How Did Mazda Get it So Wrong? Why The MX-30 R EV is one Hybrid to AVOID 

didnt mazda say battery size was something done for "sustainability" reasons? we just need a momentum preservation eelctric assited turbo inline 3 compac t 4 seatprius that isnt comprimised for looks like toyota said the new prius is. as media you need to create demand for proper cars: i have driving fun to not be bored and non attentive partially for saftey reasons, i do it by trying to get max miles per gallon and not wearing out the tires by using them to slow down a lot . its like old school endurance racing at more relaxed pace(if you arnt in a rush to get to places quickly), you minimize need for pitstops for fuel tires lubricant etc. for example, you preserve momentum around turns instead and speeding up again, but dont loose traction. . you brake and steer minimally but steadily, build up momentum downhills and at optimal rpm and power level according to bfsc chart for the engine (electric motors also have this ) . you maintain speed that is less than roughly 50 mile per hour (if car is more areodynamic, you can tolerate higher speed, but cutting through the wind becomes exponentially less effceint as you increase speed linearly). although climate crisis politics is obviosuly led by people who dont care about it(like cafe laws preventing small trucks) , chemcial toxicity affecting food supply and sustainability of the buisness model of car design, are good reasons to do this if the money savings means nothing to you. t weight is less safe t to people outside the car involved in crash, and unsafe to people inside car unless its more expensively built. weight exponentially worsens road longveity before repairs are needed, causing emission , monetary costs too, etc. not necessary: drive.google.com/file/d/1EG0dKAd3yuIRnND73W80v5i4CNe-EOzA/view?pli=1 pavementinteractive.org/reference-desk/design/design-parameters/equivalent-single-axle-load/ i think electric asited turbo on hybrid better than ev because: if you wanna lower emissions as long as possible as mass scale (probably should) , you use a mix of combustion of non fully recyclable and currently rarely ever recycled, battery mass. whatever mix lasts longest. weight is less safe t to people outside the car involved in crash, and unsafe to people inside car unless its more expensively built. weight exponentially worsens road longveity before repairs are needed, causing emission , monetary costs too, etc. it also worsens tire dust emisions and brake dust emissions expoeentially: drive.google.com/file/d/1EG0dKAd3yuIRnND73W80v5i4CNe-EOzA/view?pli=1 pavementinteractive.org/reference-desk/design/design-parameters/equivalent-single-axle-load/ magnetic reversal news , tony heller, tom nelson www.corbettreport.com/ www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9566750/ www.greencarcongress.com/2022/05/20220513-ea.html#:~:text=Emissions%20Analytics’%20results%20suggest%20around%2011%%20of%20the,more%20than%20400%20times%20higher%20than%20tailpipe%20emissions. natural rubber and better brake metal can minimize problem to some bodily crash saftey improved by strong lower end of car jumping to level with incoming cars, especially taller sitting and bigger cars, to minimize damages. audi a8 does ths but maybe it should be cmbustion based like seatbelt explosives, to minimize weight. rearseatfacing rear (figure out why im saying this, and youll deserve knowing it )can you just take off electric power sit steering motor and use it as manual steering on new cars? or have a switch for that if you wanna share car or sell it. electric turbo kit and anti power steering kit and hub motor hybridization kit and big tinted heads up display kit would sell a lot in aftermarket

🤣

aka Geoff

My genius… it’s frightening

Do you mean geoff?😂

@@bmkoster24 no. Geoff was pure electric. When James added the diesel generator it was renamed.

Correct

Yes but still a stupid idea

"corks & features" 😂

@@scott1245 it's a sustainable material and highly versatile. But that might grate your gears.

Mazda : we make cork Samsung : we sell dried fish

haha

However you put it, this car is not fit for purpose.🙂

@@Barbarapape what purpose?

