aerofurb
Standard Member
Just a few thoughts to compare my current 8000 mile old '2025' MG HS Trophy PHEV against my previous car, a 2020 Skoda Superb iV Sportline PHEV. I don't have any experience of the new Superb iV with the 70 ,mile range.
Remember that driving a PHEV is different to a 'normal' single fuel car, be it diesel/petrol 'ICE' or pure EV. In my opinion, to make it work for you depends on your mission profile. Ideally, you need to be able to charge at home to get cheap rate electricity and run it as much as possible on the cheap EV power, ie most of your trips within EV range. If you charge at a public charger, it is probably the same cost per mile as running the ICE. When I bought the Superb, work was 5 miles away and I had a regular weekend trip of 110 miles and back. So it was brilliant for the work trip and ideal for longer journeys. When my job changed to either a 100 miles a day or 40 miles a day, the Superb with its average 30 miles EV range wasn't so perfect - for me.
I also believe that you need to be more involved with a PHEV to get the best out of it. My standard routine is to use EV power whenever possible, only charge from home (unless it's free!), normally use EV power below 40 mph (aerodynamic drag at higher speeds does reduce the range significantly) and end up getting home with a depleted battery. This means a bit of monitoring of the best power source to use. The Superb would charge the battery to what ever level was required but that is at a serious expense of ICE MPG. Remember, ICE and EV displayed range is an estimate only, based on how you have recently been driving the car.
I had the Superb from 4500 miles (ex dealer demo) and 6 months old. The car was great - well built, looked great and went very well. It had 'electric' shocks and I found it a bit too wallowy in normal mode but much better in sport mode. The ride however was pretty hard with low profile tyres. EV range was about 27 miles in the winter time and up to 33 or so in the summer. Combined when on a long journey using both ICE and EV, the average MPG was high 50s. That said, the Superb took EV equivalent use to be 300 mpg.
As far as tech went, it's what is now quite old technology with the ICE driving through the EV motor and then a 6 speed DSG (auto with clutchless sequential gear change if you want to) gearbox through the front wheels. The ICE and motor combined gave about 215 hp and was quick. It would spin the front wheels with the EV torque when puling out from junctions - the MG does as well but not as badly.
The 2025 HS PHEV is poles apart with the technology in the drive train. You need to research parallel and series hybrid power, as it does both, with two motors plus the ICE. Also look up the sister car Roewe D5X DMH (dual motor hybrid) as there is more info on the drivetrain for that than the MG HS PHEV.
The ICE is mainly a battery charging range extender (via one motor/generator) but also drives the wheels. Total power is 305hp or so - a lot more than the Superb and it is noticeably quicker.
The HS has a two speed gearbox and from what I can workout, it always uses EV power to pull away (more torque) to leave the ICE element to only drive directly at higher speeds. You can sometimes feel the gearchange at around 2500 ICE rpm but when in EV mode, I have felt a gear change.
The HS has a default EV equivalent mpg of 99.9 mpg and despite that, the average trip MPG is around 70+ - same use as with the Superb. EV range is given as 75 mpg and I reckon you can expect in normal mixed driving to get 65-70 miles. The ICE tends to kick in with around 6 miles of estimated range left - I presume to ensure there's EV power available for standing starts. I've had 60 miles in a day with mixed driving from town to country roads, to 55 mph A roads etc, some at night and with the heating on.
The range is affected a lot less on the HS then the Superb with the heater running. The heater and aircon on the HS are electric. Hot air is available within a minute or two of driving, much better than the Superb.
The handling is really good and not far off the Superb despite the height of the HS. The ride on the standard shocks is better than the Superb in either suspension mode - no doubt helped by sensible sized sidewalled tyres! The HS is much quieter than the Superb in EV or ICE mode. Overtaking acceleration in the HS is very impressive, as is the standing start acceleration with no gear changes - it just goes! On both, when accelerating hard, the ICE will kick in, even when in EV mode.
The fit and finish is excellent on the MG. The (red) paint I have is flawless - much better than the Superb (also metallic red) and seems more hard wearing than the Skoda which chipped easily. The interior - alcantara in the Superb was nice but the mock leather seats in the HS are extremely comfortable. Loads of space in both cars. My Superb was a hatch and I now have the bootmat in the HS - same width, HS is about 7" less front to back but had more height. Leg room is immense in both!
The Superb was extremely reliable. I've had a couple of actual defects with the HS - the wipers failed at 200 miles and initially it wouldn't charge. Both were sorted by the supplying dealer. I now have the common (no doubt software-induced) lack of road speed limit recognition and cruise control. Car is going back in in two weeks time. Bit of a pain but that's the modern world we live in - software bugs! The Superb wouldn't allow Car Play to work half the time which was a right pain.
People are often commenting on MG residual value. Probably, they don't realise how much all cars depreciate! The Superb new was £43k list price. At 4500 miles/6 months it was mine for £32k from the dealer. At a little over 4 years old and 60k miles, the trade in value was £14k....
What do I miss? The headlights aren't quite up to the LED full matrix style of the Superb and I do miss the cornering foglamps after having it on 3 Skoda Yetis and the Superb. I can't really think of anything else, so that's clutching at finding something! But it has other stuff like 360° camera so it's not all bad.
In summary - zero regrets in going for the MG. As a company car, it's great on BIK as it has more than 69 mile EV range and I hated having to run the ICE for 7-8 miles on my shorter daily journey in the Superb! The new Superb iV is £48k - lovely car, but that's a lot of money over the MG which in Trophy form in red is just over £35k (and I got nearly 10% off list). I could only drive the non-PHEV HS when I ordered mine and my PHEV was one of the first in the UK. I love it!
