Japanese manufacturers often have an idiosyncratic view of the future of the automobile. For example, there is Toyota that is probably more likely to fall on its sword than to admit that the self-charging hybrid is not the answer, joined by Honda that built just about the cutest EV in the world and then called it a day. Mazda can join those two seamlessly, because that is officially the only brand in the world that would rather invest a budget in a Wankel engine for its electric car than in a larger battery pack … although there is a good reason behind it.
Matter of thinking
In a conversation with the American Green Car Reports, Jeffrey Guyton, the CEO of Mazda USA, dropped that electric cars with an ever-increasing driving range are not the future. That is what customers are asking for now, but according to Guyton they do it because they are still too deeply rooted in the mindset of a car with a combustion engine. The CEO predicts that owners who have lived with such a large battery EV for a while will realize that they simply never use the majority of the driving range. When they start looking for a new car, according to Guyton, there is a good chance that they will go for a cheaper model with a smaller battery.
That’s an interesting theory, especially in light of Mazda’s recent promises. For example, the Japanese want to develop a complete range of pure electric cars between 2028 and 2030, and there will also be models with a large driving range. So the CEO doesn’t just say this to justify the fact that their only EV, the MX-30, currently doesn’t even get 200 kilometers on a full battery, but because he probably really believes this. And if the infrastructure can keep up, then there might be something in it.