Peak "however", but great video, regardless

And that’s the whole point. This is home wall charger technology. That’s its modus operandi. It’s a niche product - literally NOT for everyone. It’s a city BEV with a Rotary Range Extender - not really a traditional PHEV. Indeed, it deserves to be in a class of its own. My round trip commute is slightly above average at 31 miles per day. And that’s all I do, Monday to Friday. On the weekends I do even less - though once a month or two, and probably a bit more during the summer months, on weekends, I’ll take a longer trip outside my city - but never halfway across the country - I’d take a train or coach instead. I’m sure there are many, many others who have this exact mobility lifestyle. The Mazda MX-30 R-EV is for them. It’s not for those who want to do “mini-cab” miles everyday. It’s definitely NOT a replacement for a Toyota Prius (I drive one of those now) or a Hyundai Ionic Hybrid. No. It’s a Battery Electric Vehicle with a Revolutionary Rotary Range Extender to ban range anxiety and ensure you’re never stranded. The range extender is a generator - like an APU in an aircraft. It never powers the wheels directly - it generates electricity for the electric traction motors and can simultaneously recharge the battery on the fly. This vehicle has a range of settings, one of which allows it to mimic a hybrid vehicle during operation, but that’s more of an option available - and shouldn’t be the main mode of use every single day for long distances. If you have the aforementioned lifestyle (and believe it or not, many do) then this is for you - and can prove very cheap to run. If you’re looking for a Toyota C-HR or Prius Hybrid replacement, this is not your car. I note that a large number of people cannot wrap their heads around the fact that this vehicle was built to a certain eco specification for people of a certain lifestyle. Many who watched this video are literally never going to plug it in - hence their obsession with the MPG you get from running it non-stop on petrol. We need to acknowledge what this vehicle really is. If it’s not for you, walk away - don’t waste your time moaning or criticising its existence because you’re incapable of accepting or worse still, comprehending what Mazda were accomplishing by designing and manufacturing this vehicle. It’s a revision on an older concept to a degree (BMW i3 anyone?) but it’s certainly not a carbon copy. A 50 litre fuel tank + a revolutionary new Rotary Range Extender power generation unit makes it unique - especially in that it can recharge the traction battery anywhere - or while on the move - something the BMW i3 was incapable of doing - so they’re not really the same. You’ll get less MPG running that Range Extender for longer periods of time - and that’ll hit you in the pocket - and that’s the whole point. This IS a BEV with an onboard APU and it should be treated as such - not arbitrarily labelled as another PHEV. It may have some capabilities of a PHEV, but you run this primarily on Electric Power and a lot less on the Rotary Range Extender.

@@datathunderstorm very well written for such video that missing the point by the biggest possible distance.

Do you know what? I must have said to at least a dozen Mazda owners that I really liked the colour of their car. But none of them said it was Soul Crystal Red Metallic. What a brilliant name for a colour and more importantly, what a brilliant colour it is (especially when viewed wearing brown tinted sun glasses).

@@datathunderstormI completely agree with you. As the owner of a recently acquired, used MX30 EV I think it’s a brilliant car if it suits your use case. In this instance my wife has the car for her daily run around which at most is 50 miles per day but more likely 10 to 15. The MX30 is lighter and therefore less impactful on the environment than a normal EV with its 200 to 300 mile range and enormous weight penalty. If you never use the range why carry about the extra batteries. The fact that everyone also is moaning about the limited range means you can pick these cars up for less than 50% or their new price. A total bargain.

@@datathunderstorm But there are a LOAD of vehicles that meet your needs without all the pointless quirkiness of this thing - and that WILL still get good fuel economy when the battery is depleted, if you forget to plug it in for a couple of days, or you actually do need to go somewhere outside of the city - also if you need to take 4 adults somewhere, this thing is useless. It's just a bad car that isn't fit for any purpose that is outclassed by its competition.

Agree. He's cherry picking scenarios the car is not designed for and acting like the ones it was designed for are invalid.

WELL SAID

How much kWh can you store in a 150kg battery!? The battery is half the size,yet it's 150kg heavier!

Thanks for clarifying this. The reviewers don't get it.

@@negofol5278 well said

This is exactly how the MX-30 R-EV was designed to be used. Not primarily running the 0.8L Wankel Rotary Range Extender like a Prius Hybrid, but running primarily on electric power for commuting. Having that range extender kick in during sub-zero temperature journeys (to generate extra electrical power for the much needed heating - which depletes traction battery levels quickly - despite the heat pump technology installed (funny that wasn’t mentioned) is an absolute boon. My commute is about 32 miles round trip. I rarely travel long distances anymore. Kids have grown up and left home. I love coupes, hate SUVs, yet Mazda have totally hooked me in with this unusual MX-30 R-EV that I am growing to love more and more each day. Home charging is a must….or don’t bother. This car would suit my existing lifestyle perfectly, but it is not for everyone.

Do U have info about if the heat from the engine is used in cold weather?

@@azguzb328 I suspect heat exhaust from the engine is used to reduce emissions (EGR?). Heat within the cabin is entirely generated via heat pump technology which is electricity powered - but highly efficient. The tiny 830cc single rotor Wankel Rotary Extender Engine doesn’t provide heating to the cabin directly - however, the generator it powers exclusively can and will both charge the battery and provide power to heat pump - the latter which heats the cabin efficiently.