Remember that driving a PHEV is different to a 'normal' single fuel car, be it diesel/petrol 'ICE' or pure EV. In my opinion, to make it work for you depends on your mission profile. Ideally, you need to be able to charge at home to get cheap rate electricity and run it as much as possible on the cheap EV power, ie most of your trips within EV range. If you charge at a public charger, it is probably the same cost per mile as running the ICE. When I bought the Superb, work was 5 miles away and I had a regular weekend trip of 110 miles and back. So it was brilliant for the work trip and ideal for longer journeys. When my job changed to either a 100 miles a day or 40 miles a day, the Superb with its average 30 miles EV range wasn't so perfect - for me.
I also believe that you need to be more involved with a PHEV to get the best out of it. My standard routine is to use EV power whenever possible, only charge from home (unless it's free!), normally use EV power below 40 mph (aerodynamic drag at higher speeds does reduce the range significantly) and end up getting home with a depleted battery. This means a bit of monitoring of the best power source to use. The Superb would charge the battery to what ever level was required but that is at a serious expense of ICE MPG. Remember, ICE and EV displayed range is an estimate only, based on how you have recently been driving the car.
I had the Superb from 4500 miles (ex dealer demo) and 6 months old. The car was great - well built, looked great and went very well. It had 'electric' shocks and I found it a bit too wallowy in normal mode but much better in sport mode. The ride however was pretty hard with low profile tyres. EV range was about 27 miles in the winter time and up to 33 or so in the summer. Combined when on a long journey using both ICE and EV, the average MPG was high 50s. That said, the Superb took EV equivalent use to be 300 mpg.
As far as tech went, it's what is now quite old technology with the ICE driving through the EV motor and then a 6 speed DSG (auto with clutchless sequential gear change if you want to) gearbox through the front wheels. The ICE and motor combined gave about 215 hp and was quick. It would spin the front wheels with the EV torque when puling out from junctions - the MG does as well but not as badly.
The 2025 HS PHEV is poles apart with the technology in the drive train. You need to research parallel and series hybrid power, as it does both, with two motors plus the ICE. Also look up the sister car Roewe D5X DMH (dual motor hybrid) as there is more info on the drivetrain for that than the MG HS PHEV.
The ICE is mainly a battery charging range extender (via one motor/generator) but also drives the wheels. Total power is 305hp or so - a lot more than the Superb and it is noticeably quicker.
The HS has a two speed gearbox and from what I can workout, it always uses EV power to pull away (more torque) to leave the ICE element to only drive directly at higher speeds. You can sometimes feel the gearchange at around 2500 ICE rpm but when in EV mode, I have felt a gear change.
The HS has a default EV equivalent mpg of 99.9 mpg and despite that, the average trip MPG is around 70+ - same use as with the Superb. EV range is given as 75 mpg and I reckon you can expect in normal mixed driving to get 65-70 miles. The ICE tends to kick in with around 6 miles of estimated range left - I presume to ensure there's EV power available for standing starts. I've had 60 miles in a day with mixed driving from town to country roads, to 55 mph A roads etc, some at night and with the heating on.
The range is affected a lot less on the HS then the Superb with the heater running. The heater and aircon on the HS are electric. Hot air is available within a minute or two of driving, much better than the Superb.
The handling is really good and not far off the Superb despite the height of the HS. The ride on the standard shocks is better than the Superb in either suspension mode - no doubt helped by sensible sized sidewalled tyres! The HS is much quieter than the Superb in EV or ICE mode. Overtaking acceleration in the HS is very impressive, as is the standing start acceleration with no gear changes - it just goes! On both, when accelerating hard, the ICE will kick in, even when in EV mode.
The fit and finish is excellent on the MG. The (red) paint I have is flawless - much better than the Superb (also metallic red) and seems more hard wearing than the Skoda which chipped easily. The interior - alcantara in the Superb was nice but the mock leather seats in the HS are extremely comfortable. Loads of space in both cars. My Superb was a hatch and I now have the bootmat in the HS - same width, HS is about 7" less front to back but had more height. Leg room is immense in both!
The Superb was extremely reliable. I've had a couple of actual defects with the HS - the wipers failed at 200 miles and initially it wouldn't charge. Both were sorted by the supplying dealer. I now have the common (no doubt software-induced) lack of road speed limit recognition and cruise control. Car is going back in in two weeks time. Bit of a pain but that's the modern world we live in - software bugs! The Superb wouldn't allow Car Play to work half the time which was a right pain.
People are often commenting on MG residual value. Probably, they don't realise how much all cars depreciate! The Superb new was £43k list price. At 4500 miles/6 months it was mine for £32k from the dealer. At a little over 4 years old and 60k miles, the trade in value was £14k....
What do I miss? The headlights aren't quite up to the LED full matrix style of the Superb and I do miss the cornering foglamps after having it on 3 Skoda Yetis and the Superb. I can't really think of anything else, so that's clutching at finding something! But it has other stuff like 360° camera so it's not all bad.
In summary - zero regrets in going for the MG. As a company car, it's great on BIK as it has more than 69 mile EV range and I hated having to run the ICE for 7-8 miles on my shorter daily journey in the Superb! The new Superb iV is £48k - lovely car, but that's a lot of money over the MG which in Trophy form in red is just over £35k (and I got nearly 10% off list). I could only drive the non-PHEV HS when I ordered mine and my PHEV was one of the first in the UK. I love it!
