LIKE if you'd like to switch to Electric & SHARE if you think cars should be sustainable. The Mazda MX30 is a practical, straightforward and impressive compact SUV with everything you would expect from a well-made car by Mazda. There is just one small question mark, and it is small, the battery. Mazda's first all-electric ground up car comes with one 35.5 kWh battery option which seems unusual for a car of this size. The smaller, lighter battery does however bring down this EV down into a lower price bracket, but also means it has a lower range. But does Mazda's reasoning about using a smaller battery to reduce overall CO2 make sense? And much more importantly, how many random sound effects can Robert make while adjusting his seat? Fully Charged is 100% independent thanks to RU-vid Memberships and Patreons. Without you this channel wouldn’t be possible! If you’d like to help support the Fully Charged channel and its mission: Become a Patreon: www.patreon.com/fullychargedshow Become a RU-vid member: use JOIN button above Subscribe to Fully Charged & the Fully Charged PLUS channels Buy the Fully Charged Guide to Electric Vehicles & Clean Energy : buff.ly/2GybGt0 Browse the Fully Charged store: shop.fullycharged.show/ Visit our LIVE exhibitions in the UK, USA & Europe: FullyCharged.Show/events Subscribe for episode alerts and the Fully Charged newsletter: fullycharged.show/zap-sign-up/ Visit: FullyCharged.Show Find us on Twitter: twitter.com/fullychargedshw Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/fullychargedshow *Timestamps* 0:00 Electric Car in the Rain 0:46 A Quick Introduction 1:53 Cabin Familiarisation 3:15 Let's Go for a Drive 5:30 Deliberately Small Battery 7:57 What's the Range? 10:55 Robert's Regen Fetish 12:30 Interior Footage & Head-Up Display 14:15 How well will this sell? 15:06 In Summary 17:13 Subscribe & Support
I truly believe this was a smart move by Mazda. 1. EVERYONE must go electric quickly. 2. Batteries are limited supply (for now) - Less batteries, higher production capabilities. 3. People are realizing that 100 miles is plenty for daily driving needs. 4. The market for small distance commuter cars is high in big cities. 5. More and more electric charging stations are becoming available. 6. The cargo space in this vehicle is immense compared to other low range EVs. 7. It's economical in a time where focus on economic strong and rising rapidly. 8. Lower cost!!! Brilliant!
Why do car manufacturers not make the car we want. I live in Norway and now so many people who want to have electric cars but want a station wagon with options of four wheel drive and 500km range. This is people who have kids that need space for kid stuff and don't want to have range anxiety.
@@dotlaj Jaguar i-Pace? I accept it's not an estate car, but it's got a decent sized boot, especially with the back seats down. Range (WLTP) is damn close to 500km
It's good if you live in the city and not 15 miles out of town, but smaller batteries and low range is not for everyone. In a few years the "newer of the new" models will have twice the range it's a matter of time.
It’s seems like driving around in an EV with a 70-90kwh battery when your commute is 10-20 miles a day and you can recharge overnight is like filling your petrol car tank to the brim every night and lugging 50 litres of fuel around every day. Small capacity batteries definitely have a place for those who need less distance.
No, you aren’t lugging a tank full of liquid and there’s no weight difference between a full or discharged battery. Have a home charger you won’t even be going anywhere to fill up.
@@stephenspencer8224You are missing the point, he said if you just commute 10-20 miles a day and you fill it up every night, you just carry the extra full everyday for nothing. And ues the battery full or not doesn’t get heaviar or easier but his point is that you have a small capacity battery, And having a 38 Kwh battery vs a 75 kwh battery , there is a large weight difference.
Yes, I am going to be leasing one. It’s perhaps half a time tonne lighter and not anywhere near the most efficient but the comfort, drive quality and range will meet my needs. The lack of wheel spinning acceleration will better preserve my tyres too. So I don’t think I have missed anything. However how big the market is for such a product if it relies on folks with such needs as mine is a concern. I’d like to see this car succeed. Best wishes.
I test drove this car and was blown away by the comfort and handling. The interior is also so comforting. I have an Audi E-Tron already but decided to order this and see how we get on. The E-tron is a bit of a bus around town and murder to park in even not so tight spaces, so I reckon I will use this more day to day.
IT is the other way round: Having a small battery today, should be enough as opposed to 10 years ago, where EVs were just Diesel cars with bolt on batteries. Oh wait, the Mazda is an ordinary car just with batteries thrown in!
Surely this depends on the use-case? If all this car is for is to commute a-b on your daily journey and you have a second car (average family has 1.8 in Australia/1.9 in the US - only 1.2 in UK) then this car is more than sufficient. The other car can be your weekender or interstater.
