Sub-$70,000 tag and pre-Christmas arrival for dual motor hot hatch that outguns a quarter million dollar Porsche classic.

PRE-Christmas availability and potential Clean Car rebate eligibility is attaching to MG’s hotshot electric hatch  - as well as a price tag as hot as its Porsche 911-eating performance.

Having previously said it did not expect to see the MG4 XPower until at least the second quarter of next year, the make’s New Zealand distributor announced today it will have the car here as 2023 product, for $69,990 unless in the Hunter Green hero colour here. That’s a $1000 option.

The regular RRP sticker drops to $62,975 if the $7015 Clean Cart discount on full electrics under $80,000 still exists. 

The rebate is going to be axed, by December 31 at latest, if a National government comes in.

MG NZ will not say when the first shipment of cars is set to land, or how many vehicles are coming in that consignment, but it will be before the end of the year, a brand involver has assured.

Orders are being taken from tomorrow.

The closest equivalent to the MG4 XPower in respect to size and hatchback classification is the Cupra Born, which costs $79,990, down to $70,885 with the rebate. 

It is rear-drive and, with 170kW/310Nm from a 77kWh battery is markedly less powerful than the MG, which in delivering with 324kW and 600Nm is the most powerful production MG ever.

To put that into further context, the most powerful MG4 at present is the Essence Long Range, with 180kW (and a 77kWh battery), which is coming in for $63,990. 

The least grunty one for us is an entry Excite 51, with a 51kWh battery, 125kW/250Nm at $46,990 before rebate.

Thanks to a launch control system that allows it to put that power down more effectively, the XPower will get from 0-100kmh in 3.8 seconds, making it faster than a Porsche 911, a $261,600-plus bauble.

Because the rear motor is slightly more powerful than the front one - 170kW versus 150kW - it retains something of the rear bias that has been appreciated by fans of the regular dual motor model. 

Other tech for the flagship includes a new Dynamic Cornering Control System, with a locking differential and a torque vectoring system that sends the power to the wheel with the most traction. 

The regenerative braking system has also been recalibrated. Less high-tech solutions have also been employed, with recalibrated spring and damper tuning, stiffer anti-roll bars and sharper steering. The suspension is 25 percent stiffer, too, while MG has also fitted bigger brakes and new Bridgestone Turanza tyres for extra grip.

Orange brake callipers hiding behind the 18-inch alloy wheels are the least subtle of its updates and Racing Green paint, with option of a black roof, is also only for the XPower, but that and some polished trim along the door sills about the limit of its visual loudness as seen at the kerb.

MG has fitted black Alcantara seat upholstery and metal sports pedals, but otherwise it's the standard hatchback, with the same wide central touchscreen and digital instrument display, neither of which is much different from that of the standard MG4, according to first testers. MG hasn't even made wholesale changes to the graphics to suit the sportier model.

Speed is doubtless the XPower's party piece, so it doesn't quite have the range of the existing Long Range models, with 385 kilometres cited from in-house testing, but the clever all-wheel-drive system shuts off the front motor when it isn't needed. 

MG New Zealand country manager Arek Zywot says the XPower firmly underlines the brand’s ‘Take Charge’ philosophy, as an EV performance car delivering Kiwi drivers breathtaking power and dynamics at an extremely competitive price.

MG Motor Australia and New Zealand chief executive Peter Ciao, who’s bases in Australia, said the car is proof EV performance can be affordable.

“The MG4 XPower has supercar acceleration and is packed with features, including launch control, showing that a compact EV can be affordable, practical and spirited to drive.” 

“There are very few performance vehicles on the market today, let alone with zero-emissions, which deliver the sheer acceleration the MG4 XPower is capable of.”

Said Zywot: “It promises to be one of the most exciting new electric cars of 2023.”