- Mazda’s first proper EV is here.
- After the rather disappointing MX-30 EV, the brand-new Mazda 6e comes to save the day.
- With looks to die for, the new electric mid-size EV has rear-wheel drive and a perfect 50:50 weight distribution.
Car lovers, your constant requests for a good-looking rear-wheel drive sedan have been answered by Mazda. This is the brand-new Mazda 6e, an all-electric successor to the front-wheel drive mid-size Mazda 6 sedan that was discontinued in the United States back in 2021.
The new Mazda 6e EV is stunning to look at, it has a hatchback, it’s RWD-only, and there’s an LFP battery on offer, so the basics are there. But that’s just part of the story, as you’ll soon find out.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way first. The Mazda 6e will be available in Europe starting this summer, and it’s not coming to the United States, at least not for the foreseeable future. Then, you should know that it’s the same car as the Chinese-spec Mazda EZ-6, which in turn is heavily based on the Deepal SL03. In other words, it’s not an EV that Mazda built from the ground up, but rather leaned on its partners to cut development costs and bring the car to the market sooner–that’s not a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination.
The Mazda 6e has two battery options. The base version is a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) pack that can store up to 68.8 kilowatt-hours of energy, enough for a WLTP-rated range of 297 miles on a full charge. The battery is paired with a single rear motor that makes 254 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque. It can be DC fast-charged at up to 200 kW, for a 10% top-up in 22 minutes, while plugging it into a three-phase 11 kW AC wall charger will replenish the state of charge from 10% to 80% in eight hours.
The base model can accelerate from zero to 62 miles per hour in 7.6 seconds and has a top speed of 108 miles per hour.
Photo by: Mazda
Now for the weird part. The Mazda 6e Long Range comes with a larger, 80 kWh nickel manganese cobalt (NCM) battery pack that enables a slightly longer driving range of 343 miles on the WLTP testing procedure. That’s great news, but for whatever reason, the maximum DC charging speed of this battery is just 95 kW, leading to a 10% to 80% top-up in a painstakingly slow 45 minutes. On an 11 kW AC home charger, going from 10% to 80% will take nine and a half hours.
Moreover, the rear electric motor makes 241 hp–13 less than the base spec model–while the torque figure stays the same at 236 lb-ft.
Diving a bit deeper into the specs sheet reveals that both battery packs weigh the same–1,058 pounds–and that the weight difference between the two powertrain versions is just 2.2 pounds apart. The standard range model tips the scales at 4,303 lbs, while the long-range variant is 4,305 lbs.
Photo by: Mazda
This leads me to believe that the two packs are identical in volume and that Mazda chose the safe route for the larger battery–slower charging and discharging means the cells should last longer with minimal degradation. But judging from the specs sheet, the base LFP-powered model should be the best all-around option for anyone, seeing how it can be routinely charged to 100% without worrying about degradation–and at double the speed compared to the larger NCM pack that should routinely be charged to just 80% to avoid degradation.
Size-wise, the Mazda 6e is 193.7 inches long, 84.8 inches wide (with side mirrors) and 58.7 inches tall. The wheelbase is 113.9 inches. The trunk capacity is 11.6 cubic feet, which is not exactly record-breaking, but there’s also a 2.4 cubic feet frunk up front.
Photo by: Mazda
Mazda says its electric sedan is one of the most spacious models in its class, with plenty of headroom in the front and rear seats, and enough space for five people. Speaking of the interior, one of the biggest talking points has to be the impressive 50-inch virtual real estate for the augmented-reality head-up display that projects information directly onto the windshield.
The instrument cluster is a 10.2-inch display and the infotainment is handled through a centrally-mounted 14.6-inch touchscreen. Another much smaller touchscreen is for the rear passengers to adjust climate settings, operate the sunshade and adjust the front passenger seat position when the car is parked.
There aren’t any physical buttons up front for controlling the climate system or the audio system–everything is handled through the central touchscreen–just like in a Tesla Model 3. That said, there are conventional steering wheel stalks, so mundane actions like putting on the turn signals don’t require a quick browse of the owner’s manual.
There’s a chunky center console between the two front seats with a pair of cupholders and a pair of smartphone cradles. Beneath it, there’s a spacious cubby to store things like handbags or other large objects. Plus another cubby under the armrest.
Up front, the Mazda 6e has a Cadillac-like illuminated grille, and because of the black wheel arch surrounds, the car has a crossover vibe to it–for better or worse. At the back, there’s a full-width LED bar and a retractable electric spoiler that automatically goes up at 56 mph, but it can also be raised manually below this threshold.
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Mazda
The EV comes with 19-inch wheels as standard, as well as a multi-link suspension setup at the rear and a MacPherson strut arrangement for the front wheels. Mazda boasts a perfect 50:50 front-to-rear weight distribution, which–together with the suspension setup–should make for a pretty engaging drive.
The Mazda 6e was designed for a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating. It comes as standard with nine airbags and the company’s i-Activesense advanced driving assistance system (ADAS) with Autonomous Emergency Braking, Lane Departure Warning, traffic sign recognition, Emergency Lane Keeping, Rear Collision Warning and Smart Brake Support.
The safety pack uses M-pixel cameras, millimeter-wave radar and ultrasonic radar to continuously monitor the car’s surroundings and take emergency action if needed. There’s also an Occupancy Monitoring System that can detect children in the rear seats and warn the driver to prevent a child from being left in the car.
The Mazda 6e will arrive in European showrooms this summer. Pricing has not been announced yet.