MG Comet EV : The light drizzle that had formed in the early morning had just cleared up as I wrestled the MG Comet EV into a parking space that would have been unattainable for most any other car on the road.
The college students walking by stopped to look — one of them exclaimed: “Bhai, ye toh London wali car jaisi dikhti hai!” (Brother this is looking like a car from London!).
That instinctive response is the simplest summary of what MG Motor has done with the Comet – a car which brings European microcar aesthetics and quite interesting premium touches to the rudimentary electric ecosystem of the country.
Having spent a week threading my through Mumbai’s chaotic streets in this tiny little piece of not-quite-automobile analogue, I’m left in no doubt about how this unorthodox proposition is reshaping perceptions of what a cheap electric car could be in Indian circumstances.
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MG Comet EV Noteworthy DesignPremium Devree That Stands Out From The Crowd
The first, most obvious thing you can say about the Comet EV is that it looks good. In a world where most cars are blue collar hatchbacks and sedans, its minuscule dimensions (it’s only 2,974mm long) and almost directly European design appear unusual, for sure.
“We have people walking in the showrooms just like that because they saw a Comet on the road and wanted to check it out,” said Rajiv Kumar, an MG dealer in Mumbai’s western suburbs who received me during my time of testing the Comet.
“A lot of people don’t even know it’s electric at first just because it looks so different.”
It has boxy proportions with rounded edges, which makes it look playful and whimsical, befitting for India’s traffic.
The contrast roof (offered in a bunch of different color combos, my tester’s stand-out Apple Green with white roof among them) really gives the car that premium feel as well.
Especially impressive is MG’s treatment of the car’s visual proportions, given its small footprint.
The 12-inch alloy wheels are thrust into the corners, endowing the car with a stubby planted stance rather than the pie-on-wheels awkwardness of so many microcars.
From the back alleys of Colaba to the crowded Western Express Highway, the Comet turned heads, all week I was in Mumbai.
Leaving the car in a coffee shop in Bandra, I came back to two folks clicking selfies with the car. “It looks expensive,” said one when I came over. “Like something from Europe.”
That impression of compact high quality European design is exactly the way MG wanted us to feel, and it has done it brilliantly.
MG Comet EV Unexpected interior luxury in the smallest of packages
Step inside the Comet and those surprises keep coming. Despite its small external size, the cabin feels remarkably spacious for those sitting up front, owing to the tall roof, deep greenhouse, and the fact that there’s no traditional center console.
However, where the RX really impresses is in the materials and technology on offer.
The two 10.25-inch screens — one for the instrument cluster and another for the infotainment system — leave their mark in an otherwise minimal dashboard, and could just as easily be found in vehicles costing three times as much.
“The screens were non-negotiable,” Vikram Singh, a member of MG’s product planning team, told me during a discussion at MG’s Mumbai office.
“We knew that our target audience — young urbanites who are tech savvy — value digital interfaces.
The interface is easy to use and visually stunning, rivaling the high-end European books.
And there’s wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, with connected car tech that supports remote monitoring and operation through a smartphone app — the kind of kit you’d expect in a high-end car not an affordable city car.
There is also good bolstering and patterns that cover the seating surfaces have been nicely applied.
In the crush of Mumbai traffic, which I regularly endured for more than an hour of being elbow-to-elbow or not moving at all, the comfort stood out.
The climate control system, anther premium surprise, did a good job of keeping the cabin a comfortable temperature in the hostile heat.
Rear-seat room is predictably tight in a car of this size, but the back seat is still useful for short journeys.
I ferried around two friends for an evening in tony South Mumbai and though observed the leg space issue, both chaps were strangely impressed by how rarefied the cabin felt.
I thought it was going to be more simple inside with the size,” one friend — also a luxury car owner — said. “This drives like a little luxury car, not a cheap electric car.”
MG Comet EV Urban Life’s Electrifying Performance
The Comet isn’t pretending to be a long distance highway cruiser. Dragging along a total of 25.7kWh rated battery (230-kilometer claimed, 170-190km typical Mumbai traffic) and not trying to be all things to everybody, in the industry you’d call it an urban runabout in comparison to other hatchbacks.
In this situation however, the powertrain is fine. An electric motor that generates approximately 42 PS and 110 Nm is nothing to write home about but because that power is all available instantly and electric motors deliver torque from 0 rpm, even that very modest output should translate into some serious peppy-ness.
During my test in Mumbai’s gridlocked traffic, this immediate torque delivery made squeezing through gaps and also moving quickly through traffic- packed streets, quite tensionfree.
“An electric motor’s torque characteristics are ideal for Indian urban conditions,” the automotive analyst Vikram Gour offered when I phoned him for perspective.
“You have this maximum torque from 0 RPM, exactly where you want it most when zipping through city traffic.
