MG4 Urban semi-solid batteries: what MG's SolidCore battery means for UK buyers

MG4 Urban semi-solid batteries are coming: MG says its SolidCore semi-solid-state battery will reach Europe in the MG4 Urban by the end of 2026, sold alongside the existing LFP versions. On the figures published so far, the change brings better safety, cold-weather behaviour and charging speed, but only a small gain in range.

MG had not announced a UK price, WLTP range or on-sale date for the SolidCore MG4 Urban on 10 November 2026. What follows is what MG and the UK and trade press have confirmed, what is still estimated, and how that should shape a decision on the car you can order today.

What is MG’s semi-solid-state battery?

SolidCore is a lithium-ion battery in which about 95% of the cell is solid, so only a small amount of liquid electrolyte remains. MG’s chief battery scientist, Dr Li Zheng, gave that figure to Autotrade.ie in March 2026, and eMobility Engineering reports liquid electrolyte of about 5% by weight, against 10 to 15% in a conventional lithium-ion cell.

The cell uses a lithium-manganese oxide (LMO) cathode and a silicon-carbon anode, and was developed with QingTao Energy for SAIC, MG’s Chinese parent. That makes it a different chemistry from the lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery in the current MG4 Urban, which has a fully liquid electrolyte. If you want the background on how lithium-ion cells and LFP chemistry work, our explainer covers the basics.

The “semi” matters. A fully solid-state battery has no liquid at all, and nobody yet sells one in a mass-market car in the UK. MG’s name for this half-step is SolidCore, and Car Dealer Magazine reports it as the first mass-produced semi-solid-state battery to go on sale in Europe. That is MG’s own claim; for the wider picture, see when fully solid-state batteries are due.

When does the semi-solid MG4 Urban arrive in the UK?

MG says the first SolidCore cars will reach Europe by the end of 2026, starting with the MG4 Urban, and Auto Express reports it will be the UK’s first EV with semi-solid-state batteries. The plan was announced in March 2026 when MG opened a new engineering centre in Frankfurt, which Car Dealer Magazine reported is supported by MG’s engineering team at Longbridge in Birmingham.

The timetable has not been narrowed beyond “by the end of 2026”. Autotrade.ie reported that Irish deliveries of the SolidCore MG4 Urban should begin in early 2027, which suggests right-hand-drive cars for these islands arrive around the turn of the year rather than in volume before Christmas.

In China the car is already on the road. Electrek reported that SAIC launched the semi-solid MG4 at the 2025 Chengdu motor show and began deliveries in December 2025, priced from 102,800 yuan.

How much will the MG4 Urban semi-solid version cost?

There is no UK price yet. The LFP MG4 Urban costs £23,495 for the Comfort Standard Range, £25,495 for the Comfort Long Range and £27,995 for the Premium Long Range in November 2026.

Auto Express suspects “a small price increase” over the current car, which points to a modest premium rather than a big one. MG has also said the LFP versions will stay on sale, so the SolidCore car will sit alongside them rather than replace the cheapest model. Pricing for Chinese-built cars could also shift if the UK government acts on possible UK tariffs on Chinese-built EVs, which applies to the LFP and SolidCore versions alike.

How does the semi-solid MG4 compare with the current MG4 Urban?

On published figures, the semi-solid car charges a little faster and copes better with cold, but its range advantage is small and not yet confirmed for Europe. The table sets the current UK cars against the Chinese-market semi-solid MG4.

	MG4 Urban Comfort Standard Range (LFP)	MG4 Urban Comfort Long Range (LFP)	MG4 semi-solid (China)
Battery	42.8 kWh gross, 41.9 kWh usable	53.9 kWh gross, 52.8 kWh usable	53.95 kWh
Chemistry	LFP	LFP	LMO, about 5% liquid electrolyte
Range	201 miles WLTP	258 miles WLTP	530 km (330 miles) CLTC
Peak DC charging	82 kW	87 kW	Not published
Rapid charge	Not published	10 to 80% in 30 minutes	30 to 80% in 21 minutes
AC charging	11 kW	11 kW	Not published
Boot	577 litres	577 litres	Not published
Price	£23,495	£25,495	102,800 yuan in China; UK not announced

The range row is the one to read carefully. China’s CLTC test is more generous than the European WLTP test, so 330 miles CLTC does not translate into 330 miles here. Auto Express estimates about 280 miles in best-case real driving, about 20 miles more than today’s 54 kWh MG4 Urban. Electrek expects a European WLTP figure of about 248 miles, which would be slightly below the LFP car’s 258 miles. Until MG publishes a WLTP number, both are estimates.

Energy density explains why. Auto Express and eMobility Engineering both put the first-generation SolidCore cell at about 180 Wh/kg, roughly the same as existing batteries. A battery of the same size and similar density cannot carry much more energy. Auto Express reports that cells of up to 400 Wh/kg are in development, with no confirmed timing; that is where a real range jump would come from, and it fits with what is genuinely new in battery technology this year.

What does a semi-solid battery change in daily driving?

The real gains are in cold weather, charging speed and safety. Auto Express lists three cold-weather claims from MG: a wider operating temperature range, 15% faster charging in the cold, and twice the discharge performance at low temperature and low state of charge. Dr Zheng told Autotrade.ie the cells perform much better down to minus 30°C.

