The Mazda MX-30 electric car from 34,000 euros

Inside, the Mazda MX-30 electric car offers a unique layout and excellent finishes, which give an air as modern as it is welcoming and does not overwhelm you.

There are no less than three screens in the cabin: the one in the infotainment system, the one in the dashboard and the one that takes over many of the controls of the air conditioning system. However, no one seems to want to stand out; each integrates harmoniously into the landscape.

The test specimen received the Luxury Vintage package, which, as the name suggests, aims to bring a vintage, classic look, especially through the upholstery shades, with brown leather on the edges and dark grey fabric in the centre.

There are many storage spaces. The two cup holders on the centre console can be covered by a lid. When placed, these lids form a flat storage space, and when lifted, they close the space in the central armrest, which is otherwise open on the front. Behind the centre console, just below the gearbox area, we have covered storage space. There are two USB-A ports here, but they are a bit difficult to access.

The front seats are large, with one of the longest seats in this class. It offers a comfortable position and comes with ample adjustments that allow you to choose a low driving position, somehow different from what you would expect from a crossover.

In the back, the bench offers a good place only in height, although it does not excel there either. The seats are more suitable for children, the foot space being restricted for adults. The backseat is too short to allow a comfortable long-distance stay for people taller than 1.6 meters.

The trunk is at the level of a compact car, maybe a little smaller. The opening is a bit narrow, and the loading threshold is a bit high. However, the trunk can be considered sufficient. For daily or weekly shopping or for weekend getaways near the house, Mazda MX-30 can be used without any problems.

How much can you tell about the engine of an electric car? It does not make noise, it does not produce vibrations, and most of them pull the same, that is, from the finest pressure of the acceleration it puts to the test all the torque it can develop.

The same is true for the Mazda MX-30. The engine located under the front hood is only heard at full load when it emits a specific sound, not at all annoying. We can't talk too much about the gearbox either because it doesn't exist. In most electric cars, the engine is connected directly to the wheels, but there is a gear; in this case, it has a ratio of 9,986: 1.

Like any modern Mazda, the MX-30 2021 offers a road outfit that emphasizes driving pleasure. Thus, the suspension is slightly rigidly adjusted but comes with an excellent compromise between comfort and sportiness. I liked that over the short bumps, the car passes elegantly, without sending shocks to passengers, but only some sounds from the tires. Otherwise, over medium or large bumps, the car seems a bit stiff, but it never seemed uncomfortable.

On curves, the Mazda MX-30 handles excellently. It keeps well the control of any exaggerated oscillation of the body and gives you a lot of confidence. The car is very well balanced, with perfect weight distribution on the two axles. This translates into borderline neutral behaviour; the car understeers only slightly and does so much later than you would expect.

The steering is well assisted; at low speeds, the steering wheel can be rotated almost effortlessly, while at extra-urban speeds, the steering becomes heavier.

The performances are good, but nothing to praise. The Mazda MX-30 electric car is primarily a city car, and this can be seen in terms of top speed, which is limited to only 140 km / h. Perhaps a little strange is that this maximum speed is reached quite quickly; I'm sure that without an electronic limitation could have been achieved without big problems over 160 km / h.

Acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h seems to be faster in reality than the officially announced figures, namely 9.7 seconds. It is true that up to 80 km / h, the car is really agile, and from here on out, things will calm down quite suddenly. Another proof that the Mazda MX-30 was designed as a city car, in particular.

The announced average consumption is 19 kWh. At a battery with a gross capacity of 35.5 kWh and a net capacity of 32 kWh, the average range should be about 160-170 kilometres. However, some decelerations are probably taken into account during which the battery receives some energy back through regeneration and thus, the calculations go to the 200 km promised in the datasheet.

I caught a minimum average consumption when I went really economical, of only 17.4 kWh. When we only went economically, without making excesses, the consumption reached around 18.5 kWh. Every day driving, without trying to break economy records, I caught about 20-22 kWh average consumption.

