MG Cyberster review: An affordable electric sports car that actually delivers

MG’s all-electric Cyberster roadster combines stunning design, rapid acceleration, and surprising performance in an ambitious halo model

The sporty MG Cyberster

MG CYBERSTER
Rating	★★★★☆
Price	€69,900 as tested
Power	a very fast electric with either 335bhp or 496bhp
Range	Around 500km
The Spec	very thorough indeed
Verdict	a true glimpse of what the Chinese are capable of doing

Beauty is both timeless and permanent. It also, when it comes to motoring, tends to come from predictable sources.​ 

Certain manufacturers have the knack for it, and a car’s beauty doesn’t necessarily mean large dollops of spondulicks have to be outlaid to secure it.​ 

Down the years, there have been very significant numbers of gorgeous small cars and superminis, and even a fair share of mid-range beauties.​ 

Of course, though, it is the super-rich contenders such as the Lamborghini Countach or the Ferrari F40 (any Ferrari, in fact) that catch the public’s imagination and fire the dreams of young people everywhere who live with the thought that, one day, they too could own such a thing.​ 

For lesser brands, ambition is a bold thing, but it is a characteristic that’s good to see from any manufacturer—indicating, as it does, that they have not only the scope to produce something beautiful and extraordinary, but they are willing to get out on a limb and shake the tree a bit.​ 

Making something beautiful and eye-catching is one thing; making it any good is quite another. It is at this point we introduce the MG Cyberster, an all-electric two-seater roadster. It is what’s called a ‘halo’ project and, while not necessarily designed to sell in vast numbers, it is a statement of intent.​ 

For a company like MG, which is now a Chinese reconstruction of an old English nameplate associated with sportiness and élan—it was also associated with poor workmanship, often dodgy engineering, and appalling reliability, but that is of little consequence.​ 

For the Chinese, assuming ownership of the brand gave them an entrée to customers that they would otherwise not have had and allowed them to burnish their product with a name that is pretty much instantly recognisable and carries a degree of heft.​ 

To date, the cars that MG has been exporting to Europe and beyond have consisted mainly of no-nonsense hatchbacks and SUVs, the majority of which are electrics or hybrids. The MG4, for example, has sold well in foreign markets—well, foreign to China, anyway—on the basis of sturdy practicality, decent range, and competitive pricing.​ 

In Ireland this year, MG sold some 740 vehicles in total to the end of March, up from 606 units in the same time period last year. The MG4 accounted for 306 of those sales. 

Our tester this week has only notched up the grand total of six.​ That is not because it’s bad; simply that two-seater roadsters—and especially electric ones—are not for everyone and will, naturally, have limited appeal.

MG Cyberster interior

However, the very fact they’re making it at all is something we have to applaud and the added bonus that it is quite good is impressive. A statement car like this is supposed to garner attention and there can be no doubts that MG has achieved a huge amount for the company merely by existing at all.

Now, it may rankle slightly that MG is claiming a hundred years of heritage and that it might even be entitled to such a centenary of supposed greatness, but the realists out there among you will know that any history it is entitled to start only when MG renewed production in 2007.

Let us not split hairs, however, but simply look to the here and now, for it is only the present moment that concerns us and, in that context solely, the Cyberster is a thing of the moment — highlighting as it does the best of Chinese automotive technology in 2025.

That means there is plenty of the mediocre mixed in with the good stuff, but there is more of the former than the latter. As we pointed out at the outset here, the visuals of this car lay down a template which was always going to be hard to match.

Without fail, the Cyberster had a magnetic appeal across age and generational demarcations; it struck a chord with everyone who encountered it.

It might be that all the tech on display here is indubitably Chinese, but the actual design of the car was completed in the UK, where MG’s design office is based. The initial drawing and skunkworks were completed in 2017, but it was rushed into production last year to make it in time for MG’s centenary last year.

It is based on the same platform as both the MG 4 and the MG 5, but it is a very different beast from both. With a long, low bonnet stretching out in front of a nicely raked windscreen and a snug passenger compartment, it looks the business.

The sporty MG Cyberster

Neat design touches with the front and rear light clusters (which include the unique ‘arrow’ rear indicators) stamp it as a car of speed and substance, and the figures certainly bear that out. There are two versions, and both use a 77kW battery, with a 7kW onboard charger which allows for a charging capability of 144kW.

In turn, this gives the car a 38-minute time for recharging between 10 and 80% on a fast charger, or 10 and a half hours on a standard 7kW wall-charger, all of which is pretty standard for the genre. The lesser of the two models offers some 335bhp (driven through the rear wheels), has a five-second 0-100km/h capability, while top speed is 194km/h, and it has a 508km range.

The flagship version adds 4WD, a further 161bhp, a 201km/h top speed and an incredible 0-100km/h time of 3.2 seconds, which is impressive.

We had the ‘lesser’ version of the two on offer, but that’s not to say we felt in any way deprived because the car handles and rides almost as good as it looks. While not quite being painted to the road, it does cling on with admirable gusto and you get the feeling that some considerable work has been done to achieve this.

That needed to be the case with this ‘halo’ model simply because there was going to be no point building it if it did not match expectations. There is little point in making such a beautiful car if the result is going to end up wrapped around a tree.

We have expressed doubts about the dynamic abilities of numerous Chinese-made cars, but this one does not merit any brickbats. As a coupe, you are going to get an amount of chassis flexing, but by and large the engineers have managed to produce something that performs every bit as well as it looks.

The interior very much smacks of the British imperial age of car making, with strangely hued leathers, but it is neat, functional, and both seats are very comfortable. The wraparound three-screen infotainment system does take a little getting used to, but as is ever the case with these things, a little time spent familiarising yourself with what it does and how it does it, pays dividends.

The fact that the beauty here is not just skin-deep is perhaps the most praiseworthy thing we can say about the Cyberster; so many Chinese cars look the berries, but in practice are far from it. This one is an exception and while those of us old enough to remember will find the ‘MG’ association somewhat disquieting, it is nevertheless sobering to think that this is what might have been if the British car industry had been bothered enough to save itself.

Whatever about the car’s links to the past, if this is a vision of the future, then the Chinese are going to hold us in thrall for some time.