Mazda MX-30: First electric vehicle is a rebel with a cause

Tokyo

AT THE Tokyo motor show, Mazda is showing the public its first full-production, battery-powered electric vehicle (BEV), the MX-30.

The MX-30 is a small sport utility vehicle (SUV) with coupe-styling that is closely related to the Mazda CX-30, a conventional crossover with a 2.0-litre petrol engine, which will launch in Singapore soon. Both cars are approximately the same size as the popular Honda HR-V, with the latter being a direct competitor.

The MX-30's arrival could not be more timely. Unlike its petrol-powered sibling, it will have no direct competition from Japan, and could appeal to customers who have been waiting to jump on the BEV bandwagon with a known Japanese brand.

Pre-orders for Europe have already begun, with deliveries to begin next year. By our estimation, the MX-30 is also very likely to be offered for sale in Singapore. Local Mazda distributor Trans Eurokars is "currently evaluating its plans and will reveal them in due course", its managing director Michael Wee said in a statement to The Business Times.

The MX-30 is currently one of only two BEVs from Japan to go on sale internationally. To date, the only other Japanese BEV of note has been Nissan's Leaf, the best-selling electric car in history.

Japanese carmakers have pushed electrification via petrol-electric hybrids for decades, but - Nissan aside - have pointedly avoided going all-in for BEVs, instead focusing on increasing the efficiency of combustion technology through partial electrification, which involves using motors to assist a traditional engine.

Mazda has announced that by 2030, all of its cars will have some form of electrification, with the carmaker offering a spectrum of choices to suit the global market, including gasoline engines, hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and full BEVs.

"Mazda has worked continuously to improve the efficiency of internal combustion engines, however around the world emissions and carbon dioxide regulations are becoming tougher. For Mazda to compete successfully on a global business scale, we need to offer at least one BEV to our customers," Tomiko Takeuichi, the MX-30's product development chief, told BT.

Considering Mazda's status as the last truly independent Japanese carmaker and something of a maverick, it's perhaps unsurprising that the MX-30 sets itself on a track that diverts from Honda and Toyota, and toward fierce competition with Korean and European brands that are banking on the current fashion for electric crossovers.

Combining battery power with the SUV body style is so popular now it's almost more of a rule than a trend. Even in EV-deficient Singapore, there are already four such models available to buyers (the Hyundai Kona Electric, Jaguar I-Pace, Kia Niro EV and Tesla Model X) with five more on the way, namely the Audi E-Tron, Mercedes-Benz EQC, MG ZS EV, and an electric version of the Volvo XC40.

The company's maverick nature also means the MX-30 takes a unique tack not just departing from Japanese cars, but its upcoming competitors as well.

Instead of a conventional grille seen on other Mazdas, the brand emblem takes centre stage on the face of the MX-30. "We really wanted to focus on the 'Mazda-ness' of the car, along with simplicity, lightness and openness," said Youichi Matsuda, the car's chief designer, at its unveiling at the Tokyo show. The event runs from today to Nov 4.

Bucking a trend, the Mazda uses a much smaller battery than comparable electric SUVs, with its 35.5kWh lithium ion battery roughly half the capacity of the one found in the Kia Niro EV. Accordingly, the MX-30 should deliver approximately 200km of range per full charge, compared to more than 400km for the Kia.

Mazda argues that a BEV should deliver optimal range for the customer's use instead of maximum range. It says an average European driver covers 50km per day (Singaporean drivers travel roughly the same daily distance), and believes it's inefficient to cater to range anxiety with excessively large batteries. It also says a smaller battery allows the MX-30 to emit less cycle carbon dioxide over its lifetime than a Mazda 3, its petrol-powered small family car.

Since the battery pack is also typically the heaviest and most expensive component of an EV, this approach also allows for less weight and increased efficiency, and possibly most significantly of all, a smaller price tag. In Germany, the MX-30 will cost 33,990 euros, less than a Nissan Leaf at 36,800 euros.

Although clearly aimed at securing Mazda's future, the MX-30 also has unique features seen on the brand's past cars.

A pair of unique backward-opening doors that Mazda calls "freestyle doors", which allow better ingress to the rear seats and a more spacious-feeling cabin, was a feature seen on the now discontinued RX-8 coupe.

"Engineering a car without a pillar between the doors was tough, due to modern crash safety requirements," Ms Takeuichi told BT. "But Mazda benefitted from the knowledge and experience in these doors from when we made the RX-8 in the past."

Mazda has also announced plans to offer the MX-30 with a rotary engine, the unique engine technology seen in its past sports cars like the RX-7 and 787B prototype, the first Japanese car to win the historic 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. However, its purpose will be more green than mean, as it functions as a petrol range extender that charges the BEV's batteries if the car is running low on juice and no charging point is in sight.

While Mazda is playing up the trail-blazing nature of the MX-30 in Tokyo, another BEV has been on the market for years with a similar recipe that combines a high seating position, unique rear doors and a relatively small battery with a petrol-powered range extender: BMW's i3. A BEV pioneer, it was the first electric car to go on sale to the public in Singapore, back in 2014.

Sceptics will point out that the i3 never quite set the sales charts on fire globally, but BMW has constantly updated it and its global sales have climbed every year, to the point that BMW sold twice as many in 2018 (36,829 units) as it did in 2014.

Given the similarities between the two, the far lower price point of the MX-30 could be good news for fans of BEVs in Singapore. With that on its side, perhaps Mazda will not have to fight as hard to steer drivers away from fossil fuels.