The European deliveries of the MX-30 E-Skyactiv R-EV are expected to start in April at a base price of 38,150 euros in Italy. The car is also expected to be offered in the U.S. and Japan, the company said.
The plug-in variant joins the full-electric version of the MX-30 in Mazda’s European lineup. The small electric crossover, launched in 2020, has been a slow seller – down 46 percent to 5,756 units through November, according to Dataforce.
One issue is that that car’s small battery, just 35 kWh, offers a maximum range of 200 km (124 miles). By comparison, the Hyundai Kona Electric small crossover, which has a 64-kWh battery, offers more than double the MX-30 EV’s range.
A third member of Mazda’s MX-30 family is the mild hybrid variant that debuted in 2021 and is not sold in Europe.
Talk of deploying an updated rotary in the MX-30 has swirled since the model family debuted at the 2019 Tokyo auto show.
Mazda considered using the powerplant in a range extender but opted for a plug-in variant. That allowed it to further reduce the size and cost of the battery, compared with a range extender. But the engine would operate more frequently.
Lightweight solution
The MX-30 e-Skyactiv R-EV’s electric motor offers maximum output of 125 kilowatts (170 hp) at 9,000 rpm and can produce up to 260 newton meters (191 pounds-feet) of torque.
The rotary engine generates maximum output of 55 kW (74 hp) at 4,700 rpm and is more compact than a reciprocating engine with similar output, Mazda said.
The MX-30 plug-in hybrid’s single-rotor is 15 kg (33 pounds) lighter than the double-rotor engine used on the RX-8. A key difference is that aluminum was used for the engine housing instead of steel.
The car supports has V2L (vehicle to load) power capabilities, which means it can run electrical appliances and devices of up to 1500 W.
The plug-in hybrid accelerates from 0 to 100 kph (0 to 62 mph) in 9.1 seconds. Like its full-electric sibling, the car’s maximum speed is limited to 140 kph.
The plug-in hybrid can be charged to 80 percent from 20 percent using a DC fast charger of 36 kW or more in about 25 minutes. That same charge takes 50 minutes using three-phase 11 kW AC charging and 90 minutes with 7.2 kW AC charging.