It’s ideal for my wife and I who have a CX-5 for trips. The MX-30 would be for in town use, requiring charging once a week in our garage. The rear door design also is ideal for our use as I am becoming disabled and appreciate easily loading a rollator in the rear seat.
I drove it and it was one of the smoothest and comfortable drive I have ever had. But only for the driver... my brother at the back was painfully seated... I love Mazda and I would like to love this car... buts it’s useless no place, no fast charging, the MG ZS EV is a far better proposition imo
@@Neilisthevideoking I of course disagree. Also: SUV's are wasteful and IMO just POS. I would do whatever it takes to get an ID.3 instead. No.1 Choice would of course be a Model 3 with a tow bar.
@Viggen It's very misleading to claim he orchestrated the coup. Yes they might have benefitted from it, but I haven't seen compelling evidence Tesla was actually involved in the process.
@Viggen 1. The US is a democracy. 2. The CEO of Tesla DID NOT fund a coup against anyone. Do you have any proof of what you claim other than a clearly IRONIC tweet?
A car with a large bonnet and back end but hardly any seat space at the back or even range - wuuut? Its a regular car converted to electric - not a ground up designed electric car.
Huge hood that you can't see to park. That whole design trend has been terrible for years no matter what the drivetrain. Like if you have to have a camera in the front just to park, theres something wrong with the design.
The MX 30 is based on the CX 30 so it is not a “ground up” EV. This also explains why Mazda could only fit a 35 kWh battery in it. The story about keeping overall CO2 emissions low is just marketing BS. Though I think it is a good looking car. Practical it is not..
doesn't look designed from ground up as EV, wasted front bonnet area [simply adapted from ICE design], severe lack of leg room in the back and parcel shelf area (from what I could see), and that battery is just tooooooo minimal.
@@Leopold5100 not adopted but will be getting a small engine as a petrol range extender so bonet has to be big. batteries are put in the chassis bottom like every other ev
@@pollumG The price of the Honda now probably makes less sense. It seems like the two companies have only gone at this 80%. Both are great looking cars they just fall that bit short. Hopefully in 3 years we'll get revisions and absolutely cracking cars!
Bought an eniro 64kwh and looking at this for our next car but afraid it isn't big enough and doesn't go far enough especially with winters here being so cold. Try again mazda. Hwy the big bonnet!?!
@Richard Wood Yep, my commute is only 110km round trip. One freezing cold day or a motorway blockage and I'd be sh!tting myself in this car. In the Model 3, no such worries.
This piece opens with two falsehoods… » “This is built from the ground up [as an] electric car.” No, it's not. » “But it is a really interesting car.” No, it's really not. I suppose someday it may be of interest to historians, when they want to illustrate the concept of a compliance car. Skip ahead to the conclusion… » “I like it. I like everything about it. There’s nothing not to like about it.” You may be alone in that. I don’t think even Mazda like it. I watched their unveiling event online. I mean, they wouldn’t come out and say so, of course, but it was easy to tell from the morose tone of the event. It was like a funeral.
Exactly and I'd like to point out the myth that "110 miles of range on a charge... still very useful for a large majority" No. As an owner now of 2 Nissan Leafs, 100 miles range is NOT enough, arriving home after a day of driving with an empty battery is counterproductive. As Elon Musk has said "With regard to passenger vehicles, I think the new normal for range is going to be just in US EPA terms approximately 300 miles. So, I think people will really come to expect that as some number close to 300 miles as normal,"
Yeah, I'm pretty sure Mazda don't actually want to sell many of these. I tiny range and (purposefully?) unusable rear space. An e mx5 would have at least been interesting. It's obviously a load of old gumph about them wanting a lighter battery pack - they didn't have the budget or buying power for a larger pack. Having a tiny pack means it'll get cycled more with more stress in each cell and have faster wear. I have very low expectations about the r and d they've put into battery management and long term life of the pack.
So its 3cm longer than a ID.3 but you can only fit children in the back. Seems like a lot of wasted space to me. They tried to hard to keep the combustion shape!
@@Martin-se3ij There's plenty of space under there. I believe they're planning a version with a Wankel engine. There's easily space for a custom 100 litre+ frunk under there
Bit disappointing to have a car with 110 miles, 50KW-DC charging to cramped backseat and a big footprint on the road. Most ev's use internal space well, this car doesnt look like that. Great that this car drives well, but I have no clue why someome would buy this car over an ID3/ ID4.
