If you are the kind of person who likes to drive 30 miles per day or approximately 60 miles per day, the Mazda MX-30 is perfect for you. It has an estimated driving range of hundred miles on a full charge.
It is an electric car, and charging is made easy as you can charge both at home and while on the go. Every MX-30 comes with a level 1 120v charging cable. You can plug the cable into home outlets and public charging stations.
With the Mazda MX-30, you can truly experience an effortless drive on what is seen as the new standard for an electric SUV. Enjoy freestyle doors, a spacious interior, and unique technology.
Overview
The Mazda MX-30 EV is seen as a downright bizarre and odd car. Everything about it is strange, including the interior, the price of the vehicle, the doors, the market positioning, the minimal production of the car, and even the look of the vehicle itself.
This vehicle is Mazda’s first electric car ever, and it was supposed to be a small crossover but weirdly does not come with an all-wheel drive. As written earlier, this car does not go past a hundred miles for its driving range.
This is quite strange because other electric cars cheaper than the Mazda MX-30 can go twice that for their driving range. Keep in mind that the starting price for the Mazda is $36,000.
This is not good for sales because people would instead buy a cheaper car that can go farther. With the way things are, Mazda may not be bothered about sales because, as stated earlier, there will be minimal production for the model year.
Mazda plans to make only 560 MX-30s which are to be sold only in California, with national sales to be made available later.
Features of the MX-30
We will be looking at the interior design and parts and the exterior design and details.
Interior design and parts
Center console area
Mazda calls a component the floating center console situated below the center console that allows you to store essential things you may need in the car. There are also different charging ports below the center console.
There are a couple of USB ports, and beside them, a household-style plug is an excellent feature you rarely see in the front seat of a car. A touch screen feature is situated beside the gear and is used only for your climate controls.
This is surprising as Mazda has always made it very clear how unsafe it is to use a touchscreen. There is a screen mounted on the dashboard and a center controller beside the gear used to control the screen for the infotainment system.
Gauge cluster area
One last screen in the gauge cluster allows you to display two functions that suit your taste. You can either show the speedometer or your safety features as they are being used.
Apart from the screen in the gauge cluster, there is a gauge that shows charge and power (when driving, it goes into the power mode, and when you step on the brakes, the charge mode). There is also a gas-like gauge that shows how much charge is left.
The last thing you can find in the gauge cluster is the center screen which shows how many miles you have left.
Backseat area
Moving on to the back seat, there is little to no room in the MX-30. The windows are sealed, so they cannot be rolled down. This can be very claustrophobic and causes restricted airflow because it is cramped.
The leathered seats have an armrest in the middle of the backseats, and when pulled down, you can find cup holders. There are no charging ports for passengers in the backseat, so they may have to put their phones in the front to charge.
The passenger seated at the back can control the driver’s seat using a button at the back of the driver’s seat. This can be distracting, especially when a child is seated there.
Exterior design and parts
Doors
The front doors of the MX-30 are different from the usual front doors of other cars. Usually, most front doors open halfway, but the MX-30 opens all the way (a full 90 degrees). The back doors are rear-hinged (like the BMW i3 and the Mazda RX-8).
They are called rear-hinged rear doors. The Mazda MX-30 uses environmentally friendly materials (as it is an electric car), so recycled cloth material is used for the door designs and a lot of cork material in the center console.
There is a grab handle on the door for easier reach because the doors open to a full 90-degrees and would be difficult to reach.
Cargo Area
The cargo area is pretty spacious for not so big materials. The car has a sloping roofline, so users cannot put oversized items into the cargo except the rear seats are down; how disappointing. There are ropes for the charger bag, so you do not misplace the bag.
There is a lock button at the base of the tailgate. Once this button is pressed, and the tailgate is closed, all the doors become locked—an exciting feature for a manual tailgate.
Design
The MX-30 has a long front end with a sloping back. It is a boring design for an electric car. Although, the turn signals, front signals, and backlights are shaped in a very excellent way.
When these lights and turned, they flash on and then go off subtly. This is a feature that Mazda is known to have. The vehicle’s front hood has no cargo space.
This is weird because most electric cars have cargo space in the front hood due to minimal mechanical wiring. Since the cargo space has limited space, extra room in the front would have been much better.
Final verdict
There you have it, the Mazda MX-30. It is truly a strange car with strange features. It is no doubt that some of these features will irritate users, such as the rear door part, but everything with a disadvantage has an advantage.
Maybe the MX-30 is not so bad, that is if you are willing to overlook every bit of its disadvantages. It is better to see it as an electric car used for fun than one used to transport family.
