TOKYO MOTOR SHOW: Mazda outlines EV plans

Mazda has fleshed out details of the plan – initially announced at the Los Angeles motor show last November — to release its first electrified global models from 2019.

So far the Japanese car-maker’s only electrified model is the Mazda3 hybrid, which employs a petrol-electric powertrain from the Toyota Prius, but is only sold in Japan.

But change is in the wind and Mazda has confirmed its first global electric vehicle, and all-new rotary range-extender EV, will be in production within two years.

Based on Mazda’s SKYACTIV platform and wrapped in a bespoke body, its drivetrain will be similar to that of Mazda’s experimental Mazda2 (Demio) EV, which features a compact, lightweight single-rotor engine used as a generator to power the battery pack, thereby increasing its driving range.

Soon after, by “around 2020”, Mazda will release the first in a series of plug-in hybrid vehicles, based on existing Mazda models.

Then, in 2021, the Japanese giant will launch its first pure-electric, battery powered model – another bespoke, additional EV, but this time co-developed with Toyota and Denso as part of a joint-venture project called EV Common Architecture Spirit Company (EVCAS).

Formally announced a month ago, the EVCAS plan is believed to eventually comprise a range of solid-state battery-powered models including everything from small cars to large SUVs and even light trucks.

First-up is expected to be a compact vehicle wearing different sheetmetal ‘top hat’ designs for both Mazda and Toyota.

Mazda’s powertrain development, vehicle development and product planning boss Ichiro Hirose confirmed the launch timing of these models to motoring.com.au at the Tokyo motor show yesterday.

He also confirmed Mazda plans to offer an electrified version of every model in its range by 2030. By that date, the company has promised to reduce its fleet-average “well-to-wheel” CO2 emissions to 50 per cent of 2010 levels, increasing to 90 per cent by 2050.

That commitment was contained in the ‘Sustainable Zoom-Zoom 2030’ long-term technology development vision announced by Mazda in August, when it also revealed its world-first SKYACTIV-X compression-ignition petrol engine.

Hirose-san confirmed Mazda’s patented SPCCI combustion technology, which will debut in the redesigned 2019 Mazda3, will eventually be fitted to all of the brand’s petrol engines.

The company claims that when the new Mazda3 goes on sale globally by 2020 - at which point it expects up to 95 per cent of all new vehicles to remain powered by internal combustion engines - its initial 2.0-litre SPCCI engine will deliver 30 per cent more torque and 30 per cent lower fuel consumption than the equivalent SKYACTIV-G engine.

Mazda also says it remains committed to diesel power, and plans to reveal a significant upgrade for its SKYACTIV-D engine line-up in 2019.

Apart from keeping pace with the ambitious EV plans of key mainstream brands, including Volkswagen, Mazda’s electrification strategy will allow it to continue to sell its vehicles in markets like California, where EVs will become the ‘price of admission’ for car makers.

“In light of the rapid changes taking place in the automotive industry, this new vision takes a longer-term perspective and sets out how Mazda will use driving pleasure, the fundamental appeal of the automobile, to help solve issues facing people, the earth and society,” said Mazda president and CEO Masamichi Kogai in Tokyo.

“In terms of the earth, we pledged to create a sustainable future in which people and cars coexist with a beautiful bountiful earth by achieving substantive cuts in carbon dioxide from a well-to-wheel perspective that considers emissions over the vehicle’s entire life cycle.

“In addition to reducing emissions under real-world conditions, we believe that the best way to achieve this is through a multi-solution approach that offers a mix of combustion engines and electrification technologies in view of each region’s energy situation and power sources.”

For now, Mazda’s electrification strategy does not include Australia, where the vast majority of electricity continues to be generated by coal-fired power stations and where there are no state or federal Government incentives for EV owners.

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