KAIKAI

Our car: MG Cyberster GT

List price when new: £59,995

Price as tested: £60,690 (Dynamic Red paint, £690)

Official range: 276 miles (WLTP)

Test range (best/worst): 170-200 miles

Test efficiency: 2.6m/kWh

The MG Cyberster is a pretty remarkable car. For a start, it’s the first electric sports roadster (barring the original Tesla Roadster, which was an expensive niche product that sold in extremely small numbers) and, well, just look at it! It is outrageously lovely. Classic sports car proportions, sleek lines and dramatic upward-opening doors for proper attention-seeking impact.

In the first few days, even with grotty British winter weather providing a less than glamorous backdrop, two people asked what it is, both being surprised to discover that it’s Chinese-owned MG.

Let’s face it, MG is doing brilliantly with its electric cars, which remain some of the most popular in the UK and Europe. But that’s typically because they’re sensible, good value and have a long range; the Cyberster is a different proposition altogether. It’s a car that you buy because you want it, not because it’s a cheap company car.

From the outside, especially in the Dynamic Red paint of our test car, it certainly looks the part. You can get the Cyberster with very sports car-like rear-wheel drive, while the top-specification GT has a bit more power and four-wheel drive. The car featured here is the latter, complete with 503bhp and a 0-62mph time of 3.2 seconds.

But, straight line pace is one thing. And it’s not even unusual these days, even quite humdrum electric cars providing sprightly acceleration – albeit the Cyberster GT’s sprint time is impressive even by the slightly comical standards of the fastest accelerating EVs.

The big question

Since the hallowed GT badge is shorthand for grand touring, our main focus is on whether the Cyberster makes the grade in this role? What’s it like when it comes to long drives in winter? Are the fancy doors really as much of a pain to live with as they look? Is it a car you can drive every day and still love it?

Before any of that could be addressed, I wasn’t even off the driveway before I had that sneaking feeling that the infotainment system was going to be my biggest woe. With a touchscreen along the centre of the dash for climate control and other interior functions, another above that for the navigation readout, a digital readout behind the wheel and then another touchscreen to the right of that for… showing you the weather? To find your nearest MG dealership? To… just annoy you? Odd.

But the infotainment system does get better with familiarity – if only a bit. That screen to the right of the steering wheel really does seem entirely redundant, while the nav readout is hidden by your hand on the steering wheel, which is just plain bad design. But you get used to the settings layout in the central screen and Apple CarPlay is present (even if it is wired, rather than wireless, and not the most reliable in terms of the connection despite that). It’s ultimately a case of getting used to a bad system in order to make it OK to live with. But you get used to it.

Still, it’s a poor effort – and MG knows it. Perhaps most importantly, it has proven that it can respond quickly to feedback – as it has done with the infotainment in the MG4 and other models. In other markets, the nav map appears on the larger, central screen lower down the console, which would make a lot of sense – maybe that improvement can be introduced here.

Compelling looks

Anyway, there’s a lot to process about the MG. Infotainment aside, it’s hugely compelling, so much so that I can’t help but glance back at it when I walk away, while it’s also a car that makes you feel delightfully smug to be seen in.

Despite wintry weather during my test, I had the roof down a number of times and the wind protection is among the best I’ve experienced in any roadster. Even at motorway speeds, your hair is barely buffeted. Impressive. And refinement with the roof up is just fine, too, although the sound system could be a bit better.

Other than the infotainment stuff, the daily grind in the Cyberster is not a grind at all, every journey feeling like an event. And that, surely, is the whole point.

The doors

Blimey, the doors are pretty cool, aren’t they? I’ve had a couple of “is it a Lamborghini?” queries, as I self-consciously slid into the MG with its electrically-controlled scissor doors. It doesn’t get more attention-seeking than using your key to make them slide upwards to a full salute as you walk towards the car.

