BMW i4 vs MG IM6

The BMW i4 costs £5,410 more than the MG IM6. For that premium it adds lower energy use, 160 versus 182 Wh/km. The MG IM6 is not just cheaper - it also offers 196 kW faster peak rapid charging, 195 litres more boot space and 50 kW more power. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the MG IM6 comes out ahead overall.

The MG IM6 is £5,410 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £176 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the MG IM6 comes out roughly £5,290 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 261 miles for the BMW i4 and 275 miles for the MG IM6 - effectively matched, and both well below their WLTP figures because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 31 minutes in the BMW i4 and 17 in the MG IM6, so the MG IM6 loses less time at each stop.

The BMW i4 is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 136 mm narrower than the MG IM6. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 548 mm of total clearance for the BMW i4 and about 412 mm of total clearance for the MG IM6. The MG IM6 also turns in a 2.3 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the BMW i4 and 84% for the MG IM6. That is close enough that capacity loss should not decide between them. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.