Mazda MX-30's range a big limiting factor

The Mazda MX-30 was launched in 2020 as a car for city and urban commuters who will not use it as their primary car. With that in mind, Mazda gave the compact crossover a 35.5-kilowatt-hour, resulting in a relatively short range of 200 km (124 miles) between charges.

A short test done last month in and around Milan confirmed that the MX-30's short range is the EV's drawback. Despite nearly ideal weather conditions (20 to 25 degrees centigrade, meaning on moderate use of the air conditioner, the MX-30's battery level at 100 percent promised a range of 170 km, according to the car dashboard. The difference between the promised and real-world range is a common issue with all electric cars.

When I saw that figure 170 km I decided to cancel a plan 180 km round trip to visit a friend in the outside Milan because he doesn't have a wallbox charger and the public charging alternatives were poor. Waiting for a charge using my friend's household socket, which provides 1.8 kW/hour, to get enough juice to get home made no sense.

The MX-30's 200 km range, according to WLTP, is not only less than the rivals in the compact segment but also competitors in smaller vehicle classes. For instance, the Hyundai Kona Electric small SUV, has a range of 305 km from its 39.2-kWh battery.
 

Meanwhile, the Honda e and Dacia Spring electric minicars also have more range. The Honda e promises 222 km from a battery with the same power as the MX-30 (35.5 kWh). The Spring, which is much lighter than the MX-30 promises a range of 230 km from its 26.8-kWh battery.

My overall real-world experience during a test of approximately 300 km driving in the city and the highway showed a range of 180 km, so 10 km more than the computer forecast. That might have been because I avoided bursts of acceleration at traffic lights and kept my highway speed at 110 to 115 kph.

The corresponding average consumption was 166 Wh/km, according to the car's trip computer, equivalent to 6 km/kW. The actual sum of the recharges to bring the battery to its initial level of 80 percent, however, was 55.18 kW per 293.9 km, including recharge losses. That corresponds to 187 Wh/km, or 5.33 km/kW (3.33 miles/kW).

Another factor limiting the MX-30's range is its weight. One direct competitor is the Citroen e-C4 X, which is 60 kg lighter than the MX-30 despite having a much larger battery (50 kWh vs. 35.5 kWh). As a result, the MX-30's consumption is 179 Wh/km while the e-C4 X's is 151 Wh/km.

As I have mentioned in previous stories, using an electric car or a plug-in hybrid in Milan is not always easy. Charging is nearly always the issue. Here is what happened with the MX-30. I parked curbside at the one recharge spot available near me. The problem was that the car's charging socket was at the back of the car and station's charge was closer to the front of the car. The 4-meter (13-foot) cable provided by Mazda was not long enough to make the connection. Making a U-turn was not an option because I was on a one-way street.

Mazda is not the only automaker providing relatively short charging cables as standard, so until a standard layout of charging sites is in place, which seems unlikely in Italy, I strongly advise potential EV customers to purchase a cable that is at least as long as the car.

As far as the usage experience, the MX-30 is pleasant to drive. It is quiet and comfortable,  although not the zippiest vehicle in the segment. The interior is refined with an easy-to-use human-machine interface.

The MX-30 has a sleek roofline with two rear-hinged doors. The coupe crossover body style is increasingly popular but in the MX-30 the rear seats are really only viable for two children and not two adults.

Mazda sold 1,974 units of the MX-30 in Europe through March, an increase of 69 percent from the same period in 2022, according to market researcher Dataforce.

Mazda in January unveiled a plug-in hybrid version of the MX-30 in which a 17.8-kWh battery is paired with a gasoline rotary engine. The engine is used to charge the battery but provides no power to the wheels. The plug-in hybrid and the full-electric MX-30s are sold in Italy at the same price: 38,520 euros.