Mazda Goes Electric: We Test Drive its New EV Powertrain
Oslo, Norway - With a smidgen over 50% of its vehicle fleet consisting of EVs, Norway is currently the country with the highest percentage of electric vehicles on the road in the world. Mazda clearly had this statistic in mind when it chose the Nordic country for an electrical technology forum to present its vision of its first electric vehicle.
The small Japanese company, which didn’t still doesn’t have any electric vehicles on the road in North America, plans to rectify that, and as soon as 2020. It will present a 100%-electric vehicle at the Tokyo Motor Show this coming October 23. Impossible to know for the moment what form this vehicle will take – might it be an SUV, a car or a crossover? We’ll have to wait and see.
A singular approach
For years Mazda has been injecting driving pleasure into everything they build, working to create a symbiosis between man and machine.
This approach was to remain for the creation of an electric vehicle. The creation of a model therefore required much reflection, because by definition an electric vehicle is generally heavy and delivers a drive that isn’t very compelling. The approach to choosing a battery therefore required a different mentality. The electric powerplant Mazda has developed operates on a 35.5-kWh battery. Placed under the floor of the vehicle and integrated into the chassis, it makes for a more-rigid structure and a reduced weight. It will develop 105 kWh (142 hp) and 195 lb-ft of torque.
The idea behind producing a smaller battery than many competitors has, according to Mazda, a few advantages. On the one hand, Mazda wants to reduce its ecological footprint by producing a smaller battery that requires less equipment for both extraction and the afterlife once the car is out of service. A smaller battery size is also lighter, so Mazda's engineers could develop a lighter and more fun-to-drive vehicle.
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