Well an interesting day today.
I took my car in for a service and was offered this as a courtesy car.
Mazda's new 100% Electric offering.
The MX-30 Approximately the same size as the 3 but felt a lot bigger.
Let me first say that in almost 60 of driving, I have never driven a) an Automatic or b) a fully electric car. So this was a steep learning curve.
However I found it very easy to drive this unknown beast.
There are plenty of professional reviews available on YouTube, so I am not going to attempt to rival them.
What I will say is I was very impressed by the overall elegance of the car. Not only in it's looks, but just how comfortable and effortless it was to drive.
Acceleration was so smooth, quietness of the cabin, and the whole driving experience.
Now you may have read about some of the "quirks" of this car ; and there are plenty. Here are just a couple that came to my notice.
Mazda have taken a different route from most of the Electric competitors, by only fitting a relatively small battery. Their reasoning is that their research show that most people on average only drive about 30 miles per day ( This I would question, but as I've said that is supposed to be the average) Therefore by reducing the size of the fitted battery they are allegedly saving weight and reducing the carbon footprint of manufacturing a larger battery. Therefore the maximum mileage for the MX-30 battery is approximately 125 miles.
Yes you read it right 125 miles. So no trips to the South of France without multiple charges.
The next odd item is the rear doors. Some may recognise these as what they call "Suicide" doors. They are hinged at the rear instead of the normal method. (See the photos) So good points. ? A wide entry access with both doors open.
Bad point. If you close the front door first, the back door will be prevented from closing. Trying to close the rear doors after the front, will cause the inside trim of the rear door to hit the outside panel of the front door. Not a good idea with kids around. Which brings me to the next unfortunate item.
Space in the back seat. For the size of the car, this is particularly poor, with very little headroom and if the front seats are pshed back, very little legroom. Good enough for kids, but no good for anyone over 5' 10" .
So just a couple of points that I noticed. One last thing. I have never seen so much room under the bonnet. Usually Mazda powerplants adequately fill the engine compartment. In this car there is so much room it's incredible.
Anyway. Last thoughts. I did enjoy driving the car. It's smooth, comfortable, loads of toys to play with and a good bit of power put down on the road. I reached 80mph effortlessly and quickly. I liked it. But it is certainly not a suitable car for me. The biggest deal breaker being the lack of range.
Enjoy the pictures.
