The first impression one gets of the MG M9 EV Presidential Limousine is that it is impressively big, big enough even to make that grand name sound appropriate. It is the first of two cars (the other is the Cyberster electric sportscar) currently lined up for launch under the MG Select, the luxury brand channel of JSW MG Motor India, the first of whose showrooms recently opened in Thane, near Mumbai. In the run up to its official launch in India, MG invited t2oS, among other media, to a preview of the M9 in Goa. Here are our first impressions.
We need to get some basics out of the way first. In a space swamped by SUVs, the MG M9 EV is a vehicle that uses the MPV form. While this is not a first in the luxury space, with the Kia Carnival and Toyota Vellfire already in the space before the M9EV, the latter is the first electric luxury MPV in India. So, if someone is looking for an EV in this space, this is the only one available right now. Availability will, however, depend on whether JSW MG Motors has opened an MG Select showroom in the area or not.
Coming back to the vehicle, this is the biggest luxury MPV of the lot, EV or otherwise. In terms of maximising space for a vehicle’s given footprint, the cuboid is the most efficient shape. And the M9, barring the front end, gets quite close to that. It tries to camouflage that slabbiness with nice touches to break up the visual continuity, such as the ‘waterfall’ tail light clusters at the back or the Z-shaped chrome strip around the glass area on the side. The rest of the styling is “minimal”, as MG calls it.
The front end is very EV-like but has a grille in the lower half of the bumper. There are daytime running lights and, of course, headlamps, but in the black car we drove they didn’t exactly stand out. There is neat chrome highlight on the lower lip below the bumper that continues around the front lights. In fact, the use of chrome has been judicious and kept to a minimum.
Talking of colours, there are three. Apart from the Metal Black, there is the Pearl Lustre White and the Mystic Grey. We saw a couple of M9s with dual-tone paint jobs with around the glasshouse above the beltline. They look less blocky than the all-black one and also bring out some of the contours better than the black. That said, the black, coupled with its size, probably does have the greatest presence.
Now, driving this vehicle isn’t likely to be the primary reason a buyer would go for it considering that vehicles in this category are bought primarily to be ridden in and, thus, for the rear-seat experience. That said, we did get out of the middle row and in behind the steering wheel. And there were some surprises. For one, for a vehicle that is about 5.27m long and 2m wide, it is quite easy to manoeuvre. And we are talking about the narrower roads in Goa, which are there aplenty. Nipping and tucking in as needed wasn’t the chore that we were expecting it to be with the steering being sufficiently light and assisted well enough to handle the task.
The MG M9EV Presidential Limousine looks somewhat boxy from the rear
Of course, the size thing remains non-negotiable and that was evident when we tried to park the M9EV near a market area. Finally, a fellow scribe who we were sharing the car with, offered to move the car if needed while I finished my 10-minute chore and scurried back to the vehicle. So, yes, if you’re trying to go anywhere that even hints at being crowded, having a chauffeur doing driving duties is a must. With 245hp of power on tap, the M9EV isn’t sluggish. MG didn’t share the torque figures, but the same vehicle in other markets under other names makes 350Nm. So we are guessing it will be about the same for this one. The bottomline is that while it is not ‘electrifying’ to drive, it does a good enough job with the single motor powering the front wheels.
The chauffeur really won’t have a great deal to complain about either in terms of comfort. The front seats are power adjustable and ventilated. Plus, all the controls for pretty much everything is through the infotainment screen up front. The only thing that could downsize the sense of importance, though, is the size of the instrument panel in front of the driver. It does have all the essential information, but looks a tad small in a vehicle with interiors this big.
We already talked about the experience of the MG M9 in tight city conditions. On stretches of highway it moves fine at permissible highway speeds on smooth roads. There is enough power and torque to not make the M9 feel sluggish or underpowered. The vehicle has three driving modes — Eco, Normal and Sport. Normal worked well enough most of the time for us. This is not a driver’s car and to that extent it does its job. Also, driving it is not stressful even in city conditions, where it is likely to be used most of the time.
The M9 has a 90kWh battery pack, with an 11kW home charger that takes a good 10 hours to charge fully from full discharge. MG hasn’t yet declared the official range figures, but again, the same model has a WLTP certified range of about 430km, which would probably translate into something like about 350km in the real world. And while that would be adequate for city users, inter-city might need a bit of planning about the charging bit as well.
Finally, we are down to what the M9 is really all about. The space behind the driver’s and front passenger’s seats. What we get here are a couple of captain’s chairs that have a zillion adjustments to get the occupant into exactly the position that he or she finds most comfortable, ranging from upright to almost flat with full support for the legs, and, of course, everything in between. Then there are eight massage modes to relax the back. The seats are ventilated to keep things even more comfortable. All the adjustments are possible through individual touchscreens on the arm rests. These two seats, especially the one on the left, are the places to be and more or less the vehicle’s reason to exist.
This is where the entire focus is. There is a boss mode that can be operated from the left middle row seat that will move the front passenger seat forward and away to create more room at the back. Interestingly, there are two sunroofs. A smaller one up front and a bigger panoramic one at the back. Those, in a way, demarcate the two zones of the MPV.
The M9 has the most usable third row of seats that we have come across so far in any vehicle in India. This one isn’t meant just for children. Full-grown adults, unless exceptionally tall, will be very comfortable sitting here. They get their complement of device charging ports and air-conditioner vents as well. This row of seats can also be moved forward and back to adjust the luggage carrying space behind them. It is also possible to part fold the seat backs to create more luggage room. The loading lip is low, so that makes getting items of luggage in and out easier.
The overall fit and finish of the interior is of good quality. There is leather, suede and chamois. Then there is brush-finished and polished metal. Most of the places that one is likely to touch or see are done well. Then there is the ambient lighting, with 64 colour options. Everything is powered, seat adjustment, door and tailgate opening and closing. What’s more, virtually everything will operate through touchscreens, whether it’s the central one on the dash or the smaller ones on the arm rests. So there is an overall sense of opulence and comfort. And because this is an electric, it is very quiet and that contributes to the overall sense of well-being of the passenger.
There are all sorts of charging ports available and there’s also a three-pin socket but one will need an adapter to plug in Indian two- or three-pin tops into it. In this context, we did miss tray tables at least for the second row. That would be nice to have even as an accessory. The music system is also something we liked and, as expected from one in a luxury vehicle, it doesn’t hurt the ears even when the volume is turned up. That is a quality we have always appreciated in audio systems and this one checks that box.
On the road, as we mentioned, from the driver’s perspective things are adequate. The M9 will do the job of getting from one place to another smoothly. It is definitely not for the enthusiastic driver who wants to chuck it around even if it has a Sport mode. It also has various levels of brake energy regeneration, which mostly obviate the need to use the brakes. A weak link though is the ride quality. For a vehicle that’s intended to be plush and luxurious, it gets somewhat bumpy on bad roads. Go on good roads and things literally even out. But the multilink suspension could do with a bit more work to adjust for Indian conditions. The plush seats, however, insulate most of what comes through.
There is a full complement of safety features as well with not only crumple zones and a whole array of airbags but driver assistance systems (ADAS) that has adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, lane keeping assist and a whole bunch of other systems that will help keep the M9 out of trouble unless one does something very stupid.
MG will be announcing the pricing this month, but indications are that it should be somewhere around the ₹80 lakh mark, which would put it around the middle of the luxury MPV segment. The M9 scores high on opulence and refinement but has a bit of a rough edge in the ride. On the whole it is something that needs to be in consideration, particularly at its price point.