Nimble MG combines

For motorists keen to plug into tomorrow, the only way is electric. That’s why a new face-lifted electric estate car that combines practicality with panache is well worth a look.

Especially as in this case, should a car in question just happen to be adorned with the MG badge. The MG 5 electric estate has a lot going for it. That’s obvious from the very first glance.

A charmingly sleek but functional design manages to combine a pleasing hint of sporting pedigree with an evident capacity for load carrying (475 litres). The best news is it doesn’t cost ‘loadsa dosh’ - £33,440. It’s possible to carry all the golf clubs an octopus might need whilst still cutting a dash at the clubhouse car park.

As I soon discovered, it’s a car that attracts plenty of the right sort of interest. The two most frequently asked questions were: “Is that electric?” and “Is that an MG?” It was a matter of chance whichever came first. Regardless, you could guarantee that one would follow the other. The umpteenth time this happened, I’d parked in the one available space in the concert hall car park prior to attending a lunchtime concert of progressive electronic music.

I felt entitled to treat myself to a little culture now that, so to speak, I was “plugged in”. A fellow music lover shuffled over to me.

“I say. Is that an MG?” he said.

“Sir,” I declaimed. “The illustrious vehicle that presents itself to your ocular advantage is none other than an electric estate car bearing, as you correctly surmised, the legendary and mouth-wateringly exciting badge that belongs exclusively to vehicles of the MG stable.”

To his credit he smiled at this.

“I used to own a ‘46 MG TC Midget,” he declared. “Lovely little car. Owned it 20 years. Should never have let it go. What I call a proper car. Nowadays it’s all about emissions, environment and all that stuff.”