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The MG two-seater convertible sports car is back in the form of the Cyberster – and this time it’s electric!
MG is best known for its two-seater convertible sports cars from the 1960s and 1970s, but the offerings from the brand more recently have been in the form of family cars and SUVs. However that has now changed with the arrival of the MG Cyberster, the first electric two-seater convertible sports car (if you exclude the original Tesla Roadster, which can’t really be called a mainstream product). So how does the modern interpretation of an MG sports car rate?
Let’s start with design. The Cyberster is a sports car, but elements of the design have a supercar feel. The scissor doors are the most dramatic element of the design – as they lift into the air, you normally get a crowd of onlookers gasping in amazement. The front of the Cyberster could be mistaken for a Porsche, and the rear features a range of interesting of design details such as aerodynamic ducts and rear lights with large arrows pointing outwards.
Then there’s the interior. The dashboard is clearly driver-focused, with an instrument display in front of the driver, two screens either side of this – sections of which get blocked off by the steering wheel – and there’s a fourth screen in the centre console, featuring vehicle and climate controls.
The doors are opened from the outside by a button on the outside of the door, or from the inside via controls at the bottom of the centre console. There’s a switch at the bottom of the inside of the door to close it, and you can also use the buttons on the key fob to open and close the doors. Opening upwards rather than outwards means that the doors are easier to open in narrow car parking spaces, but you might struggle to get out of the car if you park under a low ceiling such as in a garage.
The fabric roof is easy and quick to open and close, using a control located at the bottom of the centre console between the two door switches.
The Cyberster’s boot isn’t huge, but, at 249 litres, and extending quite a way back, it may be larger than you might imagine. There’s also a small area of space behind the seats, if they’re not pushed too far back (the seat adjustment is electric, with predetermined positions, but you can’t adjust the angle of the seat base). There’s no storage space under the bonnet. There are also no door pockets; there’s a very small compartment in each door, accessed via a cover, but we couldn’t even fit a phone in there!
The Cyberster measures 4,535mm in length, which is 620mm longer than the 3,915 mm-long Mazda MX-5.
Under the skin there’s a 77 kWh battery (74.4 kWh usable capacity), and the choice of rear-wheel drive in Trophy spec as tested, or all-wheel drive in GT spec. The Trophy model delivers 340 PS of power and 350 Nm of torque, giving a 0-62mph acceleration time of 5.0 seconds; the dual motor GT ramps this up to 503 PS of power and 535 Nm of torque, giving a supercar-like 0-62mph acceleration time of 3.2 seconds. Top speeds are 121 mph and 125 mph respectively.
Hooray! At last sports car lovers can buy an electric two-seat convertible. The Cyberster sits low to the ground, with rear-wheel drive in the case of the Trophy model as tested. Select Drive via the gear switch on the right of the centre console, press the accelerator, and you benefit from the instant torque of the electric motor. Thanks to rear-wheel drive and the traction control settings which offer some slippage, you can even enjoy a degree of adjustability.
There are three drive modes: Normal, Sport, and ‘Super Sport’ – the latter being conveniently accessed by a big red button on the steering wheel. A Custom setting allows you to tailor items such as power and steering to your preferences. The Cyberster in Trophy spec offers perfectly adequate performance for a sports car, but if you really need a 0-62mph acceleration time of 3.2 seconds, and all-wheel drive traction, you can opt for the GT model.
The Cyberster loves corners, being low, with rear-wheel drive, and direct steering (although it’s a shame that the steering wheel spokes are slightly too thick to wrap your hands around). Ride quality on most roads is comfortable, although secondary ride over potholes is less cosseting, and if you drive the Cyberster enthusiastically over bumpy roads, you’re likely to find that the body control isn’t quite as glued to the road as you might like, and the car can get a bit bouncy. The Cyberster’s 1,885 kg weight is certainly on the heavy side compared to the 1,044 kg 1974 MGB GT but it doesn’t stop the EV from being enjoyable to drive.
The Cyberster is of course a convertible, so the whole point is to enjoy open air motoring. The roof opens quickly at the touch of a button, and the windows also lower automatically – but you’ll probably want to put the windows back up again to avoid buffeting from the wind, and then the Cyberster is in a class of one – a fun electric sports car that you can enjoy with the wind in your hair.
Because the Cyberster is a soft top, on motorway journeys, especially in the rain, it’s not the quietest of cars.
Interior controls include a paddle on the left of the steering wheel to adjust the degree of brake regeneration – the levels are S, 1, 2, 3, and A. The right-hand paddle allows you to change drive modes.
So overall the MG Cyberster is a brilliant car, but as is the case with most Chinese cars that we’ve driven, the driving experience is spoilt by constant beeps and boings from over-intrusive safety systems. The Cyberster is genuine fun to drive down twisting country roads – but not if the car is beeping at you and wrestling the steering wheel from your hands all the time. So the first priority is probably to switch off the lane departure warning system. To do this you need to go to the touchscreen at the bottom of the centre console, select the car icon, then scroll across, through a number of sub-menus, until you get to MG Pilot (this isn’t visible until you scroll). You then need to scroll again, this time downwards, to find lane departure warning. You then need to swipe a button to switch this off – although there’s also the option to adjust more detailed settings. While you’re doing this – which can take a while – the car will ironically be beeping at you and telling you to ‘please focus on driving’ – so you’ll probably want to switch off the driver fatigue monitor as well.
The bottom screen has a lot of information, and then there’s also the top left screen for items such as satnav and media, and the right screen, which has menus for vehicle to load, charging, and energy consumption, and this also displays the view from the rear camera when reversing.
There are some shortcut buttons on the centre console between the two screens, and there are also controls on the steering wheel, with no markings, so you have to guess what these are for (the right controller is for volume).
The MG Cyberster Trophy has a WLTP combined electric driving range of 316 miles (276 miles for the GT model). During our week with the car, with over 80% of driving on long journeys, the real-world driving range averaged 265 miles.
The Cyberster has a maximum rapid charging rate (DC) of 144 kW. At a 150kW DC public rapid charger this should allow a 10% to 80% charge in 38 minutes.
The MG Cyberster Trophy (rear-wheel drive) is priced at £54,995. Our test car had the option of Cosmic silver paint (£545), taking the total price to £55,540 – which we would say is good value for a car with such stunning looks and a sporty driving experience.
The MG Cyberster GT (all-wheel drive) is priced at £59,995.
It’s fantastic news that you can now buy an electric two-seater convertible sports car in the form of the MG Cyberster. It looks amazing, with its dramatic scissor doors, and it’s great to drive. Its performance is perfectly adequate for a sports car in rear-wheel drive Trophy trim, but if you want supercar-levels of acceleration, there’s also the all-wheel drive GT model. It even has a practical driving range, and we’d say it’s good value. It’s just a shame that the fun driving experience is spoilt by constant beeps and boings, and it’s not a quick or easy process to switch these off. The MG Cyberster is awarded a Green Car Guide rating of 9 out of 10.
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