Mazda 6e Review by Thomas Dobie
You may or may not know that the Mazda 6e was made as a joint venture with Changan, to produce a compelling and competitively priced, large, family-friendly fastback car for European tastes. Manufactured on Changan's electric vehicle platform (shared with Deepal models), and built at the Changan Mazda manufacturing facility in Nanjing, China, the new 6e has Mazda’s exterior design, interior craftsmanship, and dynamic road tuning to provide the look and feel that Mazda fans expect.
Specs
All Mazda 6e’s in the UK come highly specified with great levels of equipment. There’s two levels; a Takumi and a Takumi Plus.
All models come with 360 camera, heated and ventilated seats, a panoramic sunroof, adaptive cruise control, and a whole host of safety systems. The Takumi Plus adds nappa leather interior, which is tan, and a sun shade for the panoramic roof. There’s also a Sony sound system as standard as well.
Prices
Prices start at just under £38,995 for a Takumi with a £1,000 uplift to the Takumi Plus trim. The car on test is a Takumi Plus with the Soul Crystal Red paint, which costs a further £1,000, but it is a stunning must-have colour, in my opinion.
Space and Practicality
The 6e does have a rather generous front storage thanks to its rear-wheel drive only set-up, meaning there is no motor up front to occupy that space. Gas struts hold up that large bonnet revealing a very useful 72 L of storage, which is more than enough room for your charging cables and much more.
At the rear of the car has a large liftback, which is a welcome departure from the saloon shape of its predecessor, making it a far more practical proposition. Open up that large liftback, which can be done via the key fob, and there’s 337 L of boot space from the floor to the underside of the parcel shelf there.
Folding the rear seats down and that extends to just over 1,000 L of boot space. It’s a rather large cavernous area, if not shallow, but there really is no storage under the boot floor. Looking around and there aren’t any tie-down hooks or anything useful in the back of the Mazda 6e. It’s a reasonably spacious hatchback rather than class leading, but at least it gets a bit of practicality with that liftback design.
Battery, Range and Charging
All Mazda 6e’s here in the UK use a 72.8 kWh battery. Mazda claims around 348 miles of range on the WLTP test cycle, but you may, or may not be aware that Europe gets another battery option with less range.
As for performance, Mazda claims around 190 kW (258 bhp) and 290 Nm of torque, and that’s good for a 0 - 60 sprint in around 7.3 seconds with a top speed limited 109 mph (175 k/ph).
The charge flap is located to the rear of the car and rapid charging is rated up to 195 kW which translated to around 10 to 80% in 24 minutes, which is very reasonable. AC charging is rated at 11 kW.
Exterior
At the front it’s undeniably a Mazda with an evolution of the previous generation Mazda 6 which was purely a combustion model. With strong Mazda design language, there’s a lot to like about this front grill, which emulates its predecessor, but now it adds some illumination to ensure it’s prominence can still be seen at night.
Mazda 6e Rear of the Year
This Mazda is a hatchback only at the moment, and when unlocking the car a little spoiler pops up. It can be set to be always up or always down, or it’s activated with speed.
There’s no rear wiper or anything on this hatchback, so it is a meant to be aerodynamic, leaving just the wind to clear the rear windscreen.
The taillights run the full width of the rear and have a rhombus-like shape going across the top. As its an EV there are no [fake] tailpipes, but it does have parking sensors in the back.
The 6e features frameless windows, which is quite a nice premium touch, but they can freeze to the door frame like all frameless windows typically do, in winter.
Interior
This Takumi Plus has a lovely suede and nappa leather interior with the tan relegated to this Takumi Plus trim. It certainly brightens up the cabin and I think with this Soul Crystal Red paint is a nice color combination.
Electric windows and mechanical door release feature all around. Staying in the back seat, the centre has the climate vents and then a little storage for a phone or something, plus a USB-C port.
The are cup holders in the armrest and ISOFIX points on the two outer seats. With the lower trim, you just get the sunroof, but no roof bline (unlike in the Takumi Plus), and the interior fabric is a leatherette material.
Fitting in the Rear
I’m 5’ 11 and there’s decent enough knee room and head room. Foot room could be better, but I have got size 11 feet, and they don’t quite fit underneath the front seat which is set in my driving position.
There’s holes below the front seat headrests to tickle the driver and passenger’s neck.
In the front we’re greeted with more of that beautiful tan suede and leather material. It’s two-toned on the steering wheel so it’s black on the outside so that should hopefully help with longevity and keep it clean for longer or at least hide dirty finger marks.
There’s two cup holders, and one wireless phone charging pad which is cooled that sits atop a floating center console. There’s also a few power outlets on one side and on the other side you’ve got a USB port.
The steering wheel is where you’re going to find most of your controls because the touchscreen is where most functionality sits, but there is a button here for your favorites so you can set that really quite a multitude of things. I have got it set up for the heated steering wheel and then the wipers, for example. You can configure even it if you want it to be lights, which are controlled through the touchscreen as well, but most of the time these will be left on auto.
Driving
This trim does have memory seats you can save all through that touchscreen there, and I notice that you do sit a decent height off the the road even though it’s a seemingly low-slung hatchback which harks back to the days of Vectras and Insignias and Mondeos. However, this slightly elevated driving position means that there is a good view out front.
The A-pillars do cause a little bit of a blind spot here, as do the C-pillars in the rear and the rear headrest which obscures vision a little — typical modern car.
When indication, the screen displays the 360 camera in the center showing the blind spot whichever way you’re indicating.
There are different driving modes, and I tested the car in individual mode so I had my regen on high, but then I prefer everything else to be more tame and this mode lets you pick and choose just how you like the car to be set up.
If I pop into sport for a moment, it accelerates hard and the throttle is very responsive. It’s got that kind of instant torque feel that;s unique to electric vehicles. I also had an EV sound turned on, so when its in sports mode it does make an engaging noise. In Normal mode it does quiten down and becomes silent.
I’ve been fortunate enough to drive the Mazda 6e in Wales, in England, and now in Scotland. So, I’ve driven it in a whole host of surfaces. And it drives quite well with a very decent ride, and it was good in the twisted bits and B roads.
It’s also comfortable enough, and it’s dynamic enough for the kind of class of car it is. It’s probably not as light on its feet in rapid acceleration than something like a Tesla Model 3.
Overall Impressions
Considering the sub £40,000 EV world for hatchbacks, it’s got a lovely interior, similar to a big, comfortable grand tourer. Real-world range is decent enough, and I’m sure you’ll get used to the touchscreen once you live with it for a few days. It’s a learning curve especially when compared to other Mazdas as there’s not as many buttons, but it does a good job with the basics.
Despite its ties with Changan, it does feel Mazda-esque enough, especially the driving, and the powertrain. It’s good. The ride, the wind noise, the adaptive cruise control, and augmented reality head-up display, I do like a lot. If you like a bit of tech in your car, this feels quite nice.
The sound system’s good as well. I don’t really have too many complaints of the way it drives. Mazda usually tick that box well, and the 6e ticks that box for me. Again, considering what it is, it’s not…
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On Sale
The Mazda 6e is on sale now priced from £38,995 for the Takumi and £39,995 for the Takumi Plus and comes with a 6 years / 100,000 miles vehicle warranty and 3 years free roadside assistance. The high voltage battery warranty is 8 years / 100,000 miles.
