The MG Comet: Is India’s smallest EV worth the Rs 7.98 lakh price tag?

We recently got an exclusive first drive of MG Motor’s new ultra-compact EV, the MG Comet. Being the quintessential city EV, we decided to take it for a spin from Gurugram to central Delhi and back, all in a day to test it out. How comfortable is it? How good is the drive quality? Does it justify its Rs 7.98 lakh price tag? This is our verdict.

Eye-catching

Let us start by telling you about the looks. Given the complete novelty of the Comet’s looks and its unique proportions, it is a complete eye-catcher on the streets. We got the drivers of a Lamborghini Urus and two BMW 7 Series to get off their cars and chat with us about it. The car is resolutely boxy and took us a while to get used to but I loved the stylised elements like the elongated LED on the front and across the boot.

Is it spacious enough?

We found the driver’s seat to be perfectly ergonomic and comfortable. The front seat slides in front when the two doors are open, to let people into the back seat. Two medium-sized adults or kids could fit in the back quite easily. In an ideal scenario, with two people in the front seat, you could flip down the back seat and get increased boot space, perfect for neighbourhood shopping runs.

Do we love the cabin?

We were suitably impressed by the overall chic design of the cabin, which looks premium and minimalist. We love the steering wheel controls, which loosely resemble the vintage iPod controls. Full marks to the large dual screen (10.25 inches each) in front, which combines driver display and infotainment system (Apple CarPlay worked effortlessly on a very easy user interface). The seat’s ergonomic quality was also very good. We could have used some more dashboard storage, but we guess MG did the best it could with some smart cubbies on the dashboard and in the doors.

How’s the drive?

Our favourite part – the turning radius is just perfect for those cramped Indian roads. We tested out a tricky U-turn in Lodhi Colony and it passed the test thanks to those cute 12-inch steel wheels. The EV is powered by a 17.3 kWh battery pack, which pumps out a torque of 110 Nm. The car performed decently on a 90 kmph sprint and was jaunty enough to drive smoothly on city roads. The EV comes with three drive modes – Normal, Economy and Sport – with, as you would expect, varying degrees of punch. We drove it largely in the Normal mode. There is no start/stop hard button, it starts and stops with a press of the brake.

LSA Verdict: From the looks of it, MG Motor – which already has significant experience in an EV product with the popular ZS EV – is marketing this as the ultimate urban mobility solution. The car performs decently on the roads and navigates crowded neighbourhoods quite effortlessly, which is where it will be a winner. Of course, we love the functional yet stylish design of MG’s interiors and this one is no exception. The car fits two medium-sized people and two kids inside quite effortlessly but could be a squeeze for four adults. This is easily overlooked given how many other points the MG Comet scores. Does it justify the price tag? We’d say it does!

The Comet EV promises a single charge range of 230 km and takes 7 hours to charge from 0 to 100%.