How to build an EV the Mazda way
Serious about saving the planet? Then a sledgehammer of an EV isn’t the answer…
Instead of the flat delivery of most EVs, the MX-30 feels progressive and organic
Trust Mazda to do things differently. The company with the penchant for rotary engines has rarely taken the obvious path. But now Mazda has gone electric – and just how different can you be with a battery-powered car?
Very different, it turns out. Mazda’s first serious electric car, the MX-30, may not look wildly original, aside from some cosmetic quirkiness. But the MX-30, which isn’t a bespoke EV but based on a modified CX-30 platform, defies EV convention.
It uses a relatively small 35.5kWh Panasonic battery – chosen not simply to save space or cost, but for reasons that embody Mazda’s ethos. For Mazda, 35.5kWh – a size shared with the Honda e, and 60kWh less than an Audi e-Tron – is the sweet spot for the car’s weight, range and CO2 emissions.
Hang on – why are we talking about an electric car’s CO2 emissions? MX-30 project leader Tomiko Takeuchi explains that it’s all about the bigger picture. ‘When plants produce batteries, lots of CO2 is emitted from the plant. And when you put many battery cells [together in a car] then that deteriorates the electricity consumption. Since the electricity consumption gets worse, the battery vehicle itself needs more charging, and producing the electricity itself involves emitting more CO2. Looking at the total picture, we saw that a 35.5kWh battery is the optimal in terms of lifecycle.’
That battery size means range is expected to barely scrape to 125 miles on production cars. Maximum power is likely to be about 140bhp, while pulling power is a similarly modest 196lb ft. Mazda is confident those numbers make perfect sense for a car that will be used primarily as urban transport.
‘What I found was that in Europe, there are many people who want to do something for the environment, who want to contribute to the society,’ Takeuchi says. ‘We see in Europe customers who resonate with us in their thinking, so that’s why the MX-30 is beginning in the European market.’
We spent 45 minutes driving a CX-30 fitted with the powertrain of the MX-30, and our first impressions suggest this is an EV unlike any other. Instead of the flat delivery of most EVs the MX-30 feels progressive and organic. It’s almost analogue in its feel, which means it’s easy for the driver to get a connection with the car. The right pedal is positive and communicative. As Mazda has shown for many years with the MX-5, there’s a huge amount of satisfaction to be had from a car that offers agile, predictable handling and plenty of feedback, rather than big power figures – and that’s where the MX-30 should deliver too. Mazda says it should weigh in at less than two tonnes (good for a family EV), with near-50/50 weight distribution.
It’s refined too, and what little noise you do hear in the cabin is intentional: the MX-30 will feature an artificial sound to indicate acceleration or deceleration, and on the road this works well. It was most obvious when we were driving uphill: with the pedal down and the gradient high, the MX-30 grumbles a little like a sad spaceship, adding a welcome extra degree of communication you don’t usually get in electric cars.
Adjustable levels of decelerative battery regeneration will make it to the production car, though this feature wasn’t fitted on the prototype.
What’s next for Mazda? More of the same. It’s convinced 35.5kwh batteries are the way to go, so it’s likely you’ll find a 35.5kWh unit in the next few EVs from Mazda, too. And Mazda isn’t giving up on internal combustion just yet. Rather than shifting entirely to EVs, it will continue to develop its combustion and hybrid offerings as part of a multi-solution approach.