Mazda did not have a great start with electric cars in America. Their first EV, the MX 30, only lasted two years in the US. It was sold only in California, and the company managed to sell just 324 units in 2022. Most people saw it as a strange experiment rather than a serious electric car.
The MX 30 started at a little over thirty four thousand dollars. It had a very small battery that gave just one hundred miles of range. That was far less than what other electric cars offered at the time. It also had unusual rear doors and a motor that made only one hundred and forty three horsepower. So the price was high and the range was low, and that made the car hard to sell.
After that failure, Mazda worked with Chinese partners on EVs like the EZ 6 and EZ 60. Those worked for other markets but Mazda still needed a proper, competitive electric car of its own. Now we are finally getting an early look at the one they have been working on.
A test mule was recently spotted near Mazda’s research and development center in Irvine, California. The body looks like a modified version of the CX 70 or CX 90. The front end is covered up, but you can still see a closed off grille and blocked air openings. There is also a small air intake in the center which shows this is definitely an EV.
From the side, more changes are clear. The test car has a shorter wheelbase than the CX 90. The rear overhang is also much shorter. The window behind the rear doors looks a lot like the design on the CX 80. The photographers said the car looked roughly the size of a CX 50.
Even though the outer body is from a bigger SUV, the actual vehicle underneath is narrower. The wheels sit much further inside the body, which means the production EV will most likely have much shorter tracks. The rims also look aerodynamic to help with efficiency. There seems to be a charging port hidden in the rear bumper as well.
Mazda has not shared any real details about this model yet. But they did announce plans for a special EV platform back in 2021 called the Skyactiv EV Scalable Architecture. It was supposed to be a flexible base for many different electric models and was expected to launch in 2025. Mazda originally wanted several EVs on this platform by 2030.
Clearly things are running behind schedule. With 2025 almost here, the first model has not arrived. Right now, people believe this new electric SUV could debut in 2027 and then reach the United States in 2028.
So this test mule suggests Mazda is finally building a more serious electric car. After the MX 30’s failure, this could be their real chance to enter the EV market properly.