MG U9 Electric Pickup Lands in Nepal at Rs 98.99 Lakh at NAIMA Expo 2026

An electric pickup that sprints to 100 in 5.8 seconds, tows 3.5 tonnes, and wades through half a metre of water. Oh, and it costs nearly a crore. Welcome to the strangest, most ambitious corner of Nepal's EV market yet.

Paramount Motors, the authorised MG distributor in Nepal, pulled the covers off the MG U9 EV at the NAIMA Nepal Mobility Expo 2026, planting MG's flag in the premium electric pickup segment for the first time. It comes in two flavours, Luxury and Flagship, running from Rs 98.99 lakh up to Rs 1.10 crore. And here's the twist worth knowing before you read another line: this isn't quite the fresh face it appears to be. More on that shortly.

Design

MG is pitching the U9 as a high-performance electric lifestyle pickup, which is marketing-speak for "a truck you can work hard and still feel smug driving to dinner." The proportions are big and deliberate, built on a lengthy 3,300 mm wheelbase that gives it both a long bed and a genuinely roomy cabin. This is a full-size machine that wants to be noticed.

What sets the tone off-road is the stance. With 230 mm of ground clearance and a claimed 550 mm water-wading depth, the U9 looks and behaves like it means business away from smooth tarmac. In monsoon-season Nepal, where flooded streets and broken tracks are just part of the daily reality, those aren't vanity numbers. They're the difference between pushing through and getting stranded. It's trying to be a workhorse and a status symbol at once, an interesting tightrope to walk.

Performance

Here's where the U9 flexes hardest. It runs a dual-motor 4WD system, with a 125 kW motor up front and a beefier 200 kW motor at the rear, combining for a hefty 700 Nm of torque. MG claims a 0 to 100 km/h dash in 5.8 seconds and a top speed of 190 km/h.

Let that sink in. This is a full-size pickup, a body style historically wedded to lumbering diesel engines and leisurely pace, and it'll out-sprint most hot hatchbacks. That's the quiet superpower of electric drivetrains: instant torque flattens the usual trade-off between size and speed. The dual-motor setup also means proper four-wheel drive, clawing for grip when the terrain turns nasty. Whether Nepal's roads ever let you use that pace is another question, but the capability is sitting right there under your foot.

Range and Charging

Powering all this is a 102.2 kWh LFP battery, with a claimed WLTP range of up to 430 km. That's a sensible, realistic figure, and the LFP chemistry brings better long-term durability with no cobalt worries. It supports 115 kW DC fast charging and, crucially, packs 6.6 kW Vehicle-to-Load functionality.

That V2L feature isn't a gimmick here. Picture running power tools at a remote worksite, or keeping the household lights on during an outage. For a working truck in a country that still deals with power cuts, it earns its keep every single week. For a broader look at where Nepal's electric pickups and commercial EVs are heading, the complete 2026 rundown of electric vans and pickups is worth a read.

A pickup lives or dies on what it can carry and pull, and the U9 doesn't disappoint. Payload capacity sits at 685 kg, and braked towing capacity hits a serious 3,500 kg. This is a truck that can actually do truck things, not just pose as one. Between the towing muscle, the wading depth and the 4WD traction, it has the credentials to back up the swagger.

Features

Climb inside and the premium ambitions become obvious. You get a 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen, a matching 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and an 8-speaker JBL audio system. Leather upholstery, a heated microfibre leather steering wheel and 64-colour ambient lighting round out the plush touches.

Go for the top-spec Flagship and it adds an 8-way electrically adjustable driver's seat with ventilation, massage and memory functions. A massaging seat. In a pickup truck. If you needed proof that the "lifestyle" label is doing real work here, there it is. This is a cabin designed to make you forget you're sitting in a load-lugger.

The Twist: You've Basically Seen This Truck Before

Here's the part MG would rather you didn't dwell on. The U9 is, underneath its restyled skin, essentially a rebadged version of the Maxus eTerron 9, which is already on sale in Nepal.

Both are built under SAIC Motor, MG's parent company, and they share the same platform, drivetrain and core engineering. The differences come down to styling, interior trim and how the features are packaged, with MG positioning the U9 as the more lifestyle-flavoured option. So is this a genuinely new product, or a familiar truck in a sharper suit? A bit of both, honestly. The engineering is proven, which is reassuring, but buyers deserve to know they're paying for presentation and badge as much as fresh substance. Worth comparing the two closely on price and kit before you sign anything.

Specifications at a Glance

Price in Nepal

The U9 lands in rarefied air. At nearly a crore for the base Luxury and comfortably over it for the Flagship, this is not an impulse buy. It's a statement, aimed at buyers who want the utility of a pickup without the guilt of a diesel and don't mind paying handsomely for it. Nepal's electric scene is stretching in every direction now, from affordable hatchbacks to the crore-club, and fresh arrivals like the Proton eMAS 5.

Conclusion

The MG U9 is a genuinely capable machine. Quick, tough, well-equipped and practical enough to earn its keep. But its biggest question mark isn't its ability, it's its identity. When a truck this closely related to the already-available eTerron 9 shows up wearing a different badge and a near-crore price tag, the buyer has to decide what they're really paying for.

Nepal's premium EV scene is expanding fast and in unexpected directions. Electric pickups were a fringe idea not long ago. Now they're arriving with massaging seats and crore-level pricing. The U9 proves the segment has arrived. Whether Nepali buyers are ready to spend supercar money on an electric truck is the question the next year will answer.

For more on how Nepal's EV market keeps evolving, Autoncell tracks every new launch as it lands.