David Linklater.
Compressionignition petrol can be cleaner than plug-in power, says Mazda. We drive 2019’s Skyactiv-x technology. By
We’ve just been to Germany to drive the most hi-tech Mazda3 in existence. It looks thoroughly unremarkable save a matt-black paint job, the interior is seemingly made of plastic scraps and it has no airbags or stability control.
But underneath the familiar sheet metal is Mazda’s nextgeneration Skyactiv-x engine and platform technology.
The Japanese maker’s current powertrains are Skyactiv-g (petrol) and Skyactiv-d (diesel). The next step is called ‘‘X’’ because it crosses those petrol and diesel technologies over into one engineering package. Skyactiv-x is still fuelled by petrol, but employs compression-ignition just like a diesel, resulting in a 20-30 per cent improvement in efficiency.
Mazda claims that the efficiency advantages of Skyactivx will make it environmentally superior to many electric vehicles (EVS) on a ‘‘well-to-wheel’’ (or fuel extraction to driving) basis.
In New Zealand, more than 80 per cent of electric power comes from renewable resources. But that’s not the case in other parts of the word. Mazda claims that if you compare a Skyactiv-x car with a 21.2kwh EV, the petrol model is potentially cleaner once you account for non-renewable electricity generation: 142g/km for Skyactiv-x, compared with 200g for an EV powered by coalfired electricity and 156g if the