MG HS - MPG, emissions & running costs

MG says the petrol HS should be able to average 38.2mpg when equipped with the six-speed manual, or up to 37.2mpg with the optional seven-speed automatic. During our testing of the automatic version across a mixture of town and motorway driving, we managed to achieve 33.6mpg – the equivalent Nissan Qashqai or Kia Sportage should return over 40mpg in similar conditions.

The full-hybrid HS coming in 2025 should offer more respectable fuel economy than the petrol version, because it will be capable of driving on pure electric power for short periods without needing the engine to run. It’ll be easier to run than the PHEV because it doesn’t require plugging in at any point: the battery is charged by regenerative braking and the engine, just like other full-hybrid cars.

Electric range, battery life and charge time

The big news is that the plug-in hybrid HS gets a sizable 24.7kWh battery and boasts a massive pure-electric range of 75 miles – nearly twice the distance the Kia Sportage PHEV can go on a single charge. However we haven’t had a chance to see how accurate that range is for ourselves yet.

MG says the HS should take around four hours to charge from empty to full at home when utilising a 7kW charge point. If you use a domestic three-pin plug, it’ll take seven and a half hours.

Tax 

Due to the plug-in hybrid HS having such a long EV range figure and emitting just 12g/km of CO2, it’s in a low 5 per cent Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) tax rate for company car drivers. In order to beat that, you’ll need to drive a pure-electric car that’ll likely cost far more in the first place.

If you’re wondering, the petrol HS falls into the highest 37 per cent band, making it a costly option.

The petrol version costs £190 a year for VED, while the plug-in hybrid, which is classed as an alternative fuel vehicle, is discounted to £180.

Insurance groups

Insurance costs are likely to be a little higher with the MG HS when compared with its rivals. The entry-level 1.5 T-GDi SE stars in group 24, before rising to group 26 for the plug-in hybrid model. The Ford Kuga and the hybrid version of the Hyundai Kona both start in group 16.

Depreciation

Based on a typical ownership period of three years or 36,000 miles, our expert data suggests that the MG HS will retain between 44 to 47 per cent of its resale value, with the best being the entry-level 1.5 SE manual, and the worst being the plug-in hybrid in SE trim.

That’s lower than the Kia Sportage, which is predicted to maintain between 47 to 56 per cent over the same period, or the Ford Kuga, which is expected to hang on to around 52 per cent of its value.

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