MGS5 EV 2026: 20 percent power and 450km range upgrades boost Tesla Model Y, Geely EX5 rival

Entry Excite grades dropped from the lineup as MG pushes its electric SUV more upmarket

MG Motor Australia has upgraded the flagship Essence 62 version of its MGS5 EV SUV with more power, performance and range as rolling MY26 updates in efforts to keep its electric model competitive against rivals such as BYD Atto 3 and Geely EX5.

It has also dropped the entry Excite trim grades in response to “strong customer demand for its high-specification models,” says the importer, consolidating the MGS5 EV lineup to just two variants: the updated Essence 62 and an (unchanged) Essence 49 version.

As exclusively reported by Chasing Cars earlier this year, a new 150kW and 350Nm motor has been introduced to the rear-drive model in ‘63’ guise, a 20 percent power boost and a significant 100Nm upgrade over the previous 125kW and 250Nm unit.

Newfound outputs translate into fitter performance, with its importer claiming that the newly revised Essence 62 acceleration prowess drops from 8.6 seconds in the old specification to 7.0sec for the 0-100km/h sprint.

The higher ‘62’ grade maintains, as its namesake suggests, a 62kWh LFP battery, though driving range has been boosted to 450 kilometres WLTP.

Despite the notable powertrain changes, the Essence 62 retains the outgoing drive-away pricing of $46,990 before options, such as premium paint ($700) or Grey/Ivory interior ($500).

The newly consolidated two-variant lineup leaves the unchanged Essence 49, as the base version, priced from $41,990 drive-away.

This leaves the demarcation between the two ‘high-specification’ Essence variants ostensibly wholly in powertrain spec, with the ‘49’ maintaining the carryover 125kW and 250Nm motor paired with a 49kWh LFP battery, with a 335km WLTP range claim and 8.2sec 0-100km/h performance.

Other differences include a higher 150kW peak DC charging rate for the ‘63’ version over the 12kW cap for the ‘49’.

MG Motor rates the more-powerful big battery version as being slightly more efficient, too, at 16.8kWh/100km against the small-battery version’s 16.9kWh/100km.

The updated MY26 MGS5 EV range is now on sale.

MGS5 EV: prices in Australia

All prices listed are drive-away.