2022 MG HS Plus EV Essence Plug-In Hybrid Review

MG seems to be kicking goal after goal in Australia these days. It has shot up in the sales charts in recent years with value-packed offerings and as a result, it now consistently ranks in the top 10 most popular brands locally, with the brand seemingly offering a car to suit every budget. Sure, the bulk of the Chinese brand’s popularity stems from its ability to undercut direct rivals on price, but MG has shown its vehicles have plenty of tech too. Enter the 2022 MG HS Plus EV Essence Plug-In Hybrid, a car which MG says is the best of both the electric and internal combustion worlds.

In theory, plug-in hybrids, or PHEVs if you love an acronym, eliminate the range anxiety experienced in a pure EV, while offering some of silent-running, emission free driving that regular hybrids like the Toyota RAV4 don’t offer. So is MG’s value packed plug-in the perfect step to take before buying a full EV? Let’s find out.

Price & Equipment: 8/10

While the MG HS range starts at $31,990 drive away in Australia, the plug-in hybrid models start a bit higher at $47,690 drive away – $3,700 more than the top-spec HS Essence X. The top-spec Plus EV Essence tested here is priced at $50,690 drive away.

Standard equipment on the 2022 MG HS Plus EV Essence includes 18-inch wheels, all-LED lighting, auto lights and wipers, leatherette and suede upholstery with a six-way driver/four-way passenger electrically adjustable front seats with heating, a panoramic sunroof, dual-zone climate control with rear vents, a 10.1-inch touchscreen with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation, a six-speaker sound system, a 12.3-inch digital driver’s display, keyless entry and start, heated and auto-folding mirrors, an electric tailgate, roof rails and a leather-wrapped steering wheel.

Safety kit includes six airbags, auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, lane departure warning, traffic jam assist, auto high beam, a 360-degree parking camera, rear parking sensors and an auto-dimming rear mirror.

Just three colours are available for the 2022 MG HS Plus EV Essence and they’re all no-cost options: ‘Sterling Silver’, ‘Phantom Red’ and ‘New Pearl White’ with the ‘Clipper Blue’ of our test car no longer available. Just black is available for the interior – the almost Alfa-Romeo esque red colour of the non-PHEV Essence isn’t available.

The 2022 MG HS PHEV doesn’t have many direct rivals at the moment. The nearest rival is the recently arrived Ford Escape PHEV for $53,440 + ORC or the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross PHEV ES from $49,990 drive away. The Ford Escape should be a sharper car to drive, even if it is dearer than the MG HS PHEV and offers a roomy, well-built interior as well. The Mitsubishi might undercut the MG HS PHEV ever so slightly on price, but isn’t as roomy or as well-specified. A Peugeot 3008 GT Sport PHEV comes in at a rather eye-watering $79,990, showing just how well MG has nailed the value equation for the HS PHEV.

The MG HS PHEV also competes with traditional hybrids such as the 2022 Toyota RAV4 XSE Hybrid which is priced at around $48,000 drive away. Unlike the MG, the Toyota can only do short distance electric-only driving, as its hybrid battery is much smaller and is charged by either braking or the petrol engine – there’s no opportunity to charge it from the grid.

Performance & Economy: 7/10

MG says the 2022 HS Plus Essence PHEV has the best of both worlds under its bonnet, with both a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine making 119kW and 250Nm mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission and a 90kW/230Nm electric motor powered by a 16.6kWh battery. MG says the maximum combined output of the engine and electric motor is a hefty 189kW of power and 370Nm torque. With a claimed 0-100km/h sprint time of just 6.9 seconds, this makes the MG HS PHEV one of the fastest mid-size SUVs on the market.

Acceleration is brisk from a standstill, with the petrol engine and electric motor working well to propel the MG HS PHEV forward with gusto. Sadly, the hybrid system doesn’t gel as well in other scenarios. The changeover from electric to petrol isn’t particularly smooth and the gearbox seemed to be caught out in neutral at several times when asking for moderate acceleration, after say, braking for a roundabout. If MG could do more work here to improve the marriage between petrol and electric, you’d be looking at a cracking plug-in hybrid drivetrain.

MG says the HS PHEV has a 63km pure-electric range which we would say is about right, especially when driving around town. In pure electric mode (selected on the centre console), the HS PHEV accretes smoothly and swiftly, with the electric motor proving it is more than capable of taking the SUV even up to highway speeds.

Things get interesting when talking about fuel economy. On the official combined cycle, MG says the HS PHEV will consume a paltry 1.7L/100km. This figure is sadly useless as it fails to account for how the MG HS PHEV is used by owners in the real world. Running on pure electricity, say on short trips around town, the HS PHEV will use no fuel. With the battery fully depleted and running in a hybrid mode like the RAV4 would normally, we say consumption around the 6-7L/100km mark with the car relying mainly on the petrol engine. The HS PHEV needs minimum 95RON premium unleaded as well.

Charging is a simple affair with the MG HS PHEV having a standard type 2 charging port. A 7.2kW home charger will recharge the battery from 0 to 100% in around five hours. Owners can also charge through a standard powerpoint at home too, with a full charge taking 8.5 hours.

