Not Just a Weekend Toy, This EV Roadster Is Taking the Long Way to China

• Duo takes the MG Cyberster prototype from Europe to Shanghai on a road trip dubbed Charging Into the Future.

• The MG Cyberster electric roadster is approaching the start of production, with the dual-motor version set to offer 536 hp.

• The roadster, which will go on sale this year, is expected to offer about 360 miles of range with a 77-kWh battery.

With the next-gen Tesla Roadster currently delayed, perhaps permanently, we're no closer to getting an electric roadster one could buy in the US. The current crop of EVs is still firmly aimed at sedans, crossovers, SUVs, and pickup trucks, with a slight chance of a hatch or two later in 2024.

And it doesn't appear this picture will change anytime soon, with automakers steering well clear of other segments when it comes to battery-electric models.

The picture in Europe and elsewhere is a little different, with the MG Cyberster nearing the end of its development cycle, ahead of the planned start of sales next year. It should be the first affordable electric roadster on the continent, and also the first new electric roadster that actually looks like a roadster.

The Cyberster is currently undergoing the last rounds of testing ahead of the planned start of production early next year, ready for its summer debut in the UK and a handful of other markets, with MG also giving a pre-production model to British adventurers Ross and Hugo Turner.

The brothers have just completed an 8500-mile tour of Europe including visits to Germany, France, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and a few other countries, including the UK. The tour is part of a PR effort dubbed Charging Into the Future, which documents their journey with the Cyberster across two continents, with MG eager to prove even this early on that the Cyberster won't be simply a weekend toy.

"Like all major projects Hugo and I have undertaken not everything has gone quite to plan," said Ross Turner. "A good few thousand extra miles have already been added to the trip because MG fans and EV enthusiasts have heard about the tour and want to see the car, so we've been asked to several extra events."

One of the next legs of the journey will see the brothers take the Cyberster along sections of the historic Silk Road route, visiting the Middle East, India, and the Far East on their way to Shanghai.

That's a tall order even for a gas-engined model these days when it comes to expedition-style driving, but doing so in an EV, especially a smallish two-door, should reveal quite a bit about whether the Cyberster is ready for the real world.

"All of our experience has been with a pre-production car, but it's been amazing," said Hugo Turner. "The car is very responsive as you would expect from an EV, but also it sticks like glue when you throw it into a corner."

Old MGBs were certainly called upon for journeys of this type, even with luggage space being at a premium. So we'd expect the larger Cyberster to be far more accommodating in this regard.

But this trip also seeks to highlight the new roadster's performance, at least in pre-production form, which certainly won't be as mild as anything you might remember MG offering in the US through the end of the 1970s.

In dual-motor flavor the roadster will serve up about 536 hp, and 0-to-60-mph sprints in under 3.0 seconds. Also, it won't require ownership of an overly elaborate mustache or tobacco pipe, or rev-matching skills of any sort.

More than anything else, MG's effort to showcase the versatility of its electric roadster should help sell the concept of the model being a suitable daily driver for those who might be getting tired of seeing mostly electric crossovers on dealer lots, or as an alternative to an electric sedan. (We are certainly over the number of full-size electric luxury sedans currently available in the US and elsewhere).

The MG Cyberster is not headed stateside, just to be clear, but it should be a very important test case in Europe and elsewhere regarding the potential of this segment in the electric era, being the first mass-market offering of its type in the 2020s.

We won't rule out its competitors from other automakers making their way stateside in the coming years, especially with a price below the $250,000 tag of the once-planned and possibly now abandoned second-gen Tesla Roadster project.

Should EV makers offer roadsters in the US in the next couple of years, or is the market for electric roadsters still too limited to be worthwhile? Let us know in the comments below.