Oh, I only wish that we here in the USA could get the ID3, oh, how I want one of those, but there are *NO* plans for a small car here... if it isn't Hummer sized, it isn't welcomed here. :'(
People like me, who drive 70 % of the time alone and 99 % of the time with only one passenger, have access to a charging station at home and at work, and don't do more than 120 km a day will be delighted to avoid a whale like the ID3 (why all the European EVs are fugly ?). I like both outside and inside design, I trust Mazda reliability, they are fun to drive and this model cost almost half what a VW or a Peugeot would cost. This car is a proud successor to the whole MX- range. I'd like to get one as a small van for periurban deliveries.
110 miles on a full charge is the headline for me, sure its a great looking car, smooth and quiet and well built, but making an electric car today with that range is just asking for trouble. If you can buy a second hand Leaf for £7K that covers the same range, what do you think this will be worth in 3 years? Incidentally Tesla have predicted that within 3 years they will produce a 300 mile range vehicle for £25K, To conclude this would have been a great car 7 years ago!
A small correction on the Tesla statement. They claim they would be able to make a $25k EV, however they have not promised one, so it should be seen as the statement of 2014 of a soon to arrive $30k Tesla Model E that we are still waiting to see. Making a $25k EV requires a couple of compromises that Tesla won't make before Elon Musk leaves the company. As for the Mazda I would have wished for another 10 kWh and it would be a decent contender on the EV market for most people.
Also it actually gives some useful information.. No need to excuse the rain noise. Just instead go "Well we got lucky with rain. Let's see how good the sound dampening is...... Well this has a sun roof, so that makes the rain noise pretty dominant. So that is a concern, if one chooses the sun roof option."
Because people don't buy them anymore. On every car forum the enthusiast hate on the SUV but the people keep buying them! We are a small not very influent minority :(
@@Mi82475 But mini SUV's/crossovers aren't good at anything. They're not sporty, they don't have the best utility or people carrying capacity. If I wanted a sporty car I'd get a hot hatch, if I wanted utility I'd get a truck or a wagon (which has about the same boot space and doesn't look fugly) and if I wanted to carry people I'd get a full size 7 seater SUV or a family mini van. These kind of cars have a bootspace between a big hatch and a wagon, they carry only 5 people in most cases (this car can't even do that) and their high center of gravity plus thier weight make them seem like a lumbering log. I just see no reason why people buy it? People who buy these people haven't the slightest clue about cars, or know what they want from a car, so they end up buying something thats extremely average.
@@justaguy6216 you are completely right. But we humans are far from rational. We do unreasonable stuff, buying overpriced stuff we don't use in the most efficient way. Marketing people from the nineties to this day are so able to sell the SUV (fist BIG ones than smaller ones) that the public is even happy to pay a significant premium over the hatchback on witch it's based. So the car companies are happy cause the SUV are more profitable. 🤷♂️
Price? I bought it for roughly 18k GBP :) could you advise me anything else for that amount of money in the same size and build quality? :) I don't give a damn about the range, only use it locally (50-60 miles/day), for longer journeys I use the v8 :D
@@AM-ws1em for that price the e-2008 Peugeot, the Hyundai E-Kona or Kia E-Niro, have better results and more range, just to start with the small SUVs. Nissan Leaf also gives more space and with the 40 kWh you still have more range. For smaller ones either the E-Corsa and E-Peugeot have 52 kWh batteries and good space on the back (proper 4 meters length) and they're cheaper. Among utilitarians you've got the 3 twins of VW, far cheaper and more range, and spacious given the fact they're only 3.7m long. Maybe the Honda E is smaller but has more range than this.
@@DanRyzESPUK better results in what exactly? the mazda is made in japan, the quality of the interior, the options and the design are far more superior, than any of the psa or hyundai cars in the same price range. to be honest, i don’t know much about UK prices, I’m from Hungary :)
Spot-Bloody-On!!! *Complete and udder nonsense to buy an electric car and then the flipping thing to sound like a sodding ICE car when one accelerates!!! *
yeah thats how much these clowns know what the market wants, they think we want this crap, i was like cracking up and thinking i would rip that speaker out if i had one but because of the shitty small battery i would never get this car, if this is a tesla killer then tesla definity have nothing to worry about lol
@@DaxXx988 yeah some laws in some areas of the world might make you have a sound at low speeds, its not law here where i live yet so if i get any EV with this low speed sound ill be ripping it right out or hacking the software to stop it.
If you are going to have a battery that small, then you need fast charging. Unfortunately with 50kW max charging, they have missed the mark here. I suspect only Mazda fans will seriously consider it. It's a shame that this is the best they could do on their first all electric effort. It seems like Mazda's heart really isn't in it and the the team developing the car didn't have the budget they needed.
Unfortunately battery size and charging speed are somewhat positively correlated. I don't think Mazda was particularly interested in making this car at all and it shows. "It was a deliberate choice to make our car less desirable to our target market" sounds like something marketing had to dream up to justify a management decision.
