2023-07-31 12:54:17
After two years of trying to sell the electric MX-30 model, Mazda will no longer have it in its model portfolio in the United States.
Although the MX-30 will continue to be sold in Japan and Europe, the Japanese automaker has announced that after 2023 it will discontinue the MX-30, the company’s first electric vehicle in the US market.
The poor EV was almost completely doomed from the start due to its paltry EPA-estimated 100-mile range, even though the MX-30 sported sleek bodywork and featured eco-friendly interior materials.
The MX-30’s battery is diminutive at about 32.0 kWh, and the 143-hp front-mounted single motor meant a paltry start of just 8.7 seconds (low for an EV) to 60 mph from a stop.
Mazda has sold 181 MX-30s in 2021, while 324 have been purchased in 2022. As of June of this year, only 66 have been sold. For the worse, the MX-30 was further hampered by being sold exclusively in California and consumers in that State have many electric models to choose from.
Mazda says its current strategy in the US focuses on plug-in hybrids, rather than fully electric vehicles. The CX-90 PHEV launched earlier this year with a 26-mile electric range, and a smaller CX-70 will arrive next year with a plug-in variant.
The MX-30 is sold in other countries not only as an EV but also as a plug-in hybrid called the R-EV with a rotary motor that acts as a range extender.
While a smaller 17.8 kWh battery gives the R-EV an even shorter range of 53 miles, the 74-hp 830cc rotary engine acts as a generator to power the electric motor.
The MX-30 is the first new rotary-powered Mazda since the RX-8 sports car, but the electric motor only makes 167 horsepower and the R-EV is on par with the lethargic performance of the EV.
Mazda initially said it would bring a rotary-hybrid version of the MX-30 to the US in early 2021, but the MX-30 R-EV is currently only available in Japan and Europe, where sales are much stronger.
A statement from the manufacturer said the MX-30 name may return, but no longer as an EV.
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