Mazda finally goes electric, but its MX
As I weaved through a dry canyon pass in Southern California, I felt stealthy, quick, quiet, and nimble in the first electric Mazda released in the U.S.
Until I looked at my battery level on the dash of the MX-30. After more than an hour of driving I had already chewed up about half the mileage available on the small, 35.5 kWh battery. I knew it was enough to get back, but the plunging double-digit numbers made me panicky.
Mazda sent me and a group of reporters on a 60-mile loop that went from Irvine, Calif., along the Pacific Coast, and up through nearby rolling hills. It was the exact opposite of the type of driving Mazda execs seem to have in mind for future MX-30 customers.
One manager said during a press interview that the small SUV was for getting around town and to work during the week. He called it a "more sensible approach," with its light-weight battery that only has a 100-mile range on it and a single motor on the front wheels. Other similarly sized single-motor EVs like the Kia Niro and Hyundai Kona have 64 kWh batteries with close to 250-mile range.
With its small release of 560 MX-30s, the electric version of its CX-30, it feels like Mazda is preemptively hedging on its weak EV entrant. To start, it'll only be for sale in California, where public charging is readily available. The Golden State has five times the number of stations than New York, the second-most charging-friendly state. The MX-30 will start at $33,470 before federal and California tax incentives, so at least it's priced fairly for its poor range. The cheapest Tesla is $39,990, with only local tax discounts available.
The car is smooth and quiet, with regenerative braking to help refill the small battery, but it's a range anxiety-inducing vehicle. The cute exterior with friendly headlights and rounded edges and floating center console with cork lining can't cover up the dismal EV stats.
After my two hours in the car, the battery was at 46 percent. If I had kept driving, my next stop would have been a charging station.
It's got a good look but that doesn't hide the low range.Credit: SASHA LEKACH / MASHABLEA cushy interior.Credit: MAZDAWith only about 100 miles of range, Mazda is just barely putting itself on the EV roadmap. Mazda execs told reporters it expects people who are curious yet hesitant about EVs to be intrigued by the MX-30. It has many of the safety features of other gas-powered Mazdas and more, like blind spot detection and assistance and front cross-traffic alerts. But like other Japanese auto brands, it's too weak of a start. Toyota still doesn't have a full electric option — just the hybrid Prius — and Subaru only announced plans for its first EVs this year.
There are already plans for a longer range plug-in hybrid version of the MX-30 in 2022, and other EVs and hybrids from Mazda into 2025, but the Japanese company is not there yet. Its first foray into electric feels like a half-hearted attempt to catch up to Hyundai, Kia, General Motors, Volkswagen, Volvo, and other legacy automakers who have embraced electric. With space left under the hood to potentially add an internal combustion engine to one day modify the car into a plug-in hybrid is telling. Especially since that means no frunk (front trunk) storage space on this EV.
Open up.Credit: SASHA LEKACH / MASHABLESEE ALSO:Rivian R1T first reviews are in: A quick, quiet electric truck made for exploring natureThe MX-30 will be available starting Oct. 14 with pre-orders currently open online, but only for a few hundred California drivers willing to charge up often.
TopicsElectric Vehicles
(责任编辑:关于我们)
- Slot extends perfect Liverpool start
- Commentator goes nuts after 'CS:GO' pro wins round with a no
- Park vows to push for effective measures against N. Korea
- Honda's self
- Slot extends perfect Liverpool start
- Eng name ODI, T20I squads for Aus series
- A Cubs fan's World Series diary: Staving off death, keeping hope alive
- 农业要从“卖产品”升级“卖品牌”
- 农业要从“卖产品”升级“卖品牌”
- U.S. Senators call on FTC to investigate the security of drivers' data
- Honda's self
- Russian Valieva's coach under scrutiny
- How to find and cancel your app subscriptions in iOS
-
50 Years Later: The Revolutionary 8008 Microprocessor
Guest author Ken Shirriff is a Silicon Valley-based computer enthusiast who enjoys reverse-engineeri ...[详细] -
Twitter updates revenge porn policies 'to better protect victims'
Twitter is ready to start taking revenge porn much more seriously.The company officially introduced ...[详细] -
荥经县严道镇的陈先军(化名),在大白天窜进荥经县城某单位家属楼试验他的开锁技能,短短几十分钟,他将3户人家的防盗门打开,悄然将这些人家中的手提电脑、金饰品、现金等洗劫一空。 魔高一尺,道高一丈,这名 ...[详细]
-
荥经县严道镇的陈先军(化名),在大白天窜进荥经县城某单位家属楼试验他的开锁技能,短短几十分钟,他将3户人家的防盗门打开,悄然将这些人家中的手提电脑、金饰品、现金等洗劫一空。 魔高一尺,道高一丈,这名 ...[详细]
-
近日,我市气温持续居高不下。气象学上,气温在35℃及以上时可称为“高温天气”。如果连续三天最高气温都超过35℃时,即可称作“高温热浪”天气。高温天气下,运动员、户外工作者、老年人、婴幼儿等都是容易中暑 ...[详细]
-
MIT scientists trick Google AI into misidentifying a cat as guacamole
Scientists at MIT's LabSix, an artificial intelligence research group, tricked Google's image-recogn ...[详细] -
Korea aims to draw 400,000 foreign medical patients
South Korea aims to attract 400,000 foreign patients this year while creating 50,000 more jobs in th ...[详细] -
US presses China and Russia to enforce sanctions on North Korea
The United States on Friday welcomed the U.N. Security Council's united support for the fully verifi ...[详细] -
Our galaxy might crash into Andromeda. What would happen to Earth?
Our Milky Way galaxy is a cannibal.It has grown by consuming other galaxies. Yet, it too, may be des ...[详细] -
Hardliners may press Kim to slow denuclearizationBy Kim Jae-kyoungMore than one month has passed sin ...[详细]
- 20 Places to Eat Dumplings and Noodles for Lunar New Year
- MIT scientists trick Google AI into misidentifying a cat as guacamole
- A new ransomware tapped an NSA exploit to wreak some of its havoc
- 他们是一群大学生 能炒一锅好茶
- Giant dual
- Chinese fishing boats' requests for access to Korea's EEZ dips in 2016
- 我既是湖北援建者 也是四川老乡