Ride & Handling: 7/10

On the road, the MG HS PHEV is a bit of mixed bag. On one hand, it handles rather well, with direct and weighty steering, coupled with restrained amounts of body roll, thanks to the low centre of gravity due to the battery being mounted low, under the car’s floor. The Michelin Primacy 3 tyres are good quality too, giving the MG HS decent grip through corners, even in the wet. Ultimately it might not feel as fun to drive as a Kia Sportage or Mazda CX-5, but it really doesn’t need to – it goes about its business unobtrusively. Its safety systems, part of the “MG Pilot” driver assistance suite work well, with well calibrated lane centering and assist helping out on longer journeys.

The main downside to the MG HS’s driving experience is the ride quality over patchy road surfaces like potholes, expansion joints, or big speed bumps, with occupants feeling a noticeable thud or jarring through the seat. The large MG never seems to settle down. MG has made big strides in the ways its cars drive, but it’s clear a little more work is needed here to improve comfort levels which buyers will appreciate on a daily basis.

Interior & Practicality: 7.5/10

Stepping into the MG HS PHEV shows just how far the brand has come in recent years in terms of making its interiors appealing and nice places to spend time in. Sure, It’s not the most exciting cabin in the world, but there’s no denying it’s well equipped and well built. Most of the materials you touch frequently feel soft to the touch, including the tops of the rear doors. The leather used on the dashboard and doors is clearly fake, but it’s still nice to the touch and overall the MG HS has a generic but oddly appealing feel to its interior.

The front seats look fantastic, and are trimmed in more faux leather. They’re comfortable and supportive, though they could offer more electric adjustment range – and no lumbar support is annoying. Still, it’s possible to get a good driving position, and visibility is decent with large windows and an excellent 360-degree parking camera. 

The steering wheel looks oddly similar to the Volkswagen Golf Mk6 of yesteryear, but falls nicely to hand. The digital instruments might not be the flashiest on the market, but they’re easy to use and show a myriad of information.

In an effort to give the HS even more street credit, MG has made a big effort in injecting some glitz and glamour into the interior through customisable mood lighting, and MG logo puddle lights which will no doubt appeal to the masses.

The centrally mounted 10.1-inch touchscreen is big and bright and comes with some decent graphics, and the stereo system has crisp enough audio quality. Sadly, the system is always laggy and its clear that processing speeds are not up to scratch. Literally, seconds can pass between pressing a button on the screen and getting a response. In addition to that, the menu system needs revamping, in our opinion, as it isn’t very intuitive. The 360-degree camera is a little grainy too and laggy, if we’re being harsh.

Up front, the MG HS comes with a wide range of storage options. A slim phone holder along the tunnel next to cupholders might be too small for the largest phones on the market today but the closing compartment ahead of the gear lever is well shaped, as is the armrest. Big bottle holders in the doors, a glovebox, and a sunglasses holder in, the roof round off what is a decent amount of storage.

The MG HS is roomy in the back seat, with rear seat occupants receiving super supportive seats with the bonus of a two-stage recline function. Even sitting behind a taller driver, there is plenty of legroom, foot room and shoulder room. Even the panoramic glass roof provides enough headroom for those in the back. Rear occupants get two USB points, a centre armrest with cupholders in the door bins.

The MG HS’ boot comes in at a respectable 451-litres, meaning it is smack bang in the middle of what we would expect from this class of SUV. It doesn’t break any space records, as it’s 12L less than the HS petrol model, but it is well shaped and accessed via a rather slow power operated tailgate. A Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross’s boot is 46L smaller. Unfortunately, there’s no spare wheel at all.

Service & Warranty: 9/10

Like other MG models in Australia, the 2022 MG HS Plus EV Essence comes with a seven-year/unlimited km warranty with seven years of roadside assistance. MG also applies this warranty to the battery pack.

The MG HS Plus EV also comes with seven years of capped price servicing with five years and 50,000km of servicing totalling a respectable $1,854 or an average of $371 per service. Sadly, the short 10,000km service intervals mean that the MG HS PHEV will have to visit the dealer more regularly than the class, average should you do a lot of driving per year.

The 2022 MG HS Plus EV Essence DiscoverAuto Rating: 7.7/10

The 2022 MG HS Plus EV Essence could very well be the perfect step for many cautious buyers wanting to see what electric motoring is all about. The potential benefits of plug-in hybrid technology are all here, the MG HS PHEV can run on electricity alone on many drives, provided it is charged overnight, yet still has the ability to comfortably head out of town with no need to charge like a conventional car. Add MG’s keen pricing, good warranty, reasonable EV range and decent interior presentation and standard equipment levels, and it seems that MG is onto a winner.

The MG HS +EV plug-in hybrid is something of a happy medium for many who aren’t ready to fully commit to a full electric vehicle. It will no doubt find many buyers, but with electric vehicles getting better and better each day, will plug-in hybrids become irrelevant? Only time will tell.