Mazda has begun taking 'pre-orders' in select Europe markets for its first production electric car, the MX-30.
The model, launched at the Tokyo motor show last month, has what its maker calls 'unique freestyle' (rear hinged) doors, similar to those on the BMW i3, Honda Element, et al, and is made from 'ecological materials' with a 'right-sized battery giving a range of approximately 200km (120 miles) which Mazda claims is more than the 48km (30 miles) average daily drive of the European customer.
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Yasuhiro Aoyama president & CEO of Mazda Motor Europe said: "As with all our products, our designers and engineers had a very clear goal for our first battery electric vehicle. It had to have stand out design, be great to drive, something that is key part of our DNA and makes us unique when compared with competitors, and most importantly, make a positive contribution to reducing emission across the entire life cycle of the product."
He confirmed what the parent company said about the car at its Japanese unveiling: "Alongside the electrification technologies we are introducing across our range, being a smaller manufacturer we focused all our efforts on creating an electric car that we anticipate will be a second car where the range of our vehicle will meet customers' needs.
"Many of the media who have driven our test vehicle have said it is one of the few electric cars they have driven with the positive characteristics of a regular car."
That, of course, could also be said of Nissan's Leaf which just-auto has driven on many occasions in several European countries.
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By GlobalDataFor the MX-30's e-Skyactiv package, Mazda has rigidly integrated the battery into the vehicle body structure which enhances the overall body stiffness.
Engineers also developed an electronic sound system for the cabin which is synchronised to motor torque in sound frequency and pressure.
This, they claim, leads to less variation in vehicle speed resulting in very stable driving which is further supported by unique G-Vectoring Control (GVC) which has been expanded and uses the advantages of the electric motor (electric G-Vectoring Control Plus).
Eco-friendly materials include replacing much real leather with a vegan alternative while environment-friendly sourced cork is used in the floating centre console which provides imaginative storage space.
Deliveries start during the second half of 2020.