I have also been pleasantly surprised by how little space they take up. I’ve managed to exit the MG in a couple of really tight spaces without damaging the doors (or injuring myself). In fact, I suspect they take up less room than a conventional front-hinged door, leaving plenty of room to drop and slide into the driver’s seat, even when there’s a car parked tightly alongside.

But (and it’s quite a big but…) the door action is sloooow... Slow to open. Slow to close. They also drip rainwater into your lap or onto the seat while they operate. And there’s an issue with the sensor that’s intended to prevent it from opening into something and causing damage – it will sense you standing next to the car waiting for the door to open, resulting in the door not opening. Which is more than a little annoying.

To add insult to injury, on frosty mornings, the doors froze and refused to open. You can pre-set the car’s climate control via the car’s dedicated app, which does a fine job of defrosting the windows and warming the interior, but even then, the doors sometimes didn’t defrost and remained stuck for a while.

Don’t get me wrong: the striking doors give the MG supercar-like levels of attention-grabbing kudos. But in practice, they are also often a total pain to live with.

Winter touring

Between being annoyed with the infotainment and the doors, the MG proves a great, feel-good tourer. The ride is good and the handling – while nothing that’s going to worry Porsche – is confident and assured enough to satisfy an enthusiast driver.

I’ve done a lot of motorway miles in the Cyberster, and it’s a decent cruiser. I wish the driving seat dropped lower (you’ll find it really hard to get along with the MG if you’re over 6ft tall). Other than that, it’s just dead easy. Good refinement, masses of power. What’s not to like? In terms of the way it goes down the road, the MG is a fine car to spend time in.

While it’s an unlikely high mileage choice, the winter range at motorway speeds is around 170 miles, which is no surprise for a heavy, high-powered car. Take it easy and you’ll see the range creep up towards 190 or even 200 miles in colder weather, warmer temperatures will see it nudging 230 miles.

But that’s still not ideal for a sports tourer; the potential range is one aspect of the MG that might make you ponder a used Porsche Taycan instead.

Charging

With 150kW charging potential, you can get a decent rapid charge, although the average in practice was 70-80kW. Most of my motorway journeys are about 150-200 miles and I can charge it fully at home before the journey, yet that still means I require a 10- or 15-minute charging stop during the longer journeys I typically do.

I don’t mind this, as often I want a quick break and a cup of tea.

However, a trip to Yorkshire from the south coast – a 430-miles round trip – without the promise of charging at my destination suddenly made the MG feel like hard work. The journey eventually involved three lengthy charging stops plus a final, shorter one nearer home on the return journey.

I’ll say it again – the MG is unlikely to be the choice of high-mileage car drivers. Be prepared for regular stops if you’re planning a touring holiday in Europe.

Talking of which, the MG’s boot impressed me. Its 249-litre volume doesn’t sound much, but you can cram in a huge amount of stuff – and, unlike many convertibles, its volume isn’t affected by the roof being up or down.

Sliding into your scissor-door sports car in the supermarket car park, having just done The Big Shop, feels pretty darn good.

The Telegraph verdict

Because the Cyberster is essentially very good, it pains me to say that its infotainment system runs almost entirely on frustration, while for every compliment about the fancy doors, there will be an occasion when you curse them.

It’s so brave of MG to have dabbled in an aspirational class such as this, yet it has succeeded in producing an electric car that costs £60,000 yet has a kerbside presence that Maserati would be proud of. It really is a gorgeous, classy design, and it’s a car that I like despite its faults. Yet it’s a very hard car to recommend. There are just too many compromises for most people, myself included.

But here’s the thing; the Cyberster isn’t finished. MG (and most brands controlled by Chinese manufacturers) are great at reacting quickly to critical feedback; the bones of the Cyberster are good.

All MG needs to do is get its European and UK engineers to work on the driving position and the infotainment system. That alone would transform the appeal of the Cyberster which is, otherwise, pretty remarkable value for a car that stands out as much as something three or even four times the price.