Elevate your hand when you noticed this coming. After exiting the US a few years in the past, the purely electrical MX-30 can be lifeless in Europe (together with the UK). We seen the mannequin’s absence from a number of configurators throughout the Outdated Continent, so we contacted Mazda to search out out what’s occurring. Certain sufficient, the small crossover and not using a combustion engine has been quietly retired. Right here’s what Monique Clark from the corporate’s UK PR workplace informed us:
“The MX-30 BEV has been faraway from sale in Europe, and all examples within the UK have now been bought. The Mazda MX-30 BEV has ceased manufacturing for each Europe and the UK. Nonetheless, the award-winning MX-30 R-EV continues to be accessible for patrons who need the EV driving expertise with the vary confidence supplied by the rotary engine generator.”
Europeans can nonetheless purchase the MX-30 e-Skyactiv R-EV, a mouthful of a reputation for the range-extending model. It is the one manufacturing car with a rotary engine, although it doesn’t drive the wheels. As an alternative, the small 830-cc naturally aspirated single-rotor unit acts as a generator to cost a 17.8-kWh battery pack. Mazda doesn’t promote this model in North America, the place a extra highly effective two-rotor setup is in improvement for an unspecified mannequin.
Plot twist: The rotary MX-30 isn’t the one taste with a combustion engine. In Japan and different markets, it’s additionally supplied with a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter gasoline engine that includes mild-hybrid expertise. Mazda began manufacturing of the small crossover and its RX-8-styled suicide doorways about 5 years in the past.
Mazda is launching a bigger EZ-60 SUV in China with a range-extender, although not a rotary one. It’s anticipated to succeed in different markets, particularly for the reason that EZ-6 sedan has already been rebadged because the 6e in Europe. Equally, the EZ-60 might be renamed CX-6e for Europe and different areas. However as a result of these autos are made in China, they’re unlikely to be bought within the US resulting from newly imposed tariffs.
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Though the MX-30 will likely be remembered as Mazda’s first mass-produced EV, there was one earlier than it. In 2012, Mazda launched the Demio/Mazda2 EV subcompact hatchback in Japan as a restricted sequence of about 100 models. Nonetheless, all have been leased to native governments and company purchasers close to the corporate’s headquarters within the Chugoku area.
Mazda’s first devoted electrical car platform will likely be prepared in 2027, and a “full-scale launch of EVs” will start a 12 months later.
