But, until now, there has been one form conspicuously absent – the open-top sports car. And now, finally, there’s an all-electric convertible, and it’s coming from a brand that made its name with roadsters. British manufacturer MG may have fallen from its glory days, but it has reasserted itself. Its latest electric vehicle, the Cyberster, takes the brand back to its roots, and beyond.
MG is a legendary British car manufacturer. Even non-enthusiasts remember its sports cars of the 1960s and 1970s, especially the iconic MGB. The MG name first appeared in 1924, and this year it celebrates its centenary with center stage displays at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and at Salon Prive. However, throughout its existence, the company has gone through several owners. The last period of pure British ownership was MG Rover from 2000 to 2005, which ended in bankruptcy. After a complex period of deals and mergers, MG was left in the hands of the Chinese giant SAIC Motor.
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MG Reborn
SAIC Motor is a huge company. It produced more than 5 million vehicles in 2023, more than Ford, and has been China’s largest automaker by volume for 18 years. It is also China’s largest exporter, having sold more than 1.2 million vehicles outside the country in 2023. Under Chinese ownership, MG has made a resurgence. In the UK and Europe, the brand has begun to make a name for itself by selling value-added fossil fuel-powered cars, based on SAIC cars built for the local Chinese market. But it was implementing this budget strategy when the electric vehicle journey began that really paid off. The MG ZS EV, MG5 wagon and MG4 set the benchmark for electric vehicle pricing. The company now owns 5% of the UK electric car market, alongside Volvo, Audi and Hyundai.
However, Cyberster is a departure from this strategy. It’s not cheap and cheerful, it’s expensive and a bit crazy, and it’s just an MG, not a brand new Chinese car. luck I’ve driven this popular electric car through the Scottish Highlands and the potholed streets of London.
This model has been teased for a few years, with The first concept was unveiled at the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show. This was a radical design, with a sci-fi look that wouldn’t be out of place in an animated cartoon.
What’s amazing is how close the production version of Cyberster is to the original concept. The nose is still sloping, the taillights are still outward-pointing arrows, and most importantly, it still has scissor doors. Few self-respecting hypercars or hypercars these days are complete without unnecessary door mechanisms, so the Cyberster joins the exclusive crowd. It’s not as impractical as you might think either. You have to be careful about the height clearance (there’s an ultrasonic sensor to help here), but it doesn’t stick out sideways like a regular door, so it’s very easy to get in and out even in a tight space commonly found across Europe.
Shy people will find all this undue ostentation, but you can’t buy an open sports car because you want to avoid attention. The bright red and yellow paint options are also not for the faint of heart, although you can opt for a more subtle gray or silver, while the standard color is creamy white. But there’s no British Green Racing, which is a surprising omission for an MG sports car.
The retractable roof, which can be black or red, is brilliantly executed. Descending or ascending takes about 15 seconds, and you can do this at speeds of up to 30 mph. So, if you’re out in the rain or want to catch some impromptu rays, you can do so without stopping.
Previous MG cars of the contemporary era were not known for their interiors. In fact, they tended to be quite banal. The Cyberster is a leap above that. The seats are not leather (which is no longer considered environmentally friendly), but are in a stylish two-tone finish. The driver and passenger side seats can be electrically adjusted through two memory slots. It is also heated.
While value MG cars like the ZS EV still feature cheap-looking numbers, the Cyberster surrounds you with displays. There are three arranged around the cockpit, and another in a vertical formation above the center console. This provides touchscreen access to climate controls and vehicle functions, using an intuitive and easy-to-use menu system.
The steering wheel has paddles at the back but is not intended for gears, as electric vehicles generally do not have these paddles. There’s also a launch control sequence, when you have to win a light drag race. There’s a less ostentatious circular button to engage adaptive cruise control, though it doesn’t have detailed steering assistance.
The wraparound cockpit displays provide plenty of information, but there’s one problem. It’s clearly been designed with the Cyberster concept car’s steering wheel in mind, because with the production version’s normal circular wheel, the two side screens are obscured by your hands. The main issue here is that the screen on the left hosts the sat nav display (or Android Auto/Apple Car Play map). So you have to crane your neck to see the next turn.
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It drives just like a real sports car
But that’s the only real drawback, because as a sports car the Cyberster fulfills the requirements well. There are currently two versions to choose from. The Trophy has rear-wheel drive and 335 horsepower, while the GT has all-wheel drive and 503 horsepower. With that in mind, it’s just as powerful as the performance of the Tesla Model 3. So, even though the Cyberster isn’t lightweight – the Trophy weighs in at 1,885kg and the GT 1,985kg – it’s still very quick, getting up to 62mph The clock is at 5 seconds and 3.2 seconds respectively.
Although you’ll probably buy a convertible with scissor doors to show off a bit, you also want it to handle well – and that’s what the Cyberster delivers here, too. The GT has a perfect 50-50 weight distribution, and the Cup is 49-51 with a moderate rear bias. So the cornering is very neutral. We spent hours driving around the Scottish Highlands in the Trophy and GT cars. The GT is a brute of a car, capable of achieving tremendous speed at great speed and still going around corners gracefully. While it does feel weighty, this is an engaging drive. The Cup is more restrained and comfortable, although the lighter front end makes the steering more relaxed.
However, setting up the suspension is not difficult. We also drove the GT on potholed urban London streets, and it handled admirably. The suspension needs to be stiffer for a really fun day out, but for a fast tourer, this is great. With the top down and little sun, the Cyberster’s connection to the environment is great. It’s the kind of car that makes your trip to the gym fun.
Although this is a fast car and can be a lot of fun to drive, it’s still more of a grand tourer than a racer, and the range accommodates that. Both versions of the Cyberster come with a net 74.4 kWh battery, giving the Cup 316 miles of WLTP range and the GT 276 miles. These are not huge numbers, but they are respectable. The maximum DC charging speed of 150kW is also behind the best, but you can still replenish the battery from 10 to 80% in 38 minutes. Long flights are possible if you’re willing to eat a snack every few hours.
Few electric cars manage their own WLTP rating, and this is especially true of a car like the Cyberster. There’s no point in buying it if you’re not going to enjoy its capabilities, after all. On our turbulent tour around the Scottish Highlands, we managed just 2.2 miles per kilowatt-hour with the GT, for about 164 miles of real-world range. But while cruising around town in London, the figure was closer to 3.5 miles per kilowatt hour, which is close to the official rating.
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MG is no longer cheap
As we alluded to earlier, the Cyberster is not the budget bargain that previous MG cars were. In the UK, the Cup starts at £54,995 (US$72,500) and the GT at £59,995 (US$79,000). That seems like a lot when previous MG EVs were barely more than £30,000 ($39,500) even in top trim with a full complement of options. It’s also roughly the same performance as the Tesla Model 3, for similar power and acceleration. The Cyberster is a bit cheaper than this in the few European countries where it is available so far, such as Norway.
However, you can’t really compare the Cyberster to other electric vehicles, because there are no other electric roadsters on the market currently. There aren’t many roadsters with internal combustion engines either. You can buy a Mazda MX5 (Miata in the US) for much less, but the closest comparison is the BMW Z4. The starting price for this is lower, but it’s not at the same level of performance as the Cyberster.
MG has gone through some dark times since its heyday but is getting its mojo back. The Cyberster isn’t perfect. But it looks amazing, has a good engine, is very fast, has an acceptable range and isn’t as expensive as you might expect. It’s one of the most fun electric cars you can currently buy.
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