You can pick up MK2 Hyundai Kona 64 premiums for that money, not a startling car by any means but solid and very efficient.
We have also always bought older cars for around £3k and run them until something leads us to get rid off (write-off, free car from a relative).
We were too. Many people are.
Second hand EVs are getting much more affordable.
All the AI search engines say you will get 10- 15 years and up to 200,000 miles from an EV motor. So a longer life than an ICE motor, considering that is with zero servicing, it seems pretty cost effective.
All spinning high torque motors will suffer wear and tear problems if used long enough. Quite a few Nissan Leafs suffer bearing wear which need replacing, and some Teslas have coolant seal failures in the motor leading to failure, both electrical and bearing corrosion. The quality, fitment and design of the parts contributes to their demise. There are some high mileage MGs out there with no ill effects,) but still early days for the newer models.
That's also a very low end estimate. There is virtually no wear and tear at all on a modern EV motor. The only eventual point of failure should be the shaft bearings. Similar motors used in industry have run times before failure comparable to millions of miles driven.
Industrial motors tend to be a heavier construction and run for longer periods at a constant velocity without the acceleration / deceleration and changing torque curves that EV motors are subjected to. A similar comparison could be the bearing arrangement in an alternator in an ICE car, although these are not subjected to the same "rev " range. These tend to be usually quite long lived and not particularly looked after , and they only get noticed when they start to fail .
I agree, I have had the car for two years now, during the summer, love the car, I have no choice but to use the public charging infrastructure, which is expensive and through the winter, I have found that it is very expensive.My car salary sacrifice car lease is up as I am changing companies. My new company also does car salsac, but I likely won’t be getting an MG4 again. It’s been a nice car, but for me hasn’t quite delivered. It’s was not just the 2 months that the garage had it while they fixed the pretty important ‘not being able to charge issue’. It’s the smaller niggles, such as the charger door freezing open often. No rear seat light meaning we have to use a torch for the kids to clip their seat belts in, especially when is our turn to take other kids to clubs. The 120 mile battery range during the winter. The fact that the temperature setting has little relation to the actual temperature, they should just change it to high/medium/low? Not being able to add a roof rack in the UK. Fighting against the lane keeping on country roads. It misting up far to easily, although I know it does demist using the maximum demist button quick. The amount of mud that sticks to it I will also not miss, much more sticks than the 4 other cars I’ve owned where I live here!
Now it may be that our next car has similar, or differently annoying things! But I think it will be worth finding that out as I’ll be leasing again.
I will miss the smooth quickness and solid handling around the Scottish country lanes where I live. As well as pretty good snow and ice handling (we have all weather tyres on). I will also miss the vehicle to load functionality, so will make sure my next one does that. I will miss the quick cabin heating in the early morning. I will also of course miss the fact that it is a very good EV car for the price considering the price of EVs!
I guess in summary I think this is a good city car, but not so great for me as a country car in the cold and dark days of a Scottish rural winter.
Hope everyone keeps enjoying their MG4’s and safe driving everyone
I had the privilege of working in the maintenance sheds for Manchesters Metrolink . The electric motors are the size of a medium/large barrel with two on each bogie. They needed the least maintenance of any of the vast amount of parts which make up a tram and were reliable. But were designed to be robust and bulletproof , but with that came weight, which of course was not a concern in a tram. EV motors ideally require lightness and with that there will be compromises both in designs and materials , add in the fact they only need to be expected to last a certain mileage or an amount of years ( at least past the warranty allowance ) as a customer expectation , then that will also be factored into the design and cost package.