You get 65 mpg because it counts in the electric range, that's not how it should be measured!!! You run out of battery power, now you run on petrol and now you have mpg, there's no miles per gallon on electricity!!!!

@@aldish25 it doesn’t count the electric range towards the mpg. Like most PHEVs, if you drive on electric only, it measures it separately using miles per kw. The mpg figure only records the usage when the engine is actually running.

... dirt absorbing, ...

Stains and will fall apart

@@VaunShiz thats just weight reduction

​@@VaunShizThat depends; it's a variable product and, even untreated, it cleans easily ("absorbs dirt" = "it's pale and I don't like washing stuff") I've had various cork handled rods, handlebar wraps and the like - a damp cloth and a dab of cream cleaner completely restores them!

It is coated so doesn’t crumble or stain.

It is for some, not for me! Most of them really don't mind as long as you're fair

This is why Jay is the best, 99% of car youtubers praise everything they test. Basically salesmen.

I think even Mazda UK are aware of the flaws of this car and the likelihood of its time on sale lasting about as long as its battery!

Maybe they'll make improvements.

@@JayEmmOnCars Why did Mazda bother to send this to Jay to test, knowing well that they were going to get a honest report. The rotary range extender needs to half the fuel consumed for it to be viable.

Whatcar always just go off the manufacturers claims. They never give you real world figures.

His calculation when saying it will give 220miles is totally wrong. He said at its worst, it was giving 28.5 MPG, so taking that number multiplying for a 50liter tank gives you - 313miles (28.5MPG x 10.99 gallons of fuel). This doesn't count the battery range atall. And then he said it improved to 31.4MPG, so that amount to around 350miles again not counting battery. He didn't do his due diligence and just said what the range in the car told him.

@@pronoP2 ​ To be fair 360 miles in winter is pretty inexcusable for a REx car.

You're overstating the case of what it can do a bit, but yes he was *way* understating it, clearly he couldn't think outside of the box.

@@pronoP2 lol i know that super stupid getting the basic maths wrong like that, i did the same on my calculator when i heard him spew out them numbers thinking that makes no sense the number of miles should deffinately be about 10x the mpg (30 mpg = +300 miles of range) just makes you think the main reason he dint like the car is he cant add up or multiply correctly lol or understand that the average mpg he got from when he was running the car with out a full charge in the beginning is gunna stay artifcially low because the avg mpg takes that no battary run time into account ...... this guy some how is getting paid as a job doing this lol

And this is their Virtual Boy!

Someone has to be weird now that Saab isn't around to do it anymore.

yeah.. except Nintendo makes tons of money. Mazda will become irrelevant if they don't make vehicles people wanna buy

Yeah, but you know, Nintendo was on the edge of bankruptcy with their last generation of consoles (before Switch), and then what? A total turnaround, and they outsell their big rivals by doing things their way, not like others, which basically carved out a separate niche for them. There is always a chance of a total flop while being innovative and non-conventional. Totally agree about Mazda being the Nintendo of cars. I hope they will continue bringing new ideas to the industry, and I will support them in this as a customer.

zoom zoom

i like their darker red more, they can also make a more 3d irridecent version of toyota sea glass pearl 2017 prius

That Mazda-typical sort of red is awfully boring to me.

what color you like most and why@@keinname629

I agree that's not all They've also got their interiors to a perfect T with it's buttons and ease of use. Also the Mazda3 is one the best family hatchbacks on sale

The issue with these small battery evs/hybrids is the battery degradation. A small battery will go through far more charge cycles during the cars life than a large battery which will degrade it faster. There's a reason why Mazdas 8 year battery warranty only covers 160000km. You'll likely find that the battery needs to be replaced nearly as often as the engine on those old rotaries.

@@oxaile4021interesting - another recent review stated that the smaller battery setup in this car actually promoted better battery health! I don’t know anything about battery technology or chemistry - my own short coming perhaps! I’ve never considered an electric or hybrid before but I must admit the technology of this car caught my interest

​@@oxaile4021 160,000km (100,000 miles) is pretty good really. Tesla only offers the same on their LFP battery Model 3 and Y cars.