And if you're going to have a battery that small, you also need to counter it with a very high efficiency: at almost 180 Wh/km, there goes another missed mark from Mazda.
Full lifecycle emissions is absolutely the right way to go when assessing environmental impact. You cant simply ignore the fact that the upstream side of producing anything has an impact!
I think that the long bonnet is required for the recently announced hybrid version. It turns out that it isn't a pure EV after all, and they need the space for that petrol engine.
I believe it has been built on a modification of Mazda’s platform used for the ICE CX-30, which puts this in the same category as the Polestar 2 and the XC-40 Pure Electric, cobbling together technologies in a one size fits all approach generally means ‘it’s going to be heavy boi’.
@@bryanduncan6178 Not really, when you double the battery size to the middle version of the id3, it's 200 kg heavier. The front is probably half a meter longer too, so you lose so much passenger space.
When I first saw it I wasn’t that excited by it. Today I went for a test drive and I must say: I’m pretty impressed. The car looks and feels quite nice, especially the interior. It’s loaded with features and with the 4K subsidy here in the Netherlands (on new electric vehicles) it a real good deal. Sure, the MG ZS EV might be a bit cheaper with a higher range, but the build quality of these cannot be compared. MG isn’t what it was back in the day. For people that drive around 50km per day, like my dad, the range isn’t that big of a deal. He can charge the battery at work and, if necessary, at home.
Methinks Mazda's explanation for the smallish battery is just a rationalization. They just couldn't make it work out financially with a bigger battery. Honda has a similar problem with the e. If they seriously thought a small battery was the way to go, they should have made the rest of the car as efficient as possible, just as Hyundai does with the Ioniq. (Especially the first-gen Ioniq). A very efficient EV with a small battery means you can drive 150 miles, charge quickly, and then go on for another 150 miles. It doesn't work that way if you're starting with an unaerodynamic CUV.
I'm not convinced of the argument for the small battery. Seems most likely they saw both the need to enter the EV market quick, and a difficulty to obtain enough cells/battery packs, IMHO. Then they imagined a questionable scenario di justify it.
Its like saying. “Wear shorts to save on fabric “. Sorry sometimes I need long pants This car is a fail. When a new ev has less range than a leaf it is a fail
Agreed. I want at least a 500 mile range to eliminate any trace of "range anxiety" along with extremely rapid recharging on a standardized network of charging stations. That's what you really need if you want EV's to catch on with the general public -- even though EV enthusiasts try convince themselves otherwise.
"A smaller battery for a lower weight". Nevertheless it is a heavy car and the battery is too small anyway. A halfhearted effort. If you want to save CO2 and you mean it: Don't build SUVs!
One hundred percent agree. Companies claim they’re making EVs to save the planet or whatever(Nissan, VW, Tesla, Hyundai, etc.), but they keep making big cars. And then they claim their Crossovers/SUVs are “fuel efficient”??? If you actually cared about fuel efficiency you wouldn’t be making crossovers. If they knew how to sell and were really determined to dominate the market, they would convince their clients SUVs are the most foolish thing ever, especially when many countries like Japan have always had small cars.
@@some_nebula Japanese people are small people! I drive a Mitsubishi PHEV as a taxi and these days I cannot tell you how many customers cannot get the seat belt on because they are so obese!
@@some_nebula In order to gain market share you have to meet the customers where they are. It would be nearly impossible to convince them to switch to much smaller cars. That's a gradual evolution that takes time, time we don't have. Right now just switching to EV's is critical. It would be nice if everyone got the urgency of our predicament, and were willing to make bigger changes, but we're not there yet.
The battery being small justifications for me is a bunch of bullshit. Specially considering that this car seems to be sold at a similar price as the ID3, which is just all around a better car with a proper battery.
Yup. It's embarrassing. I bet they're going to be losing money on these, too. Mazda clearly doesn't care putting out something like this. Front wheel drive? 🤦♂️ They'll be one of the first to go under.
@@andymccabe6712 You're kidding, right? This car screams 'EU compliance car', it even makes engine noises (inside the car!). Mazda stated many times that they don't think EVs make sense (before the MX-30), that's why they are one of the few companies still trying to revolutionise the combustion engine, unfortunately their Skyactiv-X engine didn't live up to the hype and has disappeared into mediocrity.
Funny about Tom - simliar to another car company that also doesn’t believe in electric cars.....you know, BMW, the maker of the other weird and impractical EV, the i3 !!!
@@Nicholas.T The thing is, the i3 is 7 years old! When EVs were a niche product that only a few companies believed in. It's a different time now, with EVs making up 14% of the German market this year. It's not acceptable to release a brand new car like the i3 these days, especially not at that price. I also think it's pretty lazy that BMW wants to keep the i3 until 2024, also the i3 (120ah) has nearly double the realistic range than the mx-30 (even if it's a weird and impractical car).
