The SAIC–GM–Wuling (SGMW) joint venture’s Wuling Air, developed on the joint venture’s Global Small Electric Vehicle (GSEB) platform, has just gone on sale in India. In India, SGMW elected to rebadge it as the “MG Comet.” The MG Comet starts from 798,000 rupees in India, which is about $9,760. It’s a tiny car with the following dimensions:
- Length x Width x Height (mm): 2,974 x 1,505 x 1,640
- Wheelbase: 2,010 mm
- Seat capacity: 4
A lot of people around the world will be very curious about this mini EV, and perhaps quite a few would really want to see if it’s a “real car” and not just a small low-speed neighborhood electric vehicle or quadricycle. We can get an idea of how good this car is from some of the early reviews from people in India. The “Electric Vehicles India” YouTube channel recently provided a review of the MG Comet’s interior and exterior. They also took the MG Comet for a drive.
Image courtesy of MG
Image courtesy of MG
Image courtesy of MG
Image courtesy of MG
From the videos, the MG Comet looks pretty cool. The reviewer from “Electric Vehicles India” says the MG Comet has a well designed interior and good quality materials for this type of vehicle in this price range. He does, however, say that the front bumper feels very “plasticy” and cheap. It might be good for some repairs, though, if it is easy and cheap to replace — just in case it is damaged in a light accident or something.
In terms of the overall driving experience, the reviewer says that the driving feel is very comfortable. He estimates that the real range is around 150 km (93 miles) to 180 km (112 miles) as opposed to the listed 230 km (143 miles) under the ARAI’s standard test conditions.
It has a good driver display and centre console, as well. The MG Comet is certainly an interesting looking vehicle and it always attracts a lot of attention. In the test drive video, a fellow driver on the road stopped to ask about it, but the driver thought it was a bit expensive at 800,000 rupees.
Image courtesy of MG
One thing that stood out for me as they drove around — and this was also a point raised by the reviewer — was how easy to maneuver around cities the MG Comet is. He also pointed out that it would be a good car for learner drivers. This got me thinking that it definitely could be a good option for driving schools. I remember when I took my driving lessons and road tests, the driving school had little Toyota Starlet hatchbacks that are not that much larger than this Wuling Air/MG Comet.
With a range of about 180 km (112 miles) in city driving from its 17.3 kWh battery pack, this is more than enough range for quite a few learner driver slots. Due to its low maintenance and service costs, driving schools stand to save quite a lot of money by reducing their operational cost. They will also save a lot of money on fuel. MG India even has a clever way of marketing how cheap it is to charge the car. MG India says it’s cheaper to charge the MG Comet for one’s average monthly commute (1,000 km per month) than to buy a large pizza!
There isn’t much legroom in the back of this three-door mini EV for long-distance drives, according to the reviewer — but for city driving for driving schools with just the driving instructor and the learner driver in the front, this could be a game changer. Not to mention for many other uses.
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