After months of small information leaks, full details of what is likely the world’s first proper production electric sports convertible has been revealed by the apparent sieve that is the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
The 2024 MG Cyberster, a car which the historically British, now Chinese brand is using to go back to its sports car roots, has been detailed in a filing on the Chinese government’s MIIT website, often a source for Chinese car media to discover model details before they debut.
Expected to be revealed officially at the upcoming Shanghai Auto Show this month, the MG Cyberster – which will keep the name its concept wore – is set to come in two drivetrain variants, one a single, rear motor version with an output of 231kW, and another all-wheel drive variant with a 150kW front motor and a 250kW rear motor.
The actual total combined output for the latter is not specified in the documents, but respective top speeds are listed at 193km/h for the rear-drive version, and 200km/h for the AWD Cyberster.
MG’s UK commercial director Guy Pigounakis told Autocar in an interview last year that the Cyberster would sit above the level of previous models like the MG F, putting to bed the rumours that it would be a rival to models like the Mazda MX-5.
“Right up to when the model was arriving we were looking at it as a natural successor to the MG F. It’s completely not. It’s in a completely different sector of the market,” he told the outlet.
Its outputs seem to prove that, with the Cyberster more likely to be a rival to entry-level Porsches or niche sports cars from brands like Lotus or Alpine.
It’s slightly larger than a Porsche Cayman, measuring in at 4535mm long, 1913mm wide, and 1329mm tall, with a 2690mm wheelbase. But its weight sets it apart from ICE rivals, thanks to the nature of battery packs.
The Cyberster in its single-motor variant will weigh in at 1850kg, with the dual-motor tipping the scales at 1985kg.
From those battery packs, however, Autocar reports that the Cyberster’s expected range could be as much as 800km, thanks to a cell-to-pack battery design that increases energy density and takes up less space.
In terms of its design, the Cyberster looks much like both the design patent filings leaked late last year, as well as a render commissioned by CarsGuide to get a better idea of what to expect. It uses a ‘yoke’ style steering wheel instead of a traditional round wheel, but many of its more intense design elements from the concept have been abandoned for the production version.
More information about production and market releases should become clear once the MG Cyberster is officially launched in the imminent future, so stay tuned.
Keyword: Taking the classic sports car electric! 2024 MG Cyberster electric car revealed in Chinese government documents