Citroën ë-C4 vs MG S5 EV

The MG S5 EV costs £2,780 more than the Citroën ë-C4. For that premium it adds 76 miles more WLTP range, 39 kW faster peak rapid charging and 73 litres more boot space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Citroën ë-C4 comes out ahead overall.

The Citroën ë-C4 is £2,780 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £168 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Citroën ë-C4 comes out roughly £2,780 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 161 miles for the Citroën ë-C4 and 208 miles for the MG S5 EV - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The MG S5 EV goes roughly 47 miles further between charging stops. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 28-30 minutes.

The Citroën ë-C4 is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 49 mm narrower than the MG S5 EV. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 600 mm of total clearance for the Citroën ë-C4 and about 551 mm of total clearance for the MG S5 EV. The MG S5 EV also turns in a 0.4 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 Citroën ë-C4 and 84% for the MG S5 EV. 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.