Mazda is bringing its first all-electric model to the Tokyo Motor Show next week, but before that the company teased its upcoming model in a short 15-second video. Apart from the marketing bits in the opening seconds, we do get a few shots of the car’s interior. Namely, the shot above reveals a blocky shifter supplanting the unit we’ve come to know in Mazda’s conventional models.
However, there is some familiarity as the control knobs for the car’s infotainment system look identical to the Mazda3 and the upcoming CX-30 crossover. It looks like there is a climate control screen ahead of the shifter on the center console, but it’s a bit hard to tell from this angle. We’ll have to wait until October 23 to see the rest of the car’s interior. Mazda also touted sustainable materials, showing us the seats of its electric vehicle for a brief moment.
It’s (probably) not coming to America
All its use of sustainable materials and shifter aside, Mazda’s first shot at a pure EV will come based on the e-TPV prototype. If you’re thinking about something to match the likes of Tesla, Jaguar or even the Hyundai Kona Electric, that’s not what we’ll see in Tokyo. Instead, Mazda aimed this car squarely at the urban scene, with the e-TPV producing 138 horsepower and 195 lb-ft of torque through a single electric motor, fed from a 35.5-kWh battery pack. Optimistically, that should put its range somewhere in the 150 mile range, but nothing near what we’ve come to expect from longer-range models.
Since it is such a short range model, it’s not likely this Mazda will make it to the U.S. market. That said, if and when a rotary range extender arrives, that may change the situation. Then, we’d have something similar to the BMW i3, and that could make it more appealing in our market.
Still, this is a crucial step for the company, as automakers gradually leave internal combustion behind in favor of electric platforms. Check out Mazda’s brief teaser below:
