Mazda is accelerating its electrification plans. By 2030, a quarter of the supply must be fully electric and the other models must have ‘some form of electrification’. To achieve that goal, Mazda is working on a new EV platform: SkyActiv EV Scalable Architecture.
That SkyActiv EV platform is really specifically intended for electric cars. Mazda does not want to say much about it yet, apart from the fact that the Japanese want to use the platform from 2025 to 2030 for ‘EVs with different sizes and body shapes’. While some other manufacturers want to be fully electric by 2030, Mazda is doing it its own way. By 2030, the brand wants at least a quarter of its models to be an EV. The remainder consists of (mild) hybrids and plug-in hybrids. By then Mazda will no longer have powertrains without electrification. Currently, the MX-30 is the only EV that Mazda supplies in Europe.
Mazda is not waiting for the SkyActiv EV platform to be ready in 2025. Before that, the brand will already release new models on the SkyActiv Multi-Solution Scalable Architecture. A platform on which, as the name suggests, multiple drive technologies can be applied. Between 2022 and 2025, the brand wants to release five hybrids, as many plug-in hybrids and three EVs on that platform. It is not entirely clear what these models will look like. In any case, it is obvious that Mazda will supply several electrified powertrains per model. The Wankel engine also seems to be getting a place in it again.
Dot on the horizon
After 2030, the next dot is already on the horizon in Japan: Mazda wants to be climate neutral by 2050. Until then, however, the brand continues to invest in the combustion engine, with Mazda even launching new six-cylinder inline engines on the market. This step is particularly striking because many manufacturers today refrain from investing in the development of larger combustion engines. Mazda also sees benefits in synthetic fuels: just like Porsche, the brand is investing in research into this type of fuel.
In addition to the electrification plans, Mazda will take another step from 2022: the brand will then supply the autonomous driving system Mazda Co-Pilot in its larger models for the first time.