With the MX-30 Electric small SUV, Mazda has made its first genuine steps towards an all-electric future, and now the volume-selling Mazda3 small car and CX-30 small SUV are shaping up as the brand’s next models to go down the zero-emissions path.
Speaking to CarsGuide via a translator, Mazda MX-30 program manager Tomiko Takeuchi explained that “within MX-30, the platform of the mild hybrid [M Hybrid] is completely different to the platform of the EV [Electric]”.
“So, can we use the EV platform for CX-30? That may not be impossible, but I think it’s very difficult to do, taking the (MX-30 Electric’s) combination with the ‘freestyle’ doors into account,” she said.
Ms Takeuchi confirmed “the EV platform of MX-30 (Electric) is an all-new platform”, with it being a derivative of the second-generation SkyActiv architecture that underpins the CX-30 and MX-30 M Hybrid as well as the Mazda3.
“On the (mild-hybrid) platform, we have a couple of beams on both sides, but we eliminated all of those beams from the EV platform, because we have to install the battery. But we gave that beam functionality to the battery pack structure itself,” she explained.
It is therefore possible Mazda may fit the MX-30 Electric’s 35.5kWh battery and 107kW/271Nm front electric motor to the CX-30 and/or Mazda3 during their current generations, although such moves are more likely to wait until their next iterations.
And what about the MX-30 Electric’s upcoming rotary range-extender? Well, Ms Takeuchi confirmed “Mazda wants to pursue the opportunity of that technology in other models”, so the Mazda3 and CX-30 could also follow its lead there. Stay tuned.
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