Highway performance hasn’t been the Comet’s core objective but it held well during a short stretch on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
The car cruised comfortably up to a speed of 80-90 km/h but wind noise starts intruding at these speeds – a sign of its city-centric focus.
Charging infrastructure is a struggle for all electric vehicles in India, but the small battery in the Comet means a regular 3.3 kW home AC charger can top it up from 10-100% in about 7 hours – a task that can easily be completed overnight.
I was able to do that easily on overnight charges from the apartment complex where I was staying and never once suffered from range anxiety in that urban area.
MG Comet EV Handling: The Ultimate Urbanized Luxury
In cities like Mumbai, where parking spaces are about as coveted as beachfront property, the Comet’s small 7.2-meter turning radius and small size is argualbly its biggest luxury item.
I found parking on a shopping expedition to the permanently congested Crawford Market area that I would never have been able to get in an ordinary car.
The vehicle was so short — shorter than many small motorcycles when parked perpendicular to the curb — that I was able to slide into spaces that drivers of SUVs could only ogle from afar.
“In cities in India, there is nothing like space,” Kumar said, standing in the dealership. “A lot of our buyers are driving SUVs, yet are commuting and running city errands in the Comet, partly because it is so useful.”
Those same excellent sight lines, light steering and one-speed trannsmission bolster the Comet’s ability to squeeze through urban traffic. Driving in the traffic jammed mess of Mumbai is a lot less of hassle in a car like this.
One night, as I was maneuvering through a particularly tight patch near Dadar station, a traffic policeman actually beckoned me to drive through a gap that I didn’t believe could be navigated.
“Go, your car will be fine!” (No, really, your car will fit!) he shouted with a grin. And it did, with centimeters to spare on each side – something that is almost impossible even in just about any other four-wheeler.
MG Comet EV Premium Features That Matter
Rather than jamming the Comet with fripperies, MG has instead fitted technology that actually improves ownership.
Thanks to i-SMART connected car technology that is incorporated with ZS EV, customers can check on charging status remotely, pre-cool their cabin on a hot summer day, and if necessary, also track their car if it happens to gets stolen – a handy feature to have especially in an electic vehicle.
The infotainment has a built-in navigation system with charging station location functionality, and the digital instrument cluster displays are easily customized to show range, energy use and driving information.
It’s equipped with dual front airbags, ABS with EBD, rear parking sensors, and even a tire pressure monitoring system – quite the kit to have, considering the Celerio X is a city-dweller and its price range.
On the subject of conditions, during one particularly heavy Mumbai deluge, I was thankful for the headlamps and wipers that come on automatically which are premium touches but also quite handy for reducing driver work under challenging circumstances.
The 360-degree camera system, offered on upper trims, is incredibly useful when easing into really tight spots, offering a view that means you’re able to park your car in spots that you previously thought weren’t possible without sweating.
MG Comet EV Pricing: Accessible Premium
The Comet starts from ₹7.98 lakh and goes up to ₹9.98 lakh (ex-showroom), making it a premium offering in the entry-level LEV space.
While this pricing does sit higher than entry-level regular hatchbacks, the stand-out styling, spec and electric powertrain do make it seem worth the premium for the demographic it is aimed at.
“Our customers, the vast majority of them, are not cross-shopping conventional vehicles,” said Kumar.
“They’re really looking for something that’s one of a kind, environmentally friendly and fit for urban environments.
A significant number of buyers are looking at the Comet as a second or third household vehicle designated for urban use.”
This approach seems to be striking a chord in the market. During my pit stop at the dealership, I saw three car sales completed in little more than an hour, quite a success rate and evidence that MG has latched onto a true niche.
MG Comet EV A New Definition of Premium
But what’s truly unique about the Comet, is how it redefines premium in an Indian automotive sense.
Instead of affeing a bigger-is-better mindset, it encourages such virtues as distinctive design, technological savvy, maneuverability, and environmental correctness-much like a direct descendant of the increasingly popular micro-, compact, and sub-compact trends in the industry.
“Small does not mean inexpensive in Europe and Japan,” said Gour. “What the Comet is doing is bringing that mentality over to India — that a small city focused car can still be a premium product and something that is desirable.”
After spending a week with the Comet, this viewpoint is very understandable. In the compact, crowded urban centers where most Indians live, a vehicle that combines a head-turning design, an elevated level of interior finish and the best of class maneuverability, conveys a different kind of luxury that is difficult to capture on traditional metrics.
Just as I was about to hand the keys back, a South Mumbai valet offered what sounded like the definitive observation on the Comet’s positioning: “Sir, badi gaadi toh bahut hain, par aisi style wali choti gaadi pehli baar dekhi.” (Sir, there are big cars and there are big cars, but when was any small car half so stylish?)
By bringing European microcar sophistication to Indian streets, MG has developed something truly different — a premium urban runabout that puts the right value on the luxury which makes the difference in the daily rough and tumble of Indian cities.