@@rjdavies1982 Every battery cell has a realistic lifespan of about (in an EV) 1000-3000 0%-100% charge cycles. You can imagine that a battery that lasts for about 80km will go through far more charge cycles before hitting, say 150k kms than a battery that will do 400kms. Or in math terms: a battery that can do 80kms on a full charge will hit 1000 charge cycles at about 80k kms where as a battery that can do 400kms on a full charge will hit 1000 charge cycles at about 400k kms. This is further exacerbated by the fact that a 80km range battery will more likely need to be fully charged to achieve it's daily use range where as a 400km range battery can be left to 80% charge level more often as the full range isn't usually needed during daily driving, further improving the battery longevity on the bigger battery.

​@@oxaile4021Isn't it more the constant need to charge to 100% that harms them? I charge my ev always to 80% max. Good for 440 km. I do love the ev mx30. Considering it as second car.

But it's not a good city car. Too expensive.

It's really not a good city car. The BMW i3 from 2013 did it better.

​@@darrensaquaticsworldI find this much more appealing than an i3

As if you can't leave a city with 80km range... Plenty of people who live in the countryside actually drive less than 80km per day.

@jdmguy44 An i3 does exactly the same thing for 20k less, just saying

@@ALIENdrifter66 precisely my use case. Already have solar panels at home and having a battery slightly smaller than that of the original LEAF is not a deal breaker especially because this one has thermal management. Mazda UK is offering 0% interest loan and a home charger this summer ('24) and I think I'll get one.

Average of 30 mpg combined using the electric!!!!😂. The tiny rotary when used alone gets around 20mpg and real world tests have shown worse. It's a disaster.

Even if you calculate range using 40 litres (not running the fuel tank empty), at 30 mpg that equals 264 miles... plus the alleged only 36 miles EV range (btw, the manufacturer quoted EV combined range 53 miles, city 68 miles) that still brings us to 300 miles. 200-220 mile range? Maybe mathematics is not a skill for everyone. One can only assume this niche market car is an easy "soft target". If you watch other professional journalist reviews, whilst (some) comments by James are quite valid, e.g. the limitations of the suicide doors (I see this car as a 2 door coupe with easier rear seat access), or even, PHEV limitations, the majority of other reviews spoke very favourably of the REV, and called it the pick of the MX-30 range. Which includes the limitations of the PHEV concept, i.e., you need to have a home to plug it in, every night, to take advantage of the EV powertrain. Then you use EV mode for city driving, and the ICE engine range extender is there for longer trips. And furthermore.. it was reported widely the alleged rotary engine sound is largely drowned out by road noise and the radio when touring at speed. In the final analysis, as always, it's a case of each to their own .. but please don't blindly believe everything you hear.. question everything. Check out other reviews by motoring magazines on RU-vid to get a balance. You will be surprised.

At the end of the day, 30mpg is terrible, if you do more than the electric range you are getting the same fuel consumption as an Audi RS3.@@shivasirons1

Pointless calculations. Just learn physics 😊 burning the petrol directly in the engine 🚂 is always going to be more efficient than generating electricity. We can conclude that it's going to use more petrol than a regular car.

I was wondering the same, i am used to litres and km, 30mpg is about 7.84 l/ 100 km... which is not very efficient, true. but with 50 l tank and that consumption, you drive ~635 km = 391 miles. It is pretty normal range and much better than most EV's then. Or is there something wrong with the numbers mentioned in the video? Even with 10l/100km (23.5mpg) consumption you can go 500km = 310 miles

Yeah, its even got the similar doors.

Yes as soon as bmw discontinued the REX they lost most of their market.

When i do the school drop off in the RX8 in the kiss and drop lane, the other kids gather on the fence hoping to get a glimpse of the doors opening for my sons to get out and to hear that sweet bp pulse. Back doors also allowed me to fit a dual sus 29er mtb in there on a few occasions. Dunno how that would benefit the mx 30. It just gives me a chance to talk about my RX8 😅

it's a Toyota, of course it works :).

you mean your Toyota Yaris

​@@uranblut No. The Yaris is a rebadged Mazda 2. Designed primarily by Mazda and built in Mazda factories.

@@rightwingsafetysquad9872 no :P. The Mazda 2 Hybrid is built in Toyotas factory in Valenciennes, France :).

@@rightwingsafetysquad9872 Wrong car

There is a market for these, but the pure EV could've used more range. 200km on paper is just not enough, even for short commutes. That makes it a disposable car, just like the Nissan Leaf is.

@@sonnymoore5555 And there you have it - this thing will be useless after 10 or so years

In theory yes, but somehow this one weighs about the same as a Model 3 RWD and has far less range.

