This is MG’s first pure hybrid model, which, for those who don’t know, means it’s not a plug-in hybrid (PHEV), nor a mild hybrid that simply assists the engine. Instead, it’s a full hybrid, so the MG3 Hybrid+ can drive on electric power alone, switching between petrol and electric modes as needed. What’s the point, you ask? Well, the idea is to achieve better fuel efficiency, lower emissions, and a quieter drive around town—all without ever needing to be plugged in. We’ve driven it on dual carriageways, around towns, and on country lanes at night and in the day to find out if it makes sense?

Exterior Design

The MG3 Hybrid+ carries itself with a surprising hint of sportiness, particularly in its side profile, and we think it looks best in this striking red finish (also available in white, black, silver, grey, and blue). There’s a natural flow to the design, with crisp character lines that carry over to the side mirrors, which deserve a mention as they integrate smoothly into the bodywork, avoiding the awkward stuck-on look that plagues some hatchbacks.

At the front, MG has stuck to a familiar formula, and if you start paying attention, you’ll notice a family resemblance across their recent models. The grille design, angular LED projector headlights and bonnet sculpting all echo styling cues seen on cars like the MG4 and MG5, reinforcing a distinct MG identity. While not aggressive, it carries a confidence that gives the MG3 Hybrid+ some road presence beyond its size.

Move to the rear, and the design plays it a little safer. It’s clean, tidy and refreshingly uncluttered, but leans more on the generic side rather than making a bold statement. It does the job without drawing too much attention. And then there are the alloy wheels, a design that has an uncanny resemblance to a set of spanners, which, intentional or not, is a rather fitting nod to MG’s mechanical heritage. They add a dash of cool-factor to the car’s stance, making the MG3 Hybrid+ look just that little bit more exciting.

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Trim Levels

The MG3 Hybrid+ comes in two trim levels: SE and Trophy, with prices starting at £18,495 and £20,495, respectively. The SE trim includes a 10.25" touchscreen with satellite navigation, Apple CarPlay™, and Android Auto™, a 7" digital driver display, MG Pilot driver assistance, rear parking sensors and automatic air conditioning, all complemented by 16" alloy wheels. Stepping up to the Trophy trim, which we have, adds heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, a 360° camera, Blind Zone Detection and Rear Cross Traffic Alert for enhanced safety. It also features keyless entry, LED projector headlights, rear privacy glass, and rain-sensing wipers, along with leather-style upholstery with cloth inserts for a more premium feel. Both trims come with MG’s 7-year/80,000-mile warranty, a very compelling bonus for that peace of mind.

Interior

The front cabin is an interesting mixture of focus and compromise, wrapped in a roomier than expected envelope. Real comfort is provided where it matters most, while areas you won’t come into contact with are dialled back in quality accordingly. So, there are clever leatherette trims placed on areas where your hands will likely make contact with the interior most often, the centre screen feels solid to touch and USB C and USB type A ports are considerately positioned with a rubberised texture in front to keep your device hunkered down. Whilst the door trims and dashboard are made from hard plastics, there’s a clever sheen applied to suggest that they’re soft-touch materials. When you simply sit and glance around the interior, it looks more expensive than expected, and considering this car sits just below or slightly above the £20,000 price point, it’s not surprising that interior resources have been channelled into the areas you interact with most while sitting in the MG3.

Most obvious of these are the front seats, which not only look good but serve up comfort on both short and long journeys, with a decent amount of side support and, in the Trophy variant, they are heated, as is the steering wheel which is a materially high-quality smooth yet grippy companion. The rear row of three seats utilise the same materials as the front, which can be folded (although it doesn't support split folding) down to create a larger boot space of 983 litres. With the seat up, the boot offers 293 litres of space, along with an underfloor compartment where the 12v battery lives – this area can accommodate something like a small backpack.

Rear seat passengers will find enough legroom to avoid complaints, though they might grumble about the lack of any lighting if travelling in the evenings. On longer journeys, the rear seats aren’t quite as comfortable as the front ones, but passengers will appreciate the dedicated rear climate fan with adjustable functionality and the USB type A port for charging.

The cup holders are a curious quirk in the MG3 Hybrid+. They lack any interior grips and only have an adjustable centre divide, so often one's can or water bottle will rattle around while driving because it's loose. There’s probably some kind of aftermarket fix for this, but it’s a strange omission. All door bins are large enough for sunglasses and 250ml-style cans, but not much larger. The glovebox can hold a few A5 documents and, appropriately, some gloves. Most useful we found, however, is the centre console storage bin, which is deep enough to hold a Canon DSLR camera and a lens. This space can also keep contents hidden thanks to a neat sliding tray lid, which in turn can accommodate more items on top.

Infotainment

A nice surprise was just how good this MG implementation is. Silky smooth scrolling on the main screen, instant loading of menus/selections and the navigation pinch to zoom actually works without any noticeable lag. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are available, but they have to be wired as unfortunately wireless is not supported.

The way things are structured is also straightforward to get your head around. There is a menu of options in a scrollable panel to the right where you can tweak things like driver assistance options, radio station and car settings. A finger slide from the top of the screen brings down volume controls. The main event is the default home screen where the climate control, audio playback and navigation are all visible for a quick glance when driving. Operating climate controls is touch screen only to adjust the temperature, speed, etc. However, there is a row of buttons located directly underneath this display for quick action toggling of things like just turning off and on the climate system, which will resume how it was last set, or to heat the front or back windows. So there’s some tactile feedback to be had alongside a touch-based experience.

