MG Comet review

Designed to be a city EV and hence, the ultra-compact dimensions and large glasshouse area. Don’t go looking for beauty here because you may never find it, but look at it with an open mind and you will find genius touches like the light bars at the front and rear, connected door-mounted ORVMs and the bug-eye headlights that give it an almost organic appearance, especially in this unmissable shade of Apple Green with a contrasting black roof.

The 12in wheels exacerbate the odd proportions and while the rear seats are properly useable (even by teenagers), ingress is easier only from the passenger side and having two fewer doors than we’re used to doesn’t help. Once settled in, the materials and colours used are pretty pleasing to the eyes and touch. Light fabrics and glossy white bins and holders along with the lack of a centre console give the illusion of space, but the seats are pretty close together and two large adults will definitely be rubbing shoulders. Perhaps the biggest gripe for the front passengers is the lack of comprehensive seat adjustments and a short squab, which never really provides a sweet spot for long-ish commutes.

Twin 10.25in screens handle all the controls and instrumentation along with niceties like wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto,3 USB ports with fast charging, connected car features with a decent voice assistant that works with Indian accents, a digital key that can be used by two users and built-in apps. While the graphics are cheery, the touchscreen’s responsiveness feels more resistive than capacitive, and the 2-speaker sound system’s audio quality leaves much to be desired.

Ergonomically, an armrest and a dead pedal are missed sorely, as is any form of closed or hidden storage. There are some clever bins on the dashboard and huge door pockets with different compartments, but it’s not a car where you want to be leaving your MacBook Pro around while you grab lunch.

Moving on to the instrument cluster, for a large display like this, there is surprisingly little information on offer about brake regen. Just a tiny icon when you lift off. Battery percentage, range and the trip meter are handy though and clearly proved that a 220km range within the city is very much possible with the Comet. A nifty touch is a graphic representation of the car with real-time animations for brake lights, rear light bar, headlights and open doors or hatch.

The biggest surprise for me was how well the Comet fits into the big bad world of ICE cars and bumper-to-bumper traffic during peak hour Mumbai rush. 42hp and 110Nm might sound puny, but trust me, not once did I feel lagging behind other cars and in fact, with its perky torque, it was always ahead of others on the red lights.

There’s a choice of three drive modes with slightly varying urgency levels, but none of them should evoke any boy racer aspirations. On the highway, it easily did 90km/hr and was much quicker off the mark at traffic signals than other cars around, making it perfect for signal-to-signal zips. The tiny turning radius of 4.2 meters puts you on a level playing field with the autorickshaws in terms of wiggling your way out of tiny gaps in gridlocks, but you do have to mind the sizeable ORVMs. Thankfully, the large glass area means visibility inside-out and outside-in is fantastic, whether you like it or not!

Its modest 17kWh battery may not sound like much but with the supplied 3.3kWh charging cable, I was able to top up 12% to 100% in six hours via the home AC charger. The small wheels never felt small from behind the wheel and it even handled potholes without upsetting the cabin inhabitants.

Comfort over longer distances will depend on your body type and how large you are, so a substantial test drive is recommended before getting all charged up for the Comet. It’s a car clearly designed for short runs and commutes and this is where things get harder to justify. With a price tag upwards of Rs. 9 lacs and with a lot of obvious limitations, it doesn’t bode well for being the only car in the household and as such, limits its potential massively. Understand its use-case scenario and it’s a fun little runabout that should be perfect for tight confines and guilt-free city driving.