The half ton of batteries is at least in part offset by the deletion of the combustion engine powertrain ... and all of its associated maintenance. I have a Chevrolet Bolt, which weighs 1600 kg, only slightly more than a modern VW Golf, but ... no oil changes, no sparkplugs, no timing belts, etc. Heavy long distance trailer towing etc is another matter but in the absence of having to do that, straight EV rules as long as you can charge at home (which I can). Most hassle-free vehicle I have ever owned.

Yes I agree, the closer the battery gets to zero gives the best range. Hence my preference for a 1.5l Diesel giving me just shy of 700miles range on a 5 minute fill up that I didn't need an app for

In the future? In the future there won't be any working batteries to put in it

last Mazda I got was the 2012 Mazdaspeed3/MPS3 ... still got it and its superb

@princesssolace4337 That must be fun. I was looking at the prospect of picking up a Mazda6 MPS for a while, but finding a pre-2006 one in the lower tax bracket was a challenge.

@@jamesonslow I was thinking bout the MPS6 but I opt for less weight without the 4wd system and its for the missus. Tuned it to 100 octane pump gas its making 300hp/480Nm @ 1.25bar .. loads of school run fun😁

Sad that they have effectively been forced into this by lies on a massive scale from fringe groups

I'm from the US and I have / had lots of Mazdas. (4 piston and 3 rotary.) I was excited about the MX-30 R-EV until I saw the 0-60 mph time of 8.7 seconds. That's a second slower than a Toyota mini van. You would die trying to merge onto a freeway with that kind of performance. 😂

If they are good enough for Rolls Royce...

My SkyActiveG Mazda 3 (mild hybrid/petrol) averages 42mpg, so this new system is nuts.

This can drive 80km just on electricity, with zero petrol.

@@EvoraGT430 Yeah, even using Mazda's official figures, the CX-30 standard petrol version gets a better MPG than this car using its full battery and petrol tank. It's actually impressive they made an EV that inefficient.

The in-laws have this one. And it will ultimately depend on how many miles you do. They do less than 40mile round trips most of the time, so genuinely under EV. Not a perfect solution, and the rear doors suck. I personally don't do loads of miles so if I were to replace the CX30 sky active x. I'd have looked at this car, as having driving the in-laws. I'd have strongly considered it. However in fairness.... EV have made such big improvements, I could see just getting an EV next. A 7 out of 10 :-)

Yeah they are rare in NZ too, I've seen 4-5 of them and one is owned by my family. Cute looking car and definitely appeals to the ladies.

140 too many.. the EV one was 80K in Australia STUFF THAT.. and I own 2 Mazdas, one being an Rx8. That car is a mess!

Yes i understand they have been discontinued in Australia along with the cx9 and soon to be deleted cx8. They are to be replaced by their overpriced CX60/90 range.

@@michaelandmariedownes6070 Maybe - but they are moving into the Premium segment. And have started poorly with problems already with these cars. Recalls so soo..

I do lol. No reason for so many cars to be slammed pointlessly in our potholed hilly roads. Its a communter car. No practical logical reason to have the fenders, bumpers,and sides so close to the pavement.

@@baronvonjo1929 there's a dual issue here and the bigger and taller heavier vehicles ruin the roads making people move on quicker. I drive a 2014 Holden with factory sports suspension and I can avoid potholes fine?

@@Low760 Good for you? I frankly just can't justify buying a sedan or hatchback again. Once I am done with my Fit I plan on moving elsewhere. I would be down for lifted hatchbacks and wagons but slim pickings. And there just arent any realistic offerings. You can do a lot to avoid the issues for 98% of driving. But if you drive as much as me then after years of driving and thousands if miles and being in areas you don't know it becomes a issue. The ridiculous height of my Fit and my families Camry have been issues way more than our SUVs over the years. We tried the cars out. There is a lot to enjoy about em. But there is nothing worthy enough about the sedan or hatchback shape to make it better for basic commutes. If I was rich enough to have a second car a sedan, coupe, or hatchback would be interesting. But doubt I will ever make such money. The hills are crazy too. So many roads abruptly incline or decline amd you see the hundreds of battle scars the road has from sedans of the area. The hills allow objects like signs, walls, and bushes, to block your sight way to easy as well. The basic shape of these cars have just limited us so many times in terms of maintenance, comfort, ease of use, practicality etc. It seems you are fine with this. But there just isn't anything there to keep me here. Also another reason is I like a connected cabin. So basically a hatchback. Very slim desirable options here in the US. Nothing I see except crossovers or SUVs checks my boxes anymore.

