Mazda MX-30

Tell me about it

It’s not often that a car comes along that does things truly differently to everyone else – but the MX-30 is one of them. Half coupe, half compact SUV, the MX-30 is a Nissan Qashqai-sized car with a price tag to match – but does away with two ‘proper’ rear doors in an attempt to look a bit… well, more interesting.

You won’t find any conventional engines under the MX-30’s bonnet either: there’s the choice of either a fully electric version, or a plug-in hybrid that uses a rather unusual petrol engine to help it along. We’ll come on to both of those later…

Despite the zany looks, it’s based on the same underpinnings as Mazda’s 3 and CX-30 – so in effect, it should be as nimble and comfortable behind the wheel as those are too.

Exterior

Where do we start? Imagine the MX-30 as a sort of taller, chunkier three-door coupe and you’ll get an idea of what Mazda was aiming for when it put pen to paper. So, you get all the traits of a high-riding crossover – like the Qashqai – mixed with the rakish roofline of a coupe.

At first it seems like an odd mix, but it does sort of work: particularly if you opt for a contrasting roof colour. It’s all tied together with some rather nice details, too. We like the exposed three-dimensional rear lights, and the silver Mazda badging on the rear quarters of the car are neat, too.

Then we get to the doors. Rather than disrupt that coupe-like side profile by including two proper rear doors, Mazda has included some backwards-opening miniature ones instead. They’re a fun idea, until you actually have to use them.

They can’t be opened without first opening the front doors – which is a bit uncouth in itself – and it’s only really possible to get into the back seat if you have space to open both sets of doors fully.

Interior

Once you do manage to clamber in, though, the MX-30’s interior is a nice place to be. That trusty Mazda, fit, finish and material quality is thankfully present here – as is its usual infotainment system.

Everything’s been given a little twist too, thanks to the addition of cork – yes, cork – inlays across the doors and centre console. There’s also eco-friendly, recycled fabric along the tops of the doors, and plenty of other eye-catching material choices rather than the usual black plastic.

Mazda has also freed up some room beneath the ‘floating’ centre console, so you get a helpful area to chuck phones, wallets and whatever other clutter you might have.

As for the driving position, it’s higher than in the regular 3 hatchback, but as the dash and tops of the doors are higher, you still feel cocooned inside the car rather than perched on top of it.

Rear space, on the other hand, is pretty limited. You can fit two adults in the back seats, but they won’t be having much fun – particularly after the ordeal of clambering in. They’ll also get a pretty limited view of the outside world, with just a tiny porthole-like window to peer out of.

Technology and equipment

Mazda has really got into its stride when it comes to proper, functional infotainment system in its cars. The MX-30 gets Mazda’s latest system, featuring a decent-sized screen perched on the top of the dashboard, and a set of buttons and rotary controls for it well within your arm’s reach.

There’s also an excellent head-up display as standard, which projects speed, sat nav directions and safety warnings onto the windscreen in front of you. Less clever are the semi-digital dials in front of the driver, which can’t be configured to do much beyond showing cruise control and trip information.

Strangely though, Mazda has seen fit to fit a gigantic touch screen for its climate controls. There’s no real benefit for doing so – particularly when the MX-30 doesn’t even have dual-zone controls – but there are at least physical buttons down either side to use instead.

MX-30s also get the usual Mazda app, which is a little on the basic side, but does the job well enough. You’ll get information about its charge level – helpful when you’ve left it plugged in and wandered off for a coffee – and lets you pre-heat or cool the car on demand.

Safety and security

The MX-30 has achieved the maximum five-star EuroNCAP crash test rating, which is hardly a surprise given that the related 3 and CX-30 managed the same.

Mazda is pretty generous when it comes to bundled-in safety kit, so you’ll find blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, and various smart braking support systems as standard across the range.

Adaptive cruise control is also bundled in with all MX-30s, and here features ‘Stop & Go’ – effectively meaning that it also works in slow-moving traffic as well as at motorway speeds.

A Thatcham-accredited alarm and immobiliser are also standard, while Mazda’s app can alert you if you accidentally leave the vehicle unlocked.

Engines and performance

Here’s where things get a bit strange. You can choose from a fully electric, or plug-in hybrid MX-30 – the latter of which is rather unique.

Let’s cover the fully electric, ‘BEV’ version first though. Under its bonnet you’ll find a 143bhp motor, powering the front wheels, and under the floor is a 35.5kWh battery – giving it an official range of, er, 124 miles.

That means the MX-30 has one of the shortest ranges of any EV currently on sale. For perspective, the similarly-priced MG 4 manages 218 miles in even its cheapest version.

Mazda’s solution to this – rather than squeezing a bigger battery in – is to also offer a plug-in hybrid model alongside, called the ‘R-EV’.

The ‘R-EV’ gets a slightly more powerful, 167bhp electric motor under the bonnet and – crucially – a petrol-powered rotary engine, which acts as a sort of generator for the battery. You’re still technically driving around on electricity and battery power, but you’ve got the option to power it using petrol rather than the national grid. Make sense? Good.

It’s an interesting concept, but falls a bit flat in reality. The ‘R-EV’ also gets half the battery capacity of the ‘BEV’, meaning a range of only 53 miles before that petrol generator kicks in. What’s more, in petrol-powered mode it can’t compete with regular hybrids like the Toyota CH-R in terms of fuel economy.

Sadly, you don’t get quite the same soundtrack of an old rotary-engined Mazda either: the R-EV’s tiny petrol motor whirrs away in the background at whatever RPM it sees fit, and doesn’t sound particularly pleasant in the process.

Whichever MX-30 you pick, you do at least get all the benefits of driving around using an electric motor. Acceleration is seamless, instant and (mostly) silent. Even in the R-EV version, there’s none of the clunkiness evident in some plug-in hybrid cars, and – aside from the noise – nothing to suggest you’re not driving a fully-electric car.

Mazda has also done a reasonable job of reining in torque steer and wheel spin, two things that can blight the driving experience of some electric cars.

Ride and handling

This is perhaps the area the MX-30 properly redeems itself. It’s a car that’s great fun to drive, even if it lacks a little power compared to some of its similarly-priced rivals.

Despite its comparatively beefy size and weight, it’s great fun to pilot around a B-road, with nimble handling and pleasing amounts of steering weight and feel. It’s even pretty comfortable, with supple suspension that deals well with potholes and other bumps.

If you’re expecting hot hatch-levels of fun, though, look elsewhere. The MX-30 feels more like a tall crossover than anything else, and it’s not as nimble as a rear-wheel-drive rival like a Cupra Born.

Should I buy a Mazda MX-30?

The MX-30 is a bit of a Marmite car, to say the least. Whether you like its unusual rear doors and jacked-up coupe looks will be a matter of taste. More difficult to get your head around is the tiny 124-mile range of the fully electric model, or indeed the plug-in hybrid model’s comparative thirst for petrol.

If you’re after a fully-electric second car for your household, and don’t take rear passengers often, the MX-30 BEV is worth a look.

The R-EV, meanwhile, might make sense as a car for local journeys that occasionally has to venture further afield. Really though, your money would be better spent on either a regular petrol hybrid, or a rival electric car with a more reasonable 200+ mile range.