Why I bought the base variant Comet EV; Initial ownership experience

I was tempted by the Tiago EV and Punch EV, as well as the Altroz DCA and XUV 3XO.

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Introduction

I was considering a multitude of cars, ranging from the obvious Tiago EV, the tempting Punch EV, as well as Altroz DCA, XUV 3XO, and some more. Being somewhat fun to drive was definitely a factor, and so was the price.

Decided not to spend too much this time and ended up pulling the trigger on the Comet. It was about 7.5L on-road for the car. Not bad for what it offers, I'd say.

I've driven it 100 km already, it's charging as I type this. Consumed about 55% of the battery in doing so, using all of the modes and regen options. During evening and night driving, AC was used but at the lowest fan speed.

2024 Updates

One of the biggest changes to the 2024 car is two new fast-charging variants, but it's not available in the base model. I didn't find it worth going to the next model and paying even more for Fast Charging.

One of the other additions across the line is creep mode, which comes in very handy. Put it in Drive, let go of the brake and it'll slowly get to 5kmph. Tap the brakes slightly and it'll slow back down, very seamlessly.

I will definitely miss having disc brakes all around, and also ESP from the top variant, Exclusive.

Exterior

It is definitely a looker. The illuminated MG logo at the front (also the charging port), really stands out. It's something I didn't notice during the test drive I took 2 months ago, in the 2023 models.

Lighting

The base variant has Halogen headlights which don't look as good when turned off but are perfectly adequate. The high beam is actually decent I'd say, and the stalk itself has a very satisfying feel to it, the switching from high beam to low beam is nice.

The dashboard display shows all of the lights as they're toggled. Very handy.

There's a tiny LED fog lamp at the very button at the rear. It's centred and below the number plate.

The base variant misses out on the connecting lights which I do miss but I also realised that they look really good from the outside which as the driver you aren't going to see too much of.

Interior

Only driven it with 2 onboard so far, and that's going to be the intended usage.

Could definitely use a bit more space in the cabin for say a phone or some miscellaneous items but otherwise it's quite spacious and roomy.

The speakers are ok, I noticed that Bluetooth (Pixel 7 Pro, Spotify) sounds better than FM. Calls are good too, the other side was able to hear me, even while in traffic.

I've ordered a phone mount, may get a tablet mount later and follow in the footsteps of the 'Android Auto Tablet' in car thread. Let's see.

Driving experience

Driving modes

There's 3 modes on offer. Eco, Normal and Sport. Toggled by a quick press of the button next to the AC controls.

Eco is the mode I drove in the most. I found it good enough for city usage. It can get upto 80kmph then slowly start giving more power, letting you stay at a reasonable speed without an abrupt stoppage of power delivery.

Normal is just normal. There's slightly better acceleration than Eco but I had to try it a few times and really pay attention to notice that. Apart from that the main difference is this will let you get to a higher speed, however the car itself can only barely get to 100kmph, running out of juice at around 105kmph.

Sport mode is nice. You definitely feel the power delivery get better. There's still an initial throttle lag, but once it gets going, you quickly reach 80kmph, only noticed by the beep, and it still keeps accelerating for a bit.

Regenerative breaking

There's 3 modes here as well. Light, Normal and Heavy. Toggle by a long press of the button next to the AC controls.

Light is the mode I drove the least in. There was some regeneration but I can't comment too much on it.

Normal is where I started off and drove for about half the time. It's reasonable yet not so much that you get jerks, you get used to it right away.

Heavy is where it's at though. One pedal driving (almost) for the win. I found it good at reducing speed, takes some getting used to avoid jerks but didn't take long for me to become used to it. It only requires some braking usage at the very end if you really need to stop and not just slow down, otherwise I've even used it to get down to crawling speeds.

Suspension

Adequate. Drove over all sorts of roads. A little bit of in-city highways, broken roads, and brand new road (built a few weeks ago). Bumps, flyover undulations, all of it. Mostly

Owner's Manual

I downloaded this from the MG website. Attaching it here for everyone's use, and also pasting the link: https://s7ap1.scene7.com/is/content/...dc-pdf-004.pdf

Parting note

I'd definitely recommend the car for city usage, provided you're ok with majorly treating it as a 1-2 seater. It can occasionally sit 4 fit people, but anyone with even some knee trouble will find it hard to get in the back, thus that's best avoided.

Will keep posting updates as I cover more kilometres. This is going to be my primary car for the forseeable future.

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