@Low760 There is much more too it for me than that. The hills in my area cause many roads including my own driveway to be very steep when connecting to main or side roads. You can see the battle scars from roads all over where sedans gouged into the pavement. You can go at an angle to avoid it but then you look like a fool making everyone wait while the soccer mom in a RAV4 goes through it like a breeze. There is also the issue of being so low you can see through walls, the hills, rocks, trees, etc. I would be down for a lift hatchback or wagon. But there are no really good options in North America. Also, I want a connect cabin like a hatch. But we don't have many decent offerings here either that are practical. That leaves only CUVs and SUVs as my option. I drive a hatchback, and my mom has a really nice V6 Camry. There is a lot to enjoy about them. But they are simply style over function. It's not too uncommon to need to go offroading a bit here a cars just can rarely handle it. The low ground clearance is just constantly a issue for both of us. We both look forward to the day where we can chuck them for something more practical. We had suvs for years. We tried sedans and cars. Just not worth the hassle. You can avoid lots of the little inconveniences, but it begins to become a headache after years and thousands of miles. Older sedans and such had really good ground clearance. Year after year new models get lower and sportier.

But it only does around 25 to 30 mpg once the battery is depleted, imagine driving from London to Cornwall it would cost you a fortune.

@@pillred5974except you would stop for bathroom breaks and food…at least I would. I would charge the car during those stops. I live in Devon and drive to Heathrow/Gatwick/Bristol/Birmingham airports once or twice per month. It would halve my BIK tax (compared to my current Yaris).

Correct. But, if you drive from London to Cornwall just once in a year, who cares about the cost?

Not many people go on only one journey of over 50 miles in a year though do they. @@jambosalad

the mx hybrid is over 100kg heavier over the standard mx and thats with the hybrid having a smaller battery.

ok, paula abdul :)

I wouldn't be that charitable - how much did this cost Mazda to develop?

@@jamesmiller113 i think they developed rotary as part of deevlopment for sports cars, and this phev was just a esg score complaince car sort of thing

@kalmmonke5037 that makes sense, yeah - it's a shameful situation, wishful thinking forcing companies to engineer trash nobody wants

@@jamesmiller113 it's incremental refinement to an already existing car - MX-30. Why to be so dramatic? Mazda makes smart bets and experiments. Nobody forces you to buy this particular car. The tech from first gen MX-30 was a test bed and got refined to CX-60 PHEV. It worth to put things in perspective rather than be grumpy about an isolated point in time.

£30k to £40k to do that? So you'd need another car for everything else? So much for the "cost of living crisis"

Mazda had an idea that they would do something akin to variable valve timing on a rotary by varying the load on the engine to make it rotate faster or slower at different phases of the cycle. I'm guessing that didn't work out.

Well, he wasn't talking abot EV, but R-EV. Less that half the range, and you have to include apex seals (wich will be a massive bill guaranteed), oil consumption, engine cooling system maintenace and oil changes,.... this car is literally the worst of both worlds.

Mazdas are becoming boring! The 'harsh ride' in their older vehicles was a part of why they were so fun to drive. The more comfortable you make a car, the more a disconnected from the road snoozefest it becomes. I have personally watched this happen with BMWs over the decades, now Mazda is heading in that same direction.

@@truthseeker3536 That's a fallacy, sorry. Drive any Lotus and you will learn why.

​@@truthseeker3536I have much more fun driving my heavier and more comfortable Jetta over my comparatively diminutive Mazda 2. The harshness of the Mazda seriously feels like I'm breaking it when driven hard, something I don't experience in the Jetta. And it feels stiffer over bumps but feels like it has much more body roll overall.

Russ is right - Lotus proved a comfortable ride and engaging drive are not mutually exclusive. In fact, the opposite can be true

If you look up the Mazda6 sales you will see it was a declining car with little future prospects in its current guise. I will never understand why so many people get so made at car makers axing cars that dont keep the lights on. If the car was 60k it might have had the profits to keep it going. This isnt the 90s or 80s where such sales numbers were acceptable. Its the 2020s, and the future is uncertain. Brands are trying tp keep a lean lineup that makes the most money and profit for their limited production space, r&d money, engineers, etc. Most mainstream branded cars these days that sale below 60k are guaranteed to be axed. Depends on the cost of course.

