Mazda CX-6e GT 2026 Review

For now, the Mazda CX-6e line-up is a simple one: just two grades, the CX-6e GT for $53,990 plus on-road costs (ORCs) and the CX-6e Azami flagship for $56,990 plus ORCs. Both are launching with keen drive-away pricing of $56,990 respectively in all states except Western Australia, and both ship with the same 190kW/290Nm single-motor powertrain and a 78kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery.

Those prices put it in good stead against segment stalwarts like the Tesla Model Y ($58,900 in base RWD form) and the BYD Sealion 7, which starts at a $54,990 RRP as a 2WD Premium-grade model.

Mazda doesn’t duck under those prices by stripping out content, either, with a strong standard equipment list that encompasses tri-zone climate control, a power tailgate, an enormous panoramic glass roof, voice controls, gesture controls, heated, ventilated and powered front seats, LED headlights and remote monitoring via connected services.

The infotainment package in both grades centres around a gargantuan 26.45-inch double-width panoramic touchscreen (more on that later), with integrated navigation, 23 speakers (including head restraint speakers), DAB audio and smartphone mirroring. Like a Model Y, the CX-6e forgoes a separate driver’s instrument panel, though unlike the Tesla, you do get a much more useful head-up display for things like speed, cruise control settings, navigation instructions and blind spot monitoring.

One, ahem, unique feature of the CX-6e is its ability to either let the driver communicate with those near the front of the car via a loudspeaker that amplifies their own voice, or pre-program custom messages for a synthetic voice to read out. The idea is to gently tell pedestrians to cross safely in front of you, or perhaps to politely apologise to another motorist for cutting them off, but there is absolutely no word filter on the system and it will happily pronounce all manner of profanity.

We expect that particular function to be patched out of existence, pronto.

Both the GT and Azami can also be had with an optional light-coloured interior for an extra $1000, which replaces the standard black leather upholstery with sand-coloured hide for the seat facings and a very pleasing tweed fabric for the door cards and seat shells. Meanwhile, stepping up to the Azami doesn’t add a great deal to the spec sheet, only replacing the GT’s 19-inch rollers with 21-inch alloys and deleting the conventional wing mirrors in favour of a low-drag camera-based arrangement.

Both cars offer vehicle-to-load capability of up to 3500W, though only through an accessory adaptor that plugs into the charge port.

Speaking of wattage, the 78kWh battery is good for a WLTP claim of 484km in the GT or 468km in the bigger-wheeled Azami. Charging can take as little as 15 minutes to top up from 30 to 80 per cent on a 194kW DC fast charger, while AC charge rates go as high as 11kW, which delivers an eight-hour charge time.

Design is definitely a highlight. Though the CX-6e is the product of Mazda’s joint venture with China’s Changan Automobile and is built in Nanjing, Mazda says it shares no exterior panels or glass with its sister car, and it shows. Thanks to some clever aero tricks around the bonnet and D-pillars, the CX-6e has a flatter roof than most EV SUVs and cuts a sharper figure as a result. It looks particularly sweet on the 21-inch wheels of the Azami.

Design appeal extends to the interior as well. Besides the obnoxious intrusion of that gigantic screen, the cabin furniture is nicely crafted and appointed with some pleasing materials. The optional light-coloured interior is well worth paying extra for, as it lightens up what is normally an overly black interior, and its fabric-clad panels are also rather chic. It’s useful too – there are sizeable door bins front and rear, the centre console box is deep and has a felt-lined key/coin tray, and there’s also an open shelf beneath the console with additional stowage and a couple of USB charge ports – though it would have been nice to see a rubber mat down there to stop gear from sliding about.

The rear seats are incredibly spacious and the cabin is filled with light from that huge roof (don’t worry, a retractable sunblind can block it out on sunny days), while there’s a rear control panel for the third climate-control zone. The floor is flat, the centre seat is usable by adults and it feels every bit as spacious as the CX-5 – and then some.

The driving experience is also a win. This isn’t a quick car – the 0-100km/h sprint is a leisurely 7.9 seconds – but acceleration is seamless and linear, without the nausea-inducing head-whipping that faster dual-motor EVs can generate in the hands of sloppy drivers. It doesn’t need more grunt.

Another thing it doesn’t need: the Azami’s big wheels. They look great, but they impart an unwanted brittleness to the ride. The standard 19-inchers on the GT are already on the firm side, but not overbearingly so, and it’s that – coupled with the GT’s superior range – that makes it the spec to get.

In both cars, there’s some driving joy to be found. As a platform, the CX-6e is reasonably dynamic, with a keen front end and decent grip levels (less so in the GT) that egg the driver on when the road gets curvy. There’s a smidge of throttle hang when you really push, but otherwise it’s a fun experience for such a heavy, 2.1-tonne bus.

First and foremost, that screen. It’s a classic case of bigger not being better, and in the Australian-spec CX-6e, that 26.45-inch display is pointlessly huge. The passenger side has very limited utility. Driver-distraction laws ostensibly prevent Mazda from putting things like video apps and games there, though with other marques able to do so when the car is parked, it begs the question of why Mazda hasn’t taken the same tack. In their absence, the leftmost half of that screen has almost no purpose.

The right half isn’t much better. Like the Mazda 6e, the CX-6e puts too many vehicle functions into the display in a quest to limit the number of physical switch blocks in the cabin. Fine, but while other brands like Polestar do the same thing and cluster controls intelligently within big, colourful tiles, Mazda’s system is structured more like a desktop computer, with text that’s difficult to read when under way and hitboxes that are far too small for typical human fingertips to accurately stab. Please have another crack at this, Mazda, for it dulls the sheen of an otherwise very likeable vehicle.

The rest of our qualms are fairly minor. There’s no tilt adjustment for the driver’s seat base, a strange omission that affects under-thigh support depending on your bodily proportions, and the climate control likes to fog up the glass whenever it starts raining. Oh, and there’s only one vent for the rear seat. Weird.

You can’t adjust the regenerative braking system’s strength without first selecting the Individual drive mode and then customising the regen from there, which you can only do by menu-hopping through the infotainment. There’s no one-pedal drive mode for those who prefer it, either. Another annoyance: the driver aids are, like those in many cars from the People’s Republic, overzealous to the extreme.

For a mid-size SUV, the CX-6e’s boot capacity isn’t astonishing. It measures a hatchback-like 363 litres to the bottom of the cargo cover, with meagre underfloor storage and a fairly narrow 100cm width between the boot walls. Balancing that out is an 83-litre frunk under the bonnet, which makes a better place to stow charging cables and the like, while folding the rear seats creates a 1434-litre area if you stack cargo to the roof.

Absolutely. As a package, it’s not without its faults, but as an all-electric, family-sized wagon, the CX-6e stands apart from the crowd through its agreeable handling, sharp styling, excellent cabin presentation and competitive price. The fact it comes with a Mazda badge on the nose and can be bought and serviced through that brand’s extensive dealer network is another nice-to-have.

However, we’d argue against choosing the Azami, with its brittle ride and nonsensical electronic mirrors, and we’d happily tear that screen off the dash if it wasn’t the only way to interface with some fairly mission-critical controls. Hopefully, a future update will add some polish to the infotainment experience, which would certainly add more than a few points to the CX-6e’s already very respectable final score.

2026 Mazda CX-6e GT at a glance:
Price: $53,990 plus on-road costs
Available: Now
Powertrain: Single permanent magnet synchronous motor
Output: 190kW/290Nm
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 78kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP)
Range: 484km (WLTP)
Energy consumption: 16.11kWh/100km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Unrated

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