TOKYO MOTOR SHOW: Mazda EV will be a notchback SUV

Mazda’s first electric vehicle will be a small SUV with an unusual notchback rear-end design, says a source that has seen the ground-breaking new model.

Revealed to Mazda Motor Europe insiders ahead of its world debut at the Tokyo motor show later this month, the first Mazda EV will also feature door trims made from recycled plastic bottles and a centre console made from cork to celebrate Mazda’s origins as a cork-maker established in Hiroshima in 1920.

According to our source at the official preview in Europe, one of its key markets from 2020, the production-ready Mazda EV was presented in a bright tri-tone paint colour scheme with a black roof.

As we’ve reported, the all-new e-SUV – which could be called the Mazda E and may eventually replace the CX-3 – is part of the Japanese car-maker’s plan for full battery-electric vehicles to account for five per cent of its global sales by 2030.

However, we understand the other 95 per cent of all Mazdas sold from that decade will be powered by either mild-hybrid SKYACTIV-X or rotary range-extender powertrains.

Mazda’s small electric SUV will likely also become available with the latter, which will incorporate the unique combination of a rotary engine operating as a generator for a car’s electric motor.

We drove the Mazda EV in the form of a prototype wrapped in the body of a CX-30 last month in Norway, where car-makers will need to offer EVs if they wish to sell any vehicles post-2025, as part of the Scandinavian country’s goal to be 100 per cent emissions-free by then.

It will be powered by a relatively small 35.5kWh battery that delivers 105kW and 265Nm but is unlikely to offer more than 300km of driving range.

Mazda believes that building EVs with smaller batteries is the most energy-efficient, emissions-friendly approach, taking into account the entire life-cycle of the vehicle.

But it remains to be seen whether Australia, where most electricity is produced by coal-fired power stations and there is very little charging infrastructure -- will get Mazda’s first EV.

“Clearly EVs are coming to Australia at some point, but with the current lack of infrastructure and government incentives it’s obviously a challenge, so we’ll have to wait and see,” said Mazda Australia marketing chief Alastair Doak last month.

Mazda’s all-new electric SUV is expected to be joined by another additional e-SUV post-2020, in the form of a large SUV developed and built alongside a similar Toyota model in the US.

Mazda is also due to reveal an upgraded MX-5 at the Tokyo show.