Mazda MX-30: range, battery & charging

The MX-30 is fitted with a 35.5kWh battery, which seems small next to those of rivals like the ORA Funky Cat (46kWh) and Peugeot E-2008 (51kWh). However, according to Mazda, this size of battery offers the best compromise between the environmental costs of manufacturing and benefits to the consumer.

We’re not entirely convinced by this rhetoric, though, as while the MX-30’s smaller battery means it contains less rare earth minerals like lithium and cobalt, it does limit its use solely as a second car, rather than something you can use as your main family vehicle. This means that you’ll likely have to buy another car, which seems a bit counterintuitive as that would result in a much greater environmental impact than just owning one car with a larger battery. That said, many households require a second car that has a relatively short daily mileage, which the Mazda’s realistic 100 miles range will easily cover.

If range is your main concern and you’re set on getting an MX-30 as you’re only transport, Mazda now also offers the R-EV range extender hybrid model. While we won’t go into too much detail about that here – we only cover full BEVs on DrivingElectric – Mazda says the wankel-engined MX-30 R-EV will do up to 400 miles with a full tank of petrol and a fully-charged battery. One thing worth noting is that given this model is essentially a plug-in hybrid, it won’t attract many of the benefits of owning a full EV, including road tax exemptions and ultra-low company car tax – although its 53 mile EV range means its rated at a still respectable eight percent BiK for business users..

Mazda MX-30 range

The Mazda MX-30’s somewhat ungenerous 35.5kWh battery results in a rather measly 124-mile range, which is roughly the same as what you’d get in an entry-level Fiat 500e – a car that, with Fiat’s new E-Grant offer, costs around £6,000 less than the Mazda. That’s not even mentioning similarly-priced competitors like the Peugeot E-208 which can manage up to 248 miles on a charge, as well as the more spacious Kia Soul EV Urban that claims 171 miles before needing to be plugged in.

Of course, these are all ‘best-case scenario’ figures, meaning you’ll be lucky to return around 100 miles on a charge in the MX-30 given typical UK weather conditions. That’s fine for the average commute, but you’ll inevitably be charging the Mazda much more frequently than you would other EVs.

Charging time

One of the benefits of a small battery is quick charging: the MX-30 can achieve an 80% top-up from a 50kW public rapid charger in little under half an hour, which is great news given the Mazda’s range is.

Even drawing power from a home wallbox, the Mazda will be fully juiced in less than six hours, so it'll be easy to get your charging done within the window for off-peak electricity. If you're caught short, the MX-30 will take 15 hours to charge using a three-pin cable plugged into a regular domestic socket.