Hop aboard the MG Cyberster – a sleek, silver electric sports car with spaceship-style doors, laser-like headlights and warp-speed acceleration – as we put the world’s first mainstream, all-electric roadster through its paces in the Cotswolds.
If the Cyberster hasn’t yet crossed your radar, here’s a quick intro – it’s made by MG, that most British of sports car brands, which now belongs to China’s state-owned SAIC Motor. And while today’s MG is a distant relative of the company founded as Morris Garages in 1924, the Cyberster is they say – a regeneration of the great British roadster for the 21st century.
So it’s 100% electric – the first mainstream electric two-seater convertible in the world, beating the likes of Porsche to that claim (although an electric Boxter is coming soon). It costs from £55,000. Those scissor doors come as standard and it looks as sensational as supercars costing four times as much.
Exploring the villages of the Cotswolds
Credit: Amy Shore
We set out to explore MG’s old back garden, and one of the greatest places for a B-road blast – the towns, villages and ever-so-rolling hills of the Cotswolds. Running in a 90-mile arc from Warwickshire in the north to Bath in the south, the Cotswolds is the UK’s largest National Landscape (formerly known as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty).
Credit: Amy Shore
It’s very early spring, and there’s still a chill in the air, yet all is snug in the Cyberster – heated seats and a heated steering wheel help. On country lanes it feels effortlessly fast and fun.
Back at a more sedate pace, our Cotswolds tour takes us through the area’s most famous sights. There’s Arlington Row in Bibury, a terrace of weavers’ cottages thought to be one of the most photographed streets in England, and so idyllic it could be the work of a set designer. It’s likewise with Upper and Lower Slaughter with their watermill, duck pond and gently flowing ford.
These are villages of jolly postmen, paperboys and shadows of Cider With Rosie, and as we glide through them it’s as if we’ve slipped through some wormhole in our space-age sports car.
The scissor doors add to the time-travel vibe. Electrically operated at the touch of a button, they rise theatrically, making a discreet exit almost impossible. People stop and stare, bemused at the sight of the driver trying to gracefully extract himself without bashing his head on the bottom of the door.
How the Cyberster performs
For the most part it hides it well, but on particularly twisty or bumpy roads IT sometimes feels unsettled. Best to think of it more as a fast grand tourer than a razor-sharp sports car. Whatever your opinion, this is a car that gets people talking.
Add in a two-seater sports car and the scene is complete. And so I press the button to retract the Cyberster’s claret soft top, lower the windows and set forth in silence, the soundtrack of combustion replaced by the countryside’s greatest hits: the trickle of a stream, the ding-dong of a distant church bell, birdsong in the hedgerows.
And what it lacks in sound, the MG makes up for in speed. This twin-motor, all-wheel-drive GT version of the Cyberster is the most powerful production model in MG’s 101-year history, with 503 horsepower.
Credit: Amy Shore
There are different power modes, but press the big red ‘super sport’ button on the steering wheel and you get the full hit of electrons, launching you from 0-62mph in a staggering 3.2 seconds. It’s enough to blur the edges of the world and give you butterflies. You know those videos of astronauts and fighter pilots battling eye-popping G-forces? For a few seconds that’s you in the Cyberster, at full throttle, wishing you had a flight suit and a sick bag.
Classic Cotswolds
Our final stop is Bourton-on-the-Water, the absolute classic Cotswolds town. Local attractions include Birdland with its flamingos, pelicans and penguins; the famous Model Village; and of course the Cotswolds Motoring Museum, owned by Boundless (members get unlimited ed entry).
Revamped for 2025, along with the newly refurbished Boundless holiday cottages next door, the museum tells the story of motoring through the ages, and among its amazing exhibits are some historic MGs.
There’s a 1932 MG J2 (which by today’s standard looks more like a child’s pedal car), an MG Y saloon, and a 1950 MG TD roadster, which looks every inch the classic British sports car with its long bonnet, swooping fenders and fabric roof. Cyberster: meet your grandfather.
How does the MG Cyberster compare to older models?
The question is, can it really emulate the simple joys of MGs of yesteryear? Can silky battery power really replace the burbles and gurgles of carb-fed engines? Will a top-down drive through the English countryside ever feel the same again? Purists are understandably sceptical.
To put that to the test, we meet a few vintage MG owners from the Boundless Classic Vehicle Group, along with their cars, to see if the Cyberster can win over the toughest of crowds.
Credit: Amy Shore
James Parker has arrived in his 1971 Inca yellow MGB, Graham Clements has come in his 2005 solar red MG TF, and Doug and Barbara Antill are here in their 1985 Mercedes SL500 (having formerly owned a Mk1 MG Midget). What better group of people to ask for an expert verdict on the latest chapter in MG history?
All are instantly taken with the Cyberster’s design, though slightly surprised at how it can take a journey through time – or through 20th-century motoring history.
Graham’s MG TF was one of the ‘PWC cars’ – the final models made in the UK before MG moved its manufacturing to China. In other words, it’s the most direct line between the MGs of old and new. “I was expecting something more like a Mazda MX-5,” he says. “In an ideal world, it would be a bit smaller and lighter. But nobody has really done this before, so you’ve got to hand it to them for trying. It’s a lot of fun. It’s not for everyone, but we all know which way the world is going. I’d rather have this than nothing.”
He’s right. MG has beaten everyone in delivering a relatively affordable (for what it is), usable, two-door, electric drop-top. Yes, a true sports car should be lighter, but batteries are heavy. Reduce the battery size and you lose driving range. And, yes, it’s never going to give you the sensations you’re used to from petrol power. But you know what? It’s still a buzz – just not as you know it. And it still looks great parked outside the pub.
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