How did they manage to make the back seats so useless for such a large sized car? What goes through the heads of people who buy cars like this? I don't get it.
It's styled to look like a crossover, but is it actually a super mini? I'm just comparing it against my swift, probably about the same - it's actually 80cm longer and with 100l more boot but doesn't look any bigger
Apparently lot of people has big families in the comment, but surprisingly when I commute, most of the cars I see on the road with me carry only the driver, and sometimes one passenger. I'm OK with the range, since it helps having a car priced like a mid-range city car.
I haven’t been watching most of the car reviews recently but I was curious about what Mazda would do with their first EV. And it’s exactly what I expected. Lower range for 2020, lower charging speed for 2020, designed like a fossil car, old school dials, no touch screen. And that fake engine sound. I would be satisfied with that range personally, especially considering how many chargers there are now compared to when I bought my Zoe in 2016. But mainstream buyers won’t bite at that range I don’t think, no matter how good the charging network is. The Honda e can get away with the range and charging because of how cool it is. This car can’t do that.
@cresbydotcom Never heard of this problem with Solaris trolleybusses in Riga :) There was another problem with few BKM units, that followed different design approach, and had brake and accelerator placed in such a way that you need to use different legs to press them. It used to be common approach by certain manufacturers, but Riga never used their products before. In fact, most our driver got used to old Škoda 14Tr and 15Tr (and older ones remembered 9Tr) where you had 3 pedals - electric brake, pneumatic brake and accelerator. So naturally, design difference resulted in few rear-endings :)
same here, everytime i go out i do more than 200miles as in my job i drive long distances but hell even my partner does over 100 miles a day to get to her work and back home, yeah you can use this car for that type of trip but if suddenly you need to go somewhere else after work your F^%KED
Ok 35kwh battery pack, save the planet. Now design a car around it. Low CD. Low frontal area. Get as much range as you can out of those KWh. Don’t stick it in a car designed to fit an ICE or hybrid power train, nobody is saving the planet, there was no space for a bigger battery.
If someone wants to save the planet they better join the consuming level of the Amish people. EV-cars just is the usually green washing bs used by the salesman.
So glad these videos aren’t getting spammed with ads like the podcast episodes. I’ve stopped watching those. 12 - 16 ads in one show is beyond the pale. Hoping my RU-vid memberships help to keep these with only 1 or 2 ads.
The battery size is probably more to do with battery availability than the co2 argument. They don't want the publicity black mark of having to halt production and stop taking reservations because they're out of batteries like so many other companies have done.
@@phlegmatic123 not 5, it can easily last 10 and I’ve seen 8 year old leafs with only 2 bars lost. This car isn’t gonna be any better, Mazda made a terrible EV
The sweet spot for EV batteries is between 50kWh and 65kWh. 36kWh is stupid, IMO, they just didn't secure the supply in time, then made up a story about why their EVs are crap... same range as Dacia Spring. 🤦♂️
36 kWh is fine... If it's an urban car, like the Seat Mii, Honda E, etc. For this it's absolutely outdated. Mazda is taking this EV thing as a joke. Shake because they're an amazing brand.
As I already mentioned before, you can't get a 50kWh battery in that price range. It costs around 18k gbp in hungary as I suppose you know ;) and a bunch of other countries (like germany..) and how on earth could you compare it to the spring? 3.6m vs 4.4m length, 33kW vs 105kW, made in china vs made in japan, mobile toilet materials vs premium materials and build quality, shall i continue? :) so i'm more than happy to have the chance to buy it, since i don't give a damn about range over a 100miles, since i'm not a courier nor a taxi driver, and for longer journeys i use the cayenne (i think we can agree, that every family needs a nice sounding v8 for the weekend :)) )
my dad had a mazda for 10 years (250.000 km) he never change or repair anything besides filters, Oil and tires, now he has two Mercedes and both had to be repair at some point (minor issues). Mazda reliability is impressive.
200km range seems awfully limited, not even enough to go camping for the weekend, you'd barely get out of the suburbs in a major city before you'd have to turn around and go back. So it's a large City-car/Suburban-car for the soccer mums? (Just for some context I live on the Western suburbs of my local city and the distance to the North Coast area is about 140 to 160km one way, and the distance to South Coast area is about 100 to 120km one way, and the nearest decent camping to the West is anywhere from about 50 to 100km one way minimum.)
Sorry, why would you turnaround and go back? 200km sounds perfect for you actually. You do know you can charge up from any power point at or near your destination. Or just stop for 1/2hr on the way there or back to recharge.