MG also says SolidCore cars can be driven straight away without warming the battery first and perform steadily in winter. For drivers who park outside and set off on frosty mornings, that is the most practical promise in the package; What Car? reports MG’s claim that the cells resist temperature changes better than regular LFP batteries.

On charging, the Chinese car’s 30 to 80% in 21 minutes is seven minutes quicker than the current MG4 Urban, according to Auto Express. No peak kW figure has been released.

On safety, MG showed footage of a drill passing through a SolidCore cell without thermal runaway, the chain reaction that turns a damaged cell into a fire. Less liquid electrolyte means less flammable material inside the cell. That is a manufacturer demonstration rather than an independent test, and it is worth reading alongside what an EV battery warranty covers in practice; MG’s battery warranty on the current MG4 Urban runs for 8 years or 100,000 miles.

Worked UK example: running the MG4 Urban you can buy today

Today’s MG4 Urban Comfort Long Range shows the baseline any SolidCore version has to beat. EV Compared’s method divides WLTP range by usable battery capacity and multiplies by a tariff; it ignores charging losses (see our methodology).

The Comfort Long Range costs £25,495 in November 2026 for 258 miles WLTP from 52.8 kWh usable. That is about 4.89 miles per kWh, or £99 of list price per mile of range. The Standard Range car works out at £117 per mile of range, so the bigger battery is better value on that measure.

Cost (MG4 Urban Comfort Long Range)	Off-peak home, 6.5p/kWh	Price cap, 26.32p/kWh	Public rapid, 82p/kWh
Full charge	£3.43	£13.90	£43.30
Pence per mile	1.3p	5.4p	16.8p
8,000 miles a year	£106	£431	£1,343

On a 7 kW home wallbox a full charge takes about 7.5 hours, so an overnight off-peak window covers it. If you need one, Best Chargers compares home chargers and installers. On a rapid charger, the LFP car adds about 60 miles in 10 minutes.

Here is what that means for the semi-solid version. If it lands near Auto Express’s 280-mile estimate at a small premium, the cost per mile of range barely moves. Faster winter charging only pays off on rapid chargers, where the 8,000-mile bill is £1,343 against £106 at home. A driver who mostly charges at home gains little from SolidCore in pounds; a driver who rapid charges outdoors through the winter gains time.

What about the MG4 and the MG 4X?

The MG4 Urban is a different car from the rear-wheel-drive MG4 hatchback, which keeps its conventional batteries for now. The MG4 Premium Long Range costs £29,995 for 280 miles WLTP and charges from 10 to 80% in 25 minutes at up to 154 kW, so it already matches the semi-solid car’s best-case range estimate. Our page on MG4 range and charging times has the detail.

The MG 4X is a larger sibling of the MG4 Urban, sharing its bodywork with the MG S5 EV crossover, revealed in China in March 2026 with a semi-solid battery and a claimed 317 miles on the CLTC test. Auto Express reported no word on UK sales. Autotrade.ie reports that SolidCore will roll out across MG’s electric range starting with the MG4 Urban, but MG has not named the next UK model.

Is semi-solid the same as the solid-state batteries in the news?

No. Semi-solid cells keep a little liquid and are in production now; all-solid-state cells use no liquid and are only starting small-scale production. Our report on China’s first all-solid-state cell production covers that next step. SolidCore is best seen as a bridge: it delivers some of the safety and cold-weather benefits of solid electrolytes with a lower capital expenditure barrier than all-solid-state production, according to eMobility Engineering.

What it means for choosing a car

The SolidCore MG4 Urban suits drivers who park on the street or in exposed driveways in colder parts of the UK, who rapid charge often in winter, or who want the extra fire-safety margin that a mostly solid cell offers. For them it is worth waiting for the UK price and WLTP figure.

It does not suit buyers chasing range. On current figures, the first-generation cells store about as much energy as LFP, and the MG4 hatchback already offers 280 miles WLTP for £29,995. It also offers little to a driver who charges at home overnight, where the LFP Comfort Long Range costs 1.3p a mile.

What Car?’s testers rate the Long Range battery in Comfort trim as the sweet spot of the current range, though they flag laggy infotainment and MG’s reliability record. Our verdict, based on published data rather than our own drive: buy the LFP MG4 Urban now if you charge at home and need a roomy, low-cost car; wait for the SolidCore version only if cold-weather charging matters to you, and judge it on its UK WLTP range and price, not on the CLTC headline.

SPEC-QUERY: mg/mg4-urban/comfort-long-range priceFrom £25,495; What Car?’s MG4 Urban review lists the Long Range Comfort at £25,995 (https://www.whatcar.com/mg-motor-uk/mg4-urban/hatchback/review/n28675), and Auto Express (23 March 2026) gave the 54 kWh model as starting at £24,495 (https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/mg/mg4-urban/369222/new-mg4-urban-will-be-uks-first-ev-semi-solid-state-batteries). SPEC-QUERY: mg/mg4-urban/premium-long-range priceFrom £27,995; What Car?’s MG4 Urban review gives the top Long Range Premium RRP as £28,495 (https://www.whatcar.com/mg-motor-uk/mg4-urban/hatchback/review/n28675). SPEC-QUERY: mg/mg4-urban Standard Range dc10to80Minutes is blank; What Car? gives 28 minutes for 10 to 80% (https://www.whatcar.com/mg-motor-uk/mg4-urban/hatchback/review/n28675).