Of all things that the Mazda MX-30 could do better, the video above presents one we could not expect. We have already told you its battery pack is just too small, which makes it evident it was conceived to be a plug-in hybrid. In Japan, it is even sold with a regular engine. Yet, we had no idea that the MX-30 did not heat its battery pack in cold weather.
The YouTube channel MrLongraphics brought us the information in a video that does not start as if it was going to mention that. The presenter talks about the car's build quality – which would be fantastic – and why the criticism about access to the back seats is not valid, in his opinion.
A little later, he also mentions that the small battery pack offers a 200-km range in the summer but can only run about 160 km with a full charge in cold weather, which drops to 143 km with the heating on. Considering how cold the weather can be in Norway – one of the major EV markets in the world – the small battery pack is even more evident there.
But that did not end the things MrLongraphics had to say about the car. In the presenter’s opinion, Mazda contradicts itself when it says a small battery pack saves on carbon emissions and then decides to put a range extender in the vehicle.
As we have already discussed, it was, in fact, conceived like the Hyundai Ioniq: to present a great variety of propulsion systems. Presenting its electric-only version was just a marketing strategy or an issue in developing the rotary engine developed to be its range extender. The MX-30 is already sold as a mild hybrid in Japan, with a 2-liter gas engine under the hood as its main propulsion system.
According to the video presenter, the MX-30 version with a range extender will have a short life in Norway, where vehicles with combustion engines will not be sold from 2025 on. At this point, he complains about the heating for the battery pack.
He set it up to start about half an hour before driving. When he took the car out, he got the message that acceleration was limited because the high-voltage battery temperature was low. While the cabin was ok, the gauge for battery pack temperature confirmed that.
That made him also lose the regenerative braking. On icy roads, it helps electric cars behave like if they had engine braking and avoid using the brake pedals. Six commenters in the video confirmed they also have the issue.
It seems Mazda forgot to give the MX-30 a battery pack heating system. It only warms up in use, far from ideal for buyers in cold climates. We will contact the company to try to learn more about that.