@@joeloss3476 Real camping spots don't have power outlets. (A SUV/4x4 should have enough range to go camping without filling up, like it's not like local camping is a full road trip)
@@joeloss3476 And spend more time charging than driving? I'm pretty sure that Australia doesn't have that many fast chargers, so you'd be slow charging most of the time.
@@crowaust I think you'd be surprised how many there are already. I guess if adding an extra break of between 10 to 80 minutes (depending on the type of charger on the way to your destination, 150 to 22kW) will ruin you weekend then fair enough, it's not enough range for you.
Considering that Mazda is being sincere about their reasons to have a smaller battery, they have my support. Electrification through batteries (instead of hydrogen cells) have a huge environmental impact, due to mining activities. So, having a smaller battery equals less impact. 200km is okay to most people.
I hope they'll give up on that CO2 reason and put bigger batteries in their future models. I would really love an electric version of CX-5 (MX-5?) with a range over 400km. And Mazda, please put a proper door in the back...
This red is by far the most beautiful color in the world! As a former Mazda 6 owner, I like that they finally come out with an electric car for Europe. This particular car is not for my 5 person family, but i hope they replace the 6 and the bigger SUV:s soon.
The Honda E i can understand. It is pure city "shopping cart" car. Made as such, sized as such and emphasizing stuff like large steering lock for small turn radius. They optimized for a specific niche. It means it won't be a general seller, but given optimizing for a target audience might see some success for it's target. Ofcourse if they want to overall stay in car business.... They better come up with more models to the EV range, but The E isn't crazy proposition for a niche car. This MX30? is not fish nor fowl. It has too small battery compared to competition to be long range commute or general use car. However it is way too big and has huge overhand in front meaning it doesn't have the maneuverability and urban usability.
@@aritakalo8011 Yeah, Honda E looks like a great intro for Honda into making EV. Start small and do the research. Pity they didn't take lessons from Tesla, Nissan and others. They'd be much further along by now.
LOVE Mazdas, I've had 5, I think they're the ultimate affordable drivers car. But I think I'll be skipping this one. And honestly, unless they can produce an EV with better range and more practicality soon, I may be done with Mazdas for awhile. Or at least until I can afford/justify a 3rd car at which point I'll happily drive a Miata again.
Because they’re not interested in ditching their fossil fuel divisions, especially Honda. Toyota are dragging heals on EVs, they’ve stated they’re interested in hydrogen combustion conversion.
@@calorus compared to the ford focus or even my corsa-e it's compromised, with such a small battery in a car designed to be an EV it's almost like it's built to be unpractical.
All these cars are built to offset carbon emissions for the entire range, not compete with any car within it. Once the ICE is banned, you’ll see some nicer looking, more practical vehicles turn up.
I agree Nic. A big bonnet for a car that’s designed from the ground up for EV doesn’t make sense. The back legroom comfort is clearly a lesser requirement than being able to put a combustion engine in the front for markets that won’t move across to Ev’s in the next 10 years.
@Flex En Masse "what were they thinking" - probably that it'd look fugly with a little tiny bonnet, and no-one would buy it. I actually quite like the front end, would like to see that on a normal saloon/estate version.
@Flex En Masse there will be a version with an ICE in it to extend the range. Mostly for countries like the US where the distances are a lot larger compared to EU countries
@@theelectricmonk3909 my point was that to absolutely disregard the ability to carry 4 or 5 people in the car against an aesthetic perception shouldn’t be what EVs are about. Ideally for countries and populations that can afford a number of cars per household the EV reduces the need for more by being utilised better and being more efficient. This is just a rather expensive addition to what we have already and doesn’t carry half the capacity of a vehicle a lot smaller. It’s only an opinion but I think this car is a complete fail on the concept of what an EV is. By the way I do also like the look of it, but don’t see the vision.
In my opinion Mazda is trying to make EVs look as unappealing as they can because they are more focused on developing an all new RWD internal combustion engine family of cars and SUVs. That means all new engines and transmissions, which means lots of R&D costs for a company with finite resources. I don’t even understand the purpose of this MX-30. It’s literally an example of pointlessness. What purpose does a crossover have with only two usable seats and two real doors? To me, mazda deciding to make basically a 2-seater crossover their first EV furthers my opinion they’re purposely trying to minimize peoples’ interest. Then there’s the fact they claim the MX-30 is LESS environmentally friendly than a diesel Mazda3. To make their point, Mazda uses 100,000 miles as their battery-pack replacement interval. This is the epitome of a compliance car. They’re making it just to appease EU regulators, but all of their press reports and engineering decisions point to a company that’s desperately trying to steer customers into one of their less expensive more profitable ICE vehicles.
