Mazda MX-30, the Japanese marque’s first all-electric car, has debuted at the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show.
The letters ‘MX’ point to the sporty nature of the Golf-class hatchback. The company claims the car has an especially rigid body and ‘fiery temper’. The latter remains to be seen with the powertrain specs still unknown, though. An early prototype version of the car packed 143 hp (107 kW) and 265 Nm (195 pound-feet) of torque, but this is likely no longer the case.
The hatchback measures 4,395 mm (14.42 ft.) long, 1,795 mm (5.89 ft.) wide and 1,570 mm (5.15 ft.) tall with 2,655 mm (8.71 ft.) between the axles (the Mazda 3 has a longer wheelbase spanning 2,725 mm / 8.94 ft.). Even though the manufacturer refrains from calling the MX-30 an SUV, there is no mistaking the unpainted protective body kit the car is wearing.
Perhaps the single most interesting exterior detail comes in the form of rear doors styled like those on the rotary-engined Mazda RX-8 Coupe. You can only swing open the ‘suicide’ doors once you have opened the front ones, and there are no handles on the outside. The maximum open angle is 80 degrees.
The chassis resembles that of the Mazda 3, some of the main highlights being the McPherson suspension struts and the semi-dependent rear suspension. However, the MX-30 comes based on its own EV-friendly architecture called the e-Skyactiv, which puts the lithium-ion battery inside the bodywork-bearing frame.
Here, the Japanese automaker attempts to keep the weight of the car down by shipping it with a rather humble 35.5-kWh traction battery sufficient for 200 kilometers (124 miles) of WLTP-rated range. Mazda justifies this choice by pointing out than an average European driver only travels around 48 km (30 miles) per day.
The only electric motor comes mounted on the front axle, but Mazda’s signature G-Vectoring Control Plus system is still there and sports certain EV-specific improvements. For those who didn’t know or care, the feature distributes the engine torque in accordance with the steering wheel angle and rotation speed, the current speed of the car, and its current acceleration.
The cabin can accommodate up to five people and sports a trim dominated by synthetic and recycled materials. The center tunnel comes adorned with corkwood inserts, and the quasi-hovering center console houses a seven-inch multimedia touchscreen also used as the climate control interface.
The Mazda MX-30 will enter production in 2020. The pricing remains unannounced, but the pre-orders are already open.