With such values, the autonomy can not get too close to the 200 km on average officially announced and will be far from the autonomy of 265 km promised for the urban route. 

Most of all, you should expect, in real traffic conditions, an outdoor temperature that does not fall below zero degrees Celsius, at a minimum of 120 and a maximum of 160-170 km. Proof that the Mazda MX-30 is primarily a city car. The consumptions presented by me were obtained on a mixed route, which also included an extra-urban route. Probably strictly in the city, you can catch the 200 km autonomy promised on average. 

On the energy recovery side from deceleration, on the Mazda MX-30, you can relegate the "force" with which the system can bring energy back to the battery. From the paddles behind the steering wheel, with "+" on the right and "-" on the left, you can make this adjustment, and at maximum power, you will rarely reach the brake, and you will set the speed only from acceleration.  

Fully charging the empty battery to a household outlet, from where the machine will draw current with a maximum of 10A, takes about 15 hours, depending on the voltage of the installation.

At AC charging stations, the Mazda MX-30 can be charged with a maximum of 6.6 kW, but at DC stations, it can take power with up to 50 kW and thus, from 0 to 80%, the battery can be charged in only half an hour. A pro point here.

The Mazda MX-30 does not bring unique technologies in the range but uses those we have already encountered in models such as Mazda 3 or CX-30. This does not mean that the Mazda MX-30 is a poorly equipped car, with old technologies or insufficiently present on board, but only that it does not try anything special here.

The infotainment system is mostly the same as the one on the Mazda cars I just mentioned. There was a menu or two with different information about consumption and how to run, i.e. how much energy you managed to regenerate, but nothing special.

What is more remarkable about the Mazda MX-30 is installing the My Mazda application on your smartphone. You can access more information and certain settings that you can make after you have connected the car to the application.

The automatic climate control system displays the information on a 7-inch touch screen, which integrates many of the controls. There are also classic buttons on the sides of this screen, but nothing confuses you.

In terms of equipment, everything is quite simple on the Mazda MX-30. We have essentially only two types of equipment: GT and GT Plus, with relatively slight differences between them.

A Mazda MX-30 GT brings standard 18-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, Head-Up Display system, MZD Connect infotainment system with 8.8-inch screen, compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, with navigation and HMI control centre, on-board digital dial with a 7-inch screen, automatic air conditioning, electric front windows, electrically adjustable and heated mirrors, light and rain sensors, 8-speaker audio system and DAB, etc.

The GT Plus equipment also adds a headlight washer, electric folding mirrors, front seats, heated steering wheel and windshield (on the windshield only in the area of ​​the wipers), rear armrest, electrochromic driver interior and exterior mirror, keyless entry and engine start system, etc.

As additional packages can be chosen, the Premium, which includes as comfort features the Bose audio system with 12 speakers and many other safety features that we will talk about below. The Luxury Modern and Luxury Vintage packages bring most of the additional features offered by the Launch Edition and certain different design accents.

The Mazda MX-30 was already tested by Euro NCAP last year and received the maximum rating of 5 stars. The scores were 91% for the protection of adult passengers, 87% for children, 68% for pedestrians and 73% for assistance systems.

As standard, any Mazda MX-30 comes with front, side, curtain and driver's knee airbags, self-locking doors after start-up, DSC, e-GVC Plus, electric handbrake with Auto Hold function, ramp assistance system, adaptive autopilot with intelligent acceleration assistant, driverless camera alert system, intelligent brake assist with pedestrian detection, blind-spot monitoring system, blind-spot recognition system, lane departure and maintenance system, automatic phase control system long, cornering traffic assistance, front and rear parking sensors, reversing video camera, automated E-Call emergency call system, tire pressure monitoring system and burglar alarm.

The Premium package introduces a 360-degree video monitoring system, driver alert system with camera, cruise and traffic support function, front traffic alert, reversing warning system and intelligent reverse braking assistant. @via Mazda.