I agree with everything you said. I can already see mazda dealer making fun of this car and pointing at "Award Winning Design Meets Cutting Edge SKYACTIV Technology" ICE car saying "this is what you want"
@@saliman4874 I am not sure if they would want to exceed them though because their ICE vehicles are doing quite well, they also probably didn't want to invest too much money into the car. Mazda also has a general lack of EV technology. and This car was probably more an afterthought & necessity for the brand not to get heavy fines.
@@Tjomsasen That’s a relieve it sounded horrible. I would expect an electric car to be nearly silent. There are also ICE cars on the market with fake engine noise it’s pretty pathetic
Some governments and mandating audible revs from electric cars for safety reasons. If people could choose from a list or create their own sounds (with limits on volume) this could be more tolerable or even enjoyable. Imagine your favourite song playing
@@Poitda31 Yes but you can build systems that produce that sound in ways that the user of the vehicle will never hear unless they happen to be outside of the car.
@@Poitda31 yes but what's stupid with this regulation, in city drive, at red lights, a Renault Zoe makes more noise outside than a Clio with a modern petrol engine. When you're in Paris, most of the sound pollution comes from diesel. When a small hatchback drives by with a Petrol engine, it makes no sound. If we add different sounds to EVs, cities are going to face a new type of sound pollution.
Practically unusable rear seating is a deal breaker. You know something is wrong with the design when a compact SUV has similar or less leg room then a compact city car like the e-up, mii or citigo.
@@TassieLorenzo bad for the environment because a car company said so, K, also if the range isent 300 miles for most it wont fit daily schedule, someone that drives 80 miles to a job and then 80 back needs a minimum of 200 miles to get to work, because this vehicle is inferior is not a great excuse to say ev buyers are greedy, nobody complains when a gas car has more gas storage
I really don't need an artificial "engine" sound in an EV, unless it's designed to drown out an annoying sound that the EV motors might translate into the cabin. PS: I think I'd rather buy a used later variant (longer range) VW eGolf over this Mazda.
Fake engine sound can be good to know what's going on though. Mazda is keen on mechanical feedback, and without an ICE it gets kind of numb. You don't NEED it, but I think I'd like it over nothing at all.
I test drove it. Did like the interior but don't like the outside design. Also its tech felt outdated (bouncy LKA, old infotainment, start button, ...). One also notices on a lot of the car how it is a conplianve car, not an EV from ground up. Also for my needs I'd like a bigger battery around 50-60kWh. Finally I hate the sound it makes on the inside, silence is on of the strong points of an EV and than they make that shitty sound that I couldn't find if you can disable it. I prefered ID.3 in every aspect except interior quality of materials (and that as an owner of 2 Mazdas)
@@Slebonson huh? How is a third party going to reingineer the cooling path and rewrite all of the proprietary software? Why would anyone bother to do all of that on such an ugly vehicle? They wont sell many of them and will use it as an excuse to say they cant do EVs.
Given that range anxiety is still a primary consideration when considering an EV over an ICE car, Mazda either haven't done their research properly or this a compromised EV so they can stuff a petrol engine in it and call it a hybrid. No amount of marketing BS about a small battery being better for the environment will overcome the need for a reasonable range for potential EV owners, myself included. Very disappointing 🤨
A smaller battery is better for the environment. You have to consider other emissions besides CO2 during battery production, radioactivity from cobalt mines, destroying the water supply, and the difficulty of recycling batteries that have been damaged. All easier said than done. Also, how much of the grid is on renewables? For every solar or wind farm there's 10 nat gas, oil, or coal plants burning fuel to bring your car reliable power. You can't nick a company for wanting to lessen the impact of their car on the environment by putting in a smaller battery. It's the right thing to do tbh.
@@chrisr715 I don't dispute that manufacturing smaller batteries is better for the environment, but Mazda are being disingenuous with their reasons for using a smaller battery. Having done some more research on this car, it is in fact a hybrid model that was designed for the Japanese market, which explains the small battery size. They are now launching it in the UK without the petrol engine and because it was never designed as a pure EV they cannot easily fit a bigger battery. I would never criticise a company that was genuinely attempting to improve its impact on the environment but this is clearly 'Greenwashing' to make up for a compromised design as a result of a commercial decision that is nothing to do with the environment.
Maxda is being a bit tongue in cheek with statement about smaller battery, apparently they are not fans of EV technology..The MX30 can still work for a lot of people but it could have been so much better if they had done their own market research better.
I was with you all the way until 1:10, when I saw the size of the space in the back seats, then the rest of it I just glazed over. Good looking car BUT
So...a quality design and fitment, and seems to be electric as an afterthought. For a theoretical $30,000.00 at the lower end in 2021, why? Its benefits are only relevant in comparison to another car in this category. That would be the model 3, obviously, at 37,900.00, today.