The CX-5 is a very good suv though

I think it would still make sense if it was quieter, simply because of the smoothness, you don't want a rough i3 lump ruining the EV experience. But because its too loud and intrusive it loses that point too. Maybe an opposed piston engine, or a flat 2 would make more sense. At least then you could cancel out the primary forces even if it sounds a bit rough. Imo another interesting experiment would be a steam turbine, it would be fairly quiet and definitely smooth, but efficiency is a big question mark. It would be interesting to see though how it does against the also very inefficient wankel.

Nissan has some cool variable compression 3 cylinder engines or even a fairly basic 4 cylinder atkinson engine would have been more efficient and probably similarly sized since they won't have a "toyota" e-cvt and it'll be primarily electric motor driven anyways.@@__-fm5qv

The generator it attaches to is shown as twice the size of the engine. Diminished return. Also I'm not hearing about Hybrid having an advantage in cold climates, that's the real potential if all that heat is tapped.

@@spentron1 Maybe a better setup would be a slightly larger than 20kwh battery with a smaller generator and rotor setup to act as an actual range extender only when the battery is fully depleted. But in this case why not just get a separate genset and an electric car to achieve the same thing. The engine is just not up to par with conventional hybrids, it only has the wow rotor engine cool factor.

@@JoseMariArceta you need to be able to tell the car what kind of trip you're expecting, which it probably does but I don't recall him mentioning. But yes a rotary especially needs to be used less.

There. Had my rant.

@@julianevans9548 Fair point, just going to rebate that companies sell what people want to buy, suv's will naturally fall in popularity at some point. If anything the government being stupidly advocating for ev's regardless of what form they are in seems like the real issue to me, but people like to have a bigger car they don't need, even while having to put up with all the issues that come with the bigger size. Also the charging network can't really grow much too quickly because the regular electric network is already pretty heavily loaded in most countries you can't suddendly add tons of cars charging at power levels insanely higher than any house uses, (a hause will use peak 3-5kw and maybe up to 1-2 average but an ev fast charging will use 200-350kw so up to 100x what a house takes) that would lead to a huge overload of the network. Not quite for the rich but definitely are only a sensible option for those in the countryside with under a 100 mile daily commute so they can slow charge at home. For the city just get an electric scooter thet you can charge inside.

@@joey_f4ke238 I largely agree. It's never a good idea to give people what they want (or what advertisers tell them they want). A sane society would not allow the manufacture of over-sized vehicles. The main problem is that companies get to do what they want.

It's called the real world

wasn't a 2 stroke engine Was a efficiency-modified 2 cylinder 4 stroke out of the BMW C650GT

Wrote in a rush! 2 CYLINDERS 4 stroke. Yes.

"It only had a 9 litre petrol tank!" - which makes it terrible for people who can't plug it in, and actually need to use the engine. Biased because you had one.

100k miles on my 2017 REx. Saved $2,000 annually on fuel. Still waiting for anything to fail. Biggest issue is tires last only 30k miles (may be my fault☺️)

​@@donswier30k miles is loads, I worked for a fast fit garage a couple of years ago and we would see worn out tyres just over 20k miles on the drive axle on average for most cars. We had several contracts with lease companies whose drivers don't care about the cars where some people would wear out tyres in less than 15k miles .

Don’t buy a Mazda 3 it if you leave it parked up for more than 7 days! It will not start, so many issues.

​@@frenchbred2081Really?! I have a 2018 Mazda 2 skyactiv. A second car not used much as no longer my primary vehicle. Starts normally after nearly three weeks sitting - and still has the original battery.

@@jdmguy44 I work for them we see loads with batteries going flat constantly.

@@frenchbred2081 I take this is just a Mazda 3 thing then....

@@jdmguy44 My 2007 Mazda MX5 is left occasionally left for three months and still starts on the button . Wonder why Mazda3 has an issue ?

Owner of 2008 Prius Tspirit Hybrid here. Bought over 10 years ago for commuting 32 miles round trip daily. Worst Winter MPG was 53mpg during the recent sub-zero temperatures in London. For that, I got 495 miles from my 45 litre tank of fuel (used 42 litres). Best summer statistics; 69.4mpg @ 653 miles from that same 45 litre tank of fuel (used 43.8 litres - could have probably made 700 miles, but risky running out of fuel). I refuel approximately every 3 weeks / 21 days. I’d say it was extremely frugal for a 15 year old hybrid - and no, I don’t drive like a snail, I assure you. I’m just an expert at hypermiling! Very cheap on fuel.