Not to neglect a mention of the steering wheel controls, the left side is for adaptive cruise control operation and the right side audio playback or to control the driver’s display menus. On each side of these controls there is a star button, a user-programmable addition to be set to do things like adjusting regenerative braking modes and toggling the exterior cameras: with this version having a 360-degree camera as well as front/back cameras, all of which are of good quality and definitely helpful when parking in tight spots!

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What’s the hybrid setup?

There’s no plug-in charging required—the system regenerates power through braking and the petrol engine, making it a self-sufficient hybrid.

The MG3 Hybrid+ uses a series-parallel hybrid system, meaning it can drive on electric power alone, petrol power alone, or a combination of both. Knowing which mode you are in is something you begin to feel whilst driving the car, and if you’re particularly curious you can actually enable a mode on the driver’s display to show exactly where the power is being generated, showing whether it’s being fed into the wheels or battery by a neat real-time flow diagram.

At the heart of the setup is a combined 192 hp output, produced from the 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine (75 kW-102 hp), paired with a more powerful electric motor (100 kW-134 hp) and a hybrid-specific automatic transmission. Unlike a traditional mild hybrid, which only assists the engine, this is a full hybrid capable of driving in EV mode; however, you can’t instruct the car to do so as it always decides how it drives.

The Drive

We enjoyed driving the MG3 Hybrid+ along the many country lanes around us at sub-40 mph speeds in the day, and also at night with the superb LED automatic dipping headlights. For one, the acceleration is impressive. That electric motor alone is capable of throwing you and your passengers back into your seats. Unsurprisingly, then, the MG3 Hybrid+ is one of the quickest hybrid hatchbacks available, with MG claiming a 0–60 mph time of 8 seconds, but it’s actually about a second quicker than that! It just shoots off the line and, with no gears to worry about, it’s an effortlessly fun to drive hot hatch is this environment. That’s because the car prioritises the EV driving under these conditions. On some journeys involving winding country roads and stop-start town traffic, we found that up to 75% of the drive could be completed using just the electric motor. The petrol engine might occasionally fire up—sometimes audibly—to act as a generator for recharging the battery (which is rather quick) or to power the car in HEV mode, particularly when tackling hills in the countryside. Speaking of which, when going down a hill, the regenerative braking has three levels, and we generally preferred keeping it on level 3—the highest setting. This allows you to time your approach to junctions and stop signs without needing to touch the brake pedal much, the braking itself is linear and doesn't bite. Even with all our inconsistent speeds and more joyful driving at times, it’s surprising just how little fuel is used, and our total fuel economy after 300+ miles was 54 mpg with a mixture of around 60% dual carriageway driving at 70 mph and the rest country roads, all with three passengers.

We loved the squared design of the steering wheel; it’s really grippy and feels pleasant to hold and manoeuvre. When you pull into and around corners, the softer suspension setup and looser steering in Eco and Normal modes feels noticeably more relaxed than in Sport mode, which tightens the steering for much quicker and more confident responses. So, if you're looking for more engagement through bends, Sport mode does help the MG3 feel more connected to the road, though it still doesn’t fully transform it into a corner-carving machine like a MINI Cooper hatch.

Above 40-45mph, the car will likely notify you on the driver display that it has switched to HEV mode (hybrid electric vehicle) from EV mode, with the petrol engine typically working in tandem with the electric motor. We say typically, as on occasion we have seen just the petrol engine doing the full brunt of everything. The three-speed automatic transmission, which can work either alongside the electric motor or independently, has the disadvantage of not offering the same punchy torque that the electric motor provides. This isn’t all that noticeable until you climb above 50mph, where acceleration delivery changes and the combustion engine feels less engaging whenever operating solo, but is still smooth. It’s a pretty good goer at 70mph on the dual carriageways we drove it on; engine noise does become more noticeable in the cabin, but the MG3 feels composed at these speeds, with stable handling and enough power in reserve for overtaking when needed.

We tested the adaptive cruise control and found it to be well-tuned for relaxed motorway-styled driving, maintaining speed and distance with reassuring consistency. However, the lane keeping assistant was not quite as impressive; when road markings became broken or faint, the system was quick to hand control back to us — a clear nudge that it knows its limits and the driver should be alert to taking back control at any necessary moment. It handled gentle bends smoothly, but with tighter ones it was a bit too assertive for our liking. So, overall, the system adds some ease and comfort on longer journeys, but we’d prefer to steer ourselves on less straight roads.

Verdict

The MG3 Hybrid+ is an impressive and affordable entry into the hybrid hatchback market, with a 7-year warranty on top. It delivers a well-rounded package that blends fuel efficiency with a surprising amount of performance for a car in its category; delivered from the masses of torque from that electric motor.

The exterior styling is confident, with sporty elements that lend it a modern look. The interior, while not particularly luxurious, is cleverly designed to focus resources on touch points that matter most, ensuring comfort for both driver and passengers. The infotainment system is fast and responsive, offering a seamless experience, albeit without wireless smartphone connectivity.

As for the hybrid system, MG has done a commendable job. The balance between petrol and electric power is handled smartly, and the car prioritises EV driving whenever possible, making it highly efficient in urban and countryside settings alike. Acceleration is punchy, particularly at lower speeds, and the regenerative braking system offers a welcome degree of customisation. While the petrol engine can become more noticeable at higher speeds, the overall driving experience remains smooth and engaging.

With competitive pricing, strong warranty coverage, and a compelling mix of tech and efficiency, the MG3 Hybrid+ makes a strong case for itself.