MG’s New Electric Sports Car Revealed in Chinese Patent Filings

Remember MG, the plucky British car company responsible for fun little sports cars like the MGB and the Group B-spec Metro 6R4? Well, after its collapse in the early 2000s, the British marque was revived in 2006 by Chinese state-run automaker SAIC, selling affordable vehicles in Britain, Europe and Asia. Now, MG seems to be getting back to its roots with a new two-seater all-electric sports car called the Cyberster.

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The Cyberster was first announced in 2021 as a concept car that showcased Chinese owners’ vision for the brand. Back then, the EV sports car was billed as an all-electric two-seater that would bring MG into the future, with a nod to its past.

Now, two years later, the purported details of the production-spec all-electric sports car have been revealed in patent filings with the Chinese government. As first reported by British outlet AutoCar, the filings show a two-seat electric convertible that’s powered by motors on the front and rear axles.

From the outside, the car has a much more subdued look compared to the concept unveiled back in 2021. It keeps the wide grin that makes up the Cyberster’s grille, but has a more conventional set of headlights and no lightbar stretching across the hood.

There’s a black fabric folding roof, which from the filings looks like it will also be available in a deep red wine color. At the base of the roof is a polished black strip that stretches all the way around the cabin.

A photo of the rear end of the MG Cyberster sports car. — Good taillights or bad taillights?

At the rear of the car, there’s a sharp, angular tail that incorporates a set of arrow-shaped tail lights. These novelty lights do a nice job of avoiding the kind of directional confusion that you find with Mini’s lighting designs.

But the filings share more than just a few pictures of the finished car: They add in some details on the kind of performance we can expect from the Cyberster when it launches. The new car will reportedly feature a 150-kW motor (roughly 201 hp) on the front axle, while the rear will be fitted with a second motor that’s rated for 250 kW (roughly 335 hp) of peak power.

There’s no word on the battery that will power these motors, so we’ll have to wait for MG’s official announcement to find out the new car’s range. But, the Chinese patents do indicate that the Cyberster should be capable of a top speed of 200 km/h, which is roughly 125 mph here in the U.S.

A render of the MG Cyberster concept car. — The concept car that inspired the production Cyberster.

Other details we can glean from the patents include the Cyberster’s dimensions. The car will measure 179 inches long and 75 inches wide, which puts it about the same size as a Jaguar F-Type or Aston Martin Vantage.

But, because it’s an EV, the Cyberster weighs a fair bit more than those two, clocking in at 4,872 pounds per the patent filings, compared to the 3,520 pounds the F-type convertible.

Of course, it’s possible that the eventual production MG Cyberster will differ from what’s indicated in this patent paperwork, but the filings seem to show a vehicle that’s just about ready for the market. For further details about the new MG sports car, we’ll have to wait until the company is ready to throw the covers off its production-ready model. According to AutoCar, that will come in the months leading up to its 2024 launch.