Photo: Mazda
Without mentioning the origin of this information, British motoring publication Autocar.co.uk reports “Mazda’s first electric car will be a bespoke model.” To the point, the zero-emissions vehicle arriving in 2020 won’t be based on an existing model.
Even though Mazda joined hands with Toyota for electrification, the electric vehicle in question won’t share anything at all with the Prius. Subaru, on the other hand, leveraged Toyota’s technologies for the XV e-Boxer in Japan and Crosstrek Hybrid in the United States.
Autocar doesn’t know “which body style the electric vehicle will have,” but there’s a case to be made for “an SUV given their widespread popularity.” The high-riding architecture is also perfect to sandwich the batteries into the floor, keeping the gravity as low as possible.
Design head Ikuo Maeda assures the 2020 Mazda EV won’t look too “digital,” which means the design principles of KODO – Soul Of Motion will be applied to the all-new model. European design head Jo Stenuit, on the other hand, promises the EV won’t look “like a fridge,” whatever that’s supposed to mean in the day and age of the Jaguar I-Pace and Porsche Taycan.
As opposed to other players in the automotive industry, Mazda is late to adopt electrification because the Hiroshima-based automaker believes in internal combustion more than its competitors. The 2019 Mazda3, for example, takes another step in this direction with the introduction of the SkyActiv-X engine that uses compression ignition and mild hybridization to reduce fuel consumption by up to 30 percent.
A range-extender EV based on the Mazda EV is also in the works for 2020, sporting a single-rotor engine as the generator. For 2021, the Japanese automaker prepares to roll out a plug-in hybrid vehicle.
The year 2020 is also important for diesel enthusiasts, with Mazda confirming the SkyActiv-D Gen 2 engine family. Around that time, the Co-Pilot Concept will also be presented to the world. The autonomous driving technology will be made standard across the range in 2025.
Autocar doesn’t know “which body style the electric vehicle will have,” but there’s a case to be made for “an SUV given their widespread popularity.” The high-riding architecture is also perfect to sandwich the batteries into the floor, keeping the gravity as low as possible.
Design head Ikuo Maeda assures the 2020 Mazda EV won’t look too “digital,” which means the design principles of KODO – Soul Of Motion will be applied to the all-new model. European design head Jo Stenuit, on the other hand, promises the EV won’t look “like a fridge,” whatever that’s supposed to mean in the day and age of the Jaguar I-Pace and Porsche Taycan.
As opposed to other players in the automotive industry, Mazda is late to adopt electrification because the Hiroshima-based automaker believes in internal combustion more than its competitors. The 2019 Mazda3, for example, takes another step in this direction with the introduction of the SkyActiv-X engine that uses compression ignition and mild hybridization to reduce fuel consumption by up to 30 percent.
A range-extender EV based on the Mazda EV is also in the works for 2020, sporting a single-rotor engine as the generator. For 2021, the Japanese automaker prepares to roll out a plug-in hybrid vehicle.
The year 2020 is also important for diesel enthusiasts, with Mazda confirming the SkyActiv-D Gen 2 engine family. Around that time, the Co-Pilot Concept will also be presented to the world. The autonomous driving technology will be made standard across the range in 2025.
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