With just 100 miles of range, the 2022 Mazda MX-30 has somewhat limited appeal if it’s your only car and you have long commutes or do relatively frequent road trips. So the upcoming plug-in hybrid with a rotary engine range extender will probably offer a more practical solution for those users with quick fill-ups on gasoline and greater combined range. But it seems that the tradeoff will be reduced electric range.
Why is this? Speaking with Mazda engineers, it turns out that the company has squeezed as many batteries as it can into the MX-30 electric. Adding more would require compromising interior space or placing them in areas that would be vulnerable in a collision. That means, when a gas engine is introduced – which will slot in next to the front-mounted electric motor – a fuel tank will have to go somewhere, and some batteries will need to be pulled out to make room.
Naturally, Mazda didn’t go into detail about how much battery capacity would be lost, since the hybrid isn’t slated to go on sale until sometime in 2022. While this is pure speculation, we imagine that the range-extended model will have at least half the electric capacity of the full EV, or around 50 miles, and quite possibly more. And perhaps, using the BMW i3 and its similar powertrain options as a model, 150 to 200 miles of overall range, which can of course be rejuvenated with a quick fill up at a gas station. Again, that’s just speculation on our part. We’ll have to wait for more details on ranges and more closer to the plug-in hybrid’s release next year.
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