Mazda is lagging behind in the electric car stakes - can it catch up? | Opinion

I recently spent a bit of time behind the wheel of Mazda’s MX-30. It’s an intriguing machine, but it’s also something of an enigma. 

The ‘MX’ in its name, for starters, sets an expectation of sportiness thanks to its association with the MX-5 (the only other contemporary Mazda to use that prefix), but a performance car this is not. 

The MX-30’s suicide doors (or ‘Freestyle Doors’ in Mazda’s more polite lexicon) harken back to the dearly departed RX-8, Mazda’s last rotary-engined sports car, but there are no spinning triangles to be found within this one – at least, not yet (more on that later).

It’s an SUV by virtue of its ride height and black plastic body armour, but as a front-driver it’s not the sort of machine you’d want to stray too far from the blacktop in. Hopping sand dunes clearly isn’t part of the MX-30’s job description and that’s perfectly okay, but what IS its mission statement? That’s the thing I’m struggling to figure out.

I will say this, though: design is a definite MX-30 highlight. I like it, a lot. It’s a crossover with clean lines that doesn’t bow to the current convention of brawny SUV design, and in the sea of small and mid-size SUVs that now blankets our roads, it stands out for the right reasons. On the inside, I appreciate its architectural centre console, as well as its cork-faced terraced shelves and the fine texture of its recycled plastic door trims - even though those rear seats are dark and gloomy, and the faux leather accents feel a little too synthetic. It’s a cool looking thing, I dig that, and your neighbours will probably look upon you with some degree of envy when they spy it in your driveway. 

But here’s the thing… the MX-30 is also Mazda’s first crack at a purely-electric car, and as an EV it disappoints. 

Had it launched five years ago, its metrics would have been considered average. In this day and age, the MX-30 Electric is sub-par. With a 35.5kWh battery pack supplying a 107kW/271Nm motor, Mazda claims a single-charge range of just 200km for the MX-30 E35 Astina. 

The Nissan Leaf generates more power and torque (110kW/320Nm) via its more antiquated hardware (its platform is essentially recycled from the first-gen Leaf that debuted ten years ago), and its 40kWh battery pack supplies enough juice for a 270km range – 35 percent more than the MX-30 E35 offers. Meanwhile, the MG ZS EV, one of the cheapest electric cars on the market, achieves a 263km range from its 44.5kWh battery. 

Even mundane details like boot volume are evidence of Mazda stopping well short of the mark. The MX-30 hybrid and electric have the same 311 litre luggage capacity, meaning there are no packaging advantages unlocked by the electric powertrain – something which most modern EVs exploit to the fullest with stowage space under bonnets as well as in the boot. 

However, there’s clear potential for Mazda to have followed suit: lift the MX-30’s bonnet and witness the gaping volume of free air next to the electric motor and inverter (which are neatly stacked on the driver’s side), which could have easily been devoted to a storage bin of some sort for charge cables and the like. Mazda, for whatever reason, chose not to take advantage of that.

But my main gripe is this: the electric MX-30 is simply too expensive for what it offers. If it were priced somewhat closer to the $46,990 driveaway MG ZS EV or the $50,990 before on-road costs Nissan Leaf, the MX-30’s technical abilities as an electric car wouldn’t look so bad. However it’s a $65,490 machine, and that puts it right up against box-fresh EV rivals like the Polestar 2 (starting price $63,900), Kia EV6 (starting price $67,990), the $61,490 Nissan Leaf e+ (with its bigger 62kWh battery and 385km range), not to mention the current dominant EV, the Tesla Model 3 (from $63,900).

All of them offer substantially more power, more torque, more range and, in most cases, more interior space than the Mazda MX-30. 

Mazda Australia could have brought the price down by offering lower-spec versions of the MX-30 E35, but right now their strategy is to only offer the electric version in top-shelf Astina grade. For those wondering, the gap between the petrol-powered MX-30 G20e Astina and the E35 Astina is a colossal $24,500 – a gigantic markup for those wanting a more electrified lifestyle. 

But in Mazda’s defence, their approach to electrification is distinctly ‘Mazda’. The battery is small by present-day standards, yes, but the range it offers is more than adequate given the average Australian only commutes between 30-50km per day. Charge it up every night or even every second night, and range anxiety should only rarely be an issue. 

Keeping the battery size small also reduces overall weight (something Mazda’s engineers have long been obsessed with), and it also uses fewer costly and problematic natural resources per car, which in turns allows more cars to be built for a given supply of lithium and thus allows more motorists to make the switch to electrification. Mazda loves to think in holistic terms, so if small batteries were indeed part of their strategy it wouldn’t surprise me one bit.

Also, it must be said that if you look past the electric stuff, the MX-30 E35 rides and steers well, tuned perfectly for urban conditions and marrying a compliant suspension with light steering and a near-silent EV powertrain. 

It’s an easy thing to commute in, and incredibly efficient too. On my 100km urban/highway test loop, it achieved an average power consumption of 14.9kWh per 100km. I’ve never had an electric car use less power on that loop, and it’s also well under Mazda’s own claim of 18.5kWh/100km. I suspect its light (for an EV) 1442kg kerb weight has a big part to play in that real-world efficiency.

Yet for all my whinging I’m still not decided on whether the MX-30 makes a good electric car or not, and that’s because we’ve yet to see the MX-30’s final form. Later this year, Mazda will reintroduce its famous rotary engine in the form of an on-board generator for the MX-30. 

As a range-extended hybrid, the MX-30 could make far more sense than the pure electric version, able to get by with a smaller, lighter, and less-expensive battery, yet able to travel much longer distances when the need arises. When the battery runs flat the rotary engine starts spinning, and if Mazda Australia prices it right, then that little engine could not only extend the MX-30’s useful range, but also extend its appeal in a country that’s still yet to embrace EVs with both arms.

But if the rotary-enhanced MX-30 fails to hit the mark, then Mazda will have to sprint to catch up to the rest of the world’s automakers.