I'd like to buy a model 3 but there are lots of unpaved roads here in Sweden, and the small Teslas have too little ground clearance. This is a disappointing release though; I'm looking forward to the Citroen e-C4 instead.
Mazda pioneered the 'half rear coach door' decades ago, in the car with the Wankel engine. Fit and finish looks good for the price. I like the mains power outlet on the dash, same as the new Honda.
All manufacturers have to have an electric car within their line up by 2021 I believe to offset co2 emissions. For Europe. So lots of manufacturers such as Mazda don’t put to much effort into it.
With a 100kw recharge capacity, i’d get one in a heartbeat. I don’t really care about the battery size if I can charge it quickly. But up to 50? Not enough, sorry.
Why? My wife has been driving for over 30 years and I don’t think she’s ever done a journey of more than 100 miles. So what’s the point in having a car with a greater range? More cost. More weight. Less efficient. This size of battery is ideal as a second car for many households.
It's not for 'everyone', obviously. It's for ppl who commute or have a 2nd car for the school run. If it's someone who commutes to zones where there is a charge for ICE's but not for EVs then it's a useful saving & a cheap EV. Most ppl only use their car 4% of the time. The rest of the time it's parked, taking up space. But I've had Mazdas in the past - they've always been well engineered & lasted ages.
@@Magnitio1 but if you want a car just for running round town you want to spend £10K-£15K max not £25K and the majority of people still need the flexibility to go futher
I don’t disagree on the cost, though there are many people who spend 20-30k on second cars that are only ever used for short journeys. However, 110 mile range is far more than is required for “running around town”.
@@ejbh3160 Even in the scenarios described, why have this instead of a mini BEV which is 3k less, has just as little rear space but is 3x as fun. There isn't enough space in the back of this for a school run once your children are over the age of 10. The cars a joke in a market beginning to saturate with serious offerings from other marques
I'm pleased to hear that - finally - Mazda has come up with an EV. I, and my family, had owned three mazdas, two Proteges and a B2200 pickup truck -- loved all of them especially how grounded the wide wheel base made the driving. I envy you Robert because it will probably be at least 2yrs before they come to Canada.
I had a Mazda 3 for 10+ years, have driven few other Mazdas & really like them. They look & perform better than the Hondas, Toyotas & Hyundais in the same segment. I remember the CEO saying 5-6 years ago that he doesn't see Mazda ever making an EV simply coz that's not their core strength. I felt that was shortsighted for a major car manufacturer to say. But here we are today! I agree with the comments that this was a half hearted effort & hope this is the first of many more EVs coming out from these guys.
FINALLY we have a manufacturer selling a CHEAP Ev. The obsession of consumers and manufacturers with bigger and bigger batteries is frustrating because the prices keep going up! We bought an iMiEV in 2017... because it was cheap, not specifically because it was what we wanted. It gave us an in to the ev market. Granted it was used, but imagine how cheap small battery EVs will be used. This is a good way to get more people into evs.
So the Honda E gets grief for the short range? I wonder how much grief this will get. I do really like the look of it though. And I particularly like the analogy looking dash, so there is a dial for charge remaining, great stuff!
@@McPeanuts Could well be true. But in the somewhat chilly climate that I live in (currently -3C), the 80 km a day are not an issue. I have to admit though, that the couple of days between buying the car and getting the charger installed, were less than fun, since I had to charge daily.
Meh at best. I'm amazed how the Japanese car industry is completely unable to see that the future is EV and it's here NOW. And this is after Nissan was the leader in EVs with the Leaf which they just let fizzle into irrelevancy. And the CEOs are still talking about how hydrogen is the future....
I think this is going to be a huge hit. For most older drivers it’s like a normal car, but with an electric engine instead of a combustion one. Everything is familiar.
I'm about 6', and could sit comfortably behind myself. But I agree. The car isn't practical for families, but for someone who drives short distances and wants an incredibly comfortable and exciting to drive EV with more than enough cargo space, the MX-30 is brilliant value (for an EV).
My thought was "seats for pets." This seems like an interior designed specifically for DINK influencers, whose dogs' Insta pages do better than their own.
@@Tjomsasen The MG, with more space, more range and many more features is the slightly less. This is a compliance car and Mazda are showing their ICE colours by producing it. Some manufacturers need to see which way the wind is blowing or they could end up being ex-manufacturers.
I think the problem with 110 mile range is that in reality you will be looking to charge after 90 miles. In the winter we can probably knock 20 miles off that. £25K isn't a small amount of money for most people either. It is basically a second car range wise and a second hand Renault Zoe ZE40 has a lot more range for less money (2017 cars battery owned £15K or so now).