@@datathunderstorm Thanks for your reply. That's not dissimilar to my previous Hyundai i30 deisel. I know I would very occasionally get over 70mpg in the summer, but I can't remember the worst winter economy. I know it was usually in the 50s in winter, but it may have dropped below 50 on the coldest days. Like you, I don't drive slowly, but I do try to drive economically. Having said that, I was spending £350/month on deisel, about 2000 miles per month, compared with £100/month on electricity for my current Kona Electric and prices are higher now than they were then. This sounds great, but given the higher purchase price of EV's, it still only makes financial sense if you are doing high mileage and plan to keep the car for a good few years. Also to make these kinds of savings, you have to charge at home and there aren't that many people who do high mileage and would always be able charge at home. Now that second hand EV prices have plumetted, they will be starting to become more financially viable to a wider audience though.

I think that's exactly why specifically there are so few range extender hybrids. BMW i3 tried it... then discontinued it and went full electric. GM tried it... and then discontinued it and replaced it with full electric. The MX-30 is already discontinued in America. They sound like a good idea but in reality you're lugging around a very complicated, high-maintenance ICE for absolutely no reason on 90% of your journeys. And the times you do need the engine, it probably could have been matched by just having a bigger battery.

Don't include the Civic e-hev in that it's a brilliant car that charges itself, I'm averaging over 60mpg and it will give a hot hatch a run for its money as well so you get the best of both worlds.

@@pillred5974 All battery electric cars charge themselves. It's a marketing gimmick.

Funny how he can get such a wonderful vehicle to get such poor mileage, because it's so mediocre. My 20 year old 3 liter Ford Taurus gets the same mileage Jay is getting.

Will point out that rapid charging hasn't taken "An hour" in half a decade.

eeeh, in my garage 10-20% of spaces either have ev charging boxes or have socket for connecting charging cables

@@timaustin2000 And yet people reviewing cars who aren't EV evangelists incessantly talk about the problems with charging. Length of time to charge, chargers not working, chargers busy... But I'm sure they're all lying. For no reason.

@@JJCotek Congratulations for - inevitably - meeting this criterion: 'Oh, and if an EV works for your particular situation, do tell us all, because that means they work for everyone.'

I also hear how you're supposed to keep EVs 20% to 80% charged or the battery dies much quicker, with even warranties being voided if you don't. So, how much is the range then, when you only have 60% of your range to play with?

Pete is very welcome to come to his own conclusions

I want it in Canada

would love to know where you bout that from at that price. Was it the Makoto spec? Thanks

bought... derrr

Had a 3 MPS for 12 years in immaculate condition. Sounds like a YOU issue

@@markc6714 My Mazda had significantly more rust when it was 10 years old than my current Mitsubishi, which is 17 years old. It is what it is. Mazda's are just not good-quality vehicles.

@@reteptetep5078 absolute nonsense

@@markc6714 Is what it is. If you like Mazdas, you do you. I certainly won't be spending my money on one of those pieces of junk again tho.

At least in Finland the starting price is at 40k€ and that's the poverty spec. At that point you might as well buy a full EV like the Atto 3 which is larger, faster and has nearly 4 times the battery capacity.

@@oxaile4021 Exactly... so many other full EVs beat the Mazda easily. Shame when you want to like something but it is too big a failure.....

@@mikadavies660 Yeah, instead of trying to reinvent the rotary, Mazda should just focus on making a good EV... If they don't do that then i'm afraid their years on the car market are quite limited. Sure the rotary is cool, but it's not the thing they should be focusing on if they want to stay in business.

@@oxaile4021 Personally I love that Mazda want to be different. But their guidance from Akio Toyoda is misguided. Their focus has moved to Hybrid and even on that (a more economical car) they have failed. A BEV with good range is what everyone actually looks for.

@@mikadavies660 I love that Mazda tries to be different too. But if they want to appeal to the 0,00001% of people who would buy a car because it's rotary then even that appeal is lost in putting it as an auxiliary power unit in front of a EV crossover.

Agreed. Also been tempted. May still end up with the MX-30 EV (top of the range, of course).

@@datathunderstorm currently drive a Mazda 6 did recently have a cx30 for a week did like it alot

Totally agree with your comments. Reviews, the media etc said the same thing about plug in hybrids. I have a plug in hybrid and it has saved me an absolute fortune at 8p / KW and an overall average mpg of 98. If used properly they are very economical. A pure EV on a long run has to resort to motorway charging points at nearly £1 / KW. Personally I think the range extender idea and the plug in hybrids, neither of which have range anxiety, are a very viable way forward for some time yet. When my PCP ends I will consider a Mazda REV.