MG Comet Road Test Review

The MG Comet EV is an ultra-compact city hatchback that focuses on personal mobility and adds to the wow factor as well. Small in size, small in range, but good enough for the city? We explore the answer to this question in our comprehensive road test, where we find its real-world driving range and delve into other aspects too.

Cute, unconventional, and quirky is what best describes this car, which isn’t even 3-metres long. Built on MG’s Global Small Electric Vehicles (GSEV) platform, the Comet’s unusual design, illuminated logo housing the charging port behind and a light bar atop, small bonnet, aero wheel-covers, and a red LED bar on the tailgate make it eye-catching. It gets subtle exterior colours, but the Apple Green shade we had is perfect to grab attention, with personalisation options galore.

The hefty doors open up a cabin that is unconventional in its design and layout. Also, it gets good quality materials and finish, consistent panel gaps, and no scratchy plastics. The bright grey and white accents look premium and feel good too. Another feel-good factor is the two-spoke steering with controls giving the Apple iPod vibes. The two screens are nicely put together as one unit, with not very large fonts but still readable and providing a decent amount of information through the instrument cluster and infotainment unit.

You easily slide into the front seats with an acceptable driving position and sufficient headroom, knee-room, and good frontal visibility. Despite the absence of a sunroof, this car lends an airy feel due to the use of light colours. But then, the slim seats are closely placed to each other, resulting in tight shoulder room. Nevertheless, they are wide enough to accommodate people with an average build. The taller ones will complain about under-thigh support and the healthier ones about the seats being narrow.

In the second row, there’s adequate space, but the air-plane-like windows and large front seats restrict outward visibility. Here, even the knees are up due to the higher floor. Also, it’s easy to get in but a task to get out. For city travel, it would be okay for kids, but tricky for senior citizens in this four-seater.

The car scores well on practicality. It comes equipped with handy hooks in the dashboard to hang grocery bags. However, the absence of a glove box or central storage console means one will have to rely on the slots and cup-holders in the door pads and dashboard. Another drawback is that the air conditioner does not display temperature in Celsius, but rather has levels like L0, L1, L2, L3, L4, and High. On the positive side, the tailgate opens, but there is hardly any boot space available with the rear bench up. The boot can only accommodate the car’s charger along with perhaps a backpack or a slim laptop bag. However, with the 50-50 split rear seats dropped down, the car offers a versatile boot space that can even accommodate golf clubs or other large bags.

We had high expectations from the Comet in terms of features such as digital screens, connected car technology, a dual-tone interior, voice commands, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto. MG has delivered on our expectations by providing all of these features, along with other notable equipment like LED lamps, an illuminated MG logo, electrically adjustable outside rearview mirrors (ORVMs), a smart start system, and a digital key with sharing function. The safety suite includes dual airbags, ABS with EBD, rear parking sensors with reversing camera, and speed- and impact-sensing auto-lock function for the doors.

The Comet gets a 17.3kWh battery paired to a 41bhp motor making 110Nm of torque. It is very silent till you press the throttle and hear the motor. Then, there’s some tyre noise on the run. It has three driving modes – Eco, Normal, and Sports. Interestingly, the car doesn’t have a start/stop button, but it’s ready to go on tapping the brake twice and putting it in the D mode. There’s no creep function here, so some accelerator input is necessary. That said, it doesn’t roll back immediately on steep inclines or slopes. It stays there for 5-6 seconds which will make things easy for new drivers, even without the handbrake.

Even in the Eco mode, it has the zest to go forward, but once switched to Normal or Sports mode, one realises that it is a bit sluggish. Also, it's limited to 85kmph. Still, the speed build-up remains linear and smooth. In the Sports mode, it won't push you back into the seat but is fun with the instantaneous torque. Though it took 19.97 seconds to reach 0-100kmph, 0-60kmph came up in 6.98 seconds which is good to get ahead of the traffic. Meanwhile, 20-80kmph and 40-100kmph are slow at 10.48 seconds and 17.44 seconds, respectively. This hints it’s ok at slow city speeds but struggles to pace up with a weak top-end. If cruising at triple-digit speeds on the highways is your thing, this EV isn't for you.

On its ride and handling part, the suspension feels quite absorbent despite not having a long travel. It was compliant at city speeds over small rough patches of the road, drain covers, speed bumps, etc. that we faced. At higher speeds and over bad surfaces the ride feels harsh with the jolts being heard inside. But, it's not meant to do that in the first place. Drive sanely and the not-so-high ground clearance paired with a short wheelbase will be good enough to clear most bad sections and potholes effortlessly. On the braking front, there's enough pedal feel with it being gradual and predictable. It felt nervous under sudden braking but did a decent job.

The steering isn't bad either, despite having over three turns lock-to-lock. It has a tight turning radius making it very easy to take U-turns. And the compact footprint also means playing Tetris in traffic is fun; as in fitting even in tight spots or traffic. Although the steering is light, it weighs up as the car gains speed. Also, remember that driving it enthusiastically around corners will make you nervous due to the high centre of gravity, short wheelbase, small 12-inch wheels, and skinny tyres.

To conduct our real-world range test, we fully charged the car and drove it on our designated testing route until the battery was depleted. The car displayed 200km of indicated range, which did not change with a switch of driving modes. The car has three settings for regen - heavy, normal, and light. With all settings set to normal, we were able to drive 191km, falling short of the claimed range of 230km. Nevertheless, this performance is good for a city car, and the instrument cluster consistently displayed a drop in range, making it quite dependable too. Unfortunately, the Comet does not support fast charging, and topping it up using a 3.3kW home charger takes patience, with charging from 0-100 per cent taking seven hours and 10-80 per cent taking five hours.

There are three variants on offer. The Pace variant is the entry-level option, priced at Rs. 7.98 lakh (all prices ex-showroom). The mid-spec Play trim is available for Rs. 9.28 lakh, and the top-spec Plush version has a price tag of Rs. 9.98 lakh.

The MG Comet is an interesting option for those looking for an additional car at home to run errands and with a good driving range. At its introductory price, it's still the most affordable EV in India. It offers excellent technology, ample cabin space, a premium interior, and low running costs. However, it misses some equipment like a glove box, sunroof, wireless charger, and fast-charging support. Most notably, it missed out on four doors that are typically found in cars at this price point, especially in the top-spec Plush version. Overall, the Comet is a well-built city car but expensive for its wow factor. It's not intended for the mass market but for more discerning buyers. Some may not find it value for money and may consider it a safer scooter for the wealthy. Nevertheless, super-compact EVs like the Comet would be beneficial, particularly in crowded metropolitan areas, and is a good step in this direction.

Pictures by Kapil Angane and Kaustubh Gandhi