault 5 Comfort Range Techno+
Engine Electric motor
Peak power 148bhp
Peak torque 181lb ft
Gearbox 1-spd automatic
0-60mph 8.2sec
Top speed 93mph
Official range 252 miles
