Mazda MX-30 Review (2020-present)

What is the Mazda MX-30?

The Mazda MX-30 is a hatchback-SUV crossover with very few direct rivals. It is offered as a pure electric model with an official range of 124 miles from a 35.5kWh lithium-ion battery, or as a range extender (called the MX-30 R-EV). The latter has a smaller 17.8kWh battery for an electric range of around 50 miles, and uses an 830cc rotary petrol engine to charge the battery when needed, boosting the car's overall range to around 380 miles from a full battery charge and a full tank of fuel.

It’s not the fastest EV going, as the 0-62mph time of 9.2 seconds in the full EV version and 9.4 seconds in the R-EV suggest.

Mazda's aim is that the MX-30 attracts buyers with its quirky-but-classy exterior styling and a smart interior complete with retro-inspired design and cork inserts. It's an unusual car, and not without a certain appeal, although you don't need to look too hard to find compromises compared with more conventional small crossovers.

How practical is it?

The unusual design means the front doors have to be open to release the back doors, but you’re left with a pillarless opening to slide into the rear seats more easily. The downside is that you can end up trapped between the two open doors if you’re, say, trying to get a child out in a narrow parking space.

Rear legroom is also quite limited, despite the fact that the Mazda MX-30 is usefully bigger car than the Honda e and even the Peugeot e-208. It’s actually a similar size to a Ford Focus, a Volkswagen ID.3, or a Nissan Leaf, but there’s much less room for (up to three) rear passengers than you get in those ‘proper’ family hatchbacks.

The MX-30’s boot is a reasonable size, though. At 366 litres and with a useful, squared-off floor, it’s similarly to that of a proper family hatchback, and will accommodate more luggage a Vauxhall Corsa-e or a Peugeot e-208. There’s no underfloor cable storage in the Mazda MX-30, though, nor any space in the nose of the car, which is something that many EVs offer, including the BMW i3.

The front of the cabin is one of the highlights. There’s a comfortable driving position, and the materials are solid and smart, particularly the cork inserts, which really stand out. This harks back to the fact that Mazda was once a cork manufacturer. The cork is said to be sustainably sourced, as are the recycled plastic materials and textiles dotted around the cabin, and it all strikes a happy note of classy yet understated.

What's it like to drive?

Both versions of the MX-30 are peachy to drive. It might not be fast, but acceleration is good at anything up to motorway speeds, and the light steering responds precisely.

The five brake regeneration modes are easy to toggle through via the paddles on the wheel. They vary from entirely off, so you can freewheel cleanly (best for efficiency on open roads) to very strong braking as you lift off the throttle, which will help to improve driving range around town. It doesn’t quite deliver one-pedal driving like the Nissan Leaf, though.

The ride is cushy much of the time and, while there’s some heavy thumping over potholes, and noticeable body lean in corners, the MX-30 is still one of the most comfortable EVs in the class. More than that, it feels fluid and natural to drive, whether you’re rushing around suburbia or enjoying a good country road.

In the R-EV model you can detect when the rotary engine fires into life to maintain battery charge, but it's not an unpleasant noise and the engine itself is extremely smooth, sending virtually no vibrations through the cabin. This model offers three drive modes: in hybrid mode the car decides when to engage the petrol engine, while in EV mode it'll run in electric mode only, and in charge mode the range extender engine switches on to charge the battery.

Technology, equipment & infotainment

Equipment levels are extremely good in the Mazda. Even in the cheapest of the four trims you get touchscreens and infotainment equipment, 18-inch alloys, automatic wipers, and LED lights as well as a reversing camera, front and rear parking sensors and adaptive cruise control. Traffic sign recognition and lane-keep assist are also included. It even gets a head-up display and a blind spot warning system, which are features for which you’ll typically pay extra most alternatives. You’ll have to go for a higher spec trim for keyless entry, a sunroof, adaptive headlights, part-leatherette upholstery, or a 12-speaker Bose sound system.

There’s a high-set touchscreen system that includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satnav, Bluetooth, digital radio and just about all the digital features you’d want – on every MX-30 trim. It looks smart and – thanks to a straightforward layout and the option of a rotary controller with shortcut buttons – is easy to use.

The second touchscreen – it’s mounted lower down on the dash and operates climate control – looks high-tech, and is also easy to use even if, ironically, the screen is almost entirely unnecessary. The temperature adjustment is easiest with the physical switches that line the screen. Either way, the simple, modern dashboard looks great, and is much more user friendly than the fiddly layouts in rivals such as the Peugeot e-208.

Mazda MX-30 running costs

The Mazda MX-30 has a tough job to justify itself in this price range. New, it goes up against everything from the Nissan Leaf to the Peugeot e-208, the Renault Zoe, the Hyundai Ioniq, the Kia e-Niro, the Honda e, to the MINI Electric. It’s a very crowded price arena for pure electric cars, but much of it comes down to monthly finance prices and the Mazda is very competitive on that front.

Charging is easy, thanks to the Mazda app or the menus in the car’s touchscreen; you can plug in whenever you get home, and the car will only charge during your chosen overnight hours. Time it right, and that can halve the cost of a charge during peak hours.

Service intervals are every 12,500 miles or 12 months, which is a little disappointing, because a number of rivals have longer intervals. Costs are competitive and you can opt for fixed price servicing. Insurance costs are similar to those of a family hatchback, such as a Ford Focus or a Nissan Leaf, if a little higher than those on a Honda e.

Depreciation, however, has not been the Mazda's friend. You can pick up pure EV versions at a year old for around half their original price. While R-EV models seem to be holding their value a bit better, you can still expect to lose around a third of the car's value in the first year. On the flip side, this makes the MX-30 look like something of a bargain on the used market.

Mazda MX-30 reliability

The Mazda MX-30 sits on an all-new platform, complete with new battery and electric motor technology, and we’ll have a better idea of how that fares when it’s a bit more tried and tested.

Mazda in general though does have a good reputation for reliability. It came a respectable 16th out of 31 manufacturers included in the 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey.

The Mazda MX-30 comes with a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty, and the lithium-ion batteries are covered for eight years and 100,000 miles.