Mazda has confirmed the official unveiling of its first mass-produced electric vehicle for the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show that’ll be held in Japan’s capital between October 25 and November 4.
The automaker has refrained from announcing any details about its EV except that it’s “a completely new model”. Prototypes that we’ve already seen wore the body of the CX-30 compact crossover over a new, electric platform, which doesn’t really say much about the production model’s actual shape.
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Not much is known about the powertrain either, although the prototypes did feature a 35.5 kWh battery pack. The range is another big unknown, yet cars usually featuring a similarly-sized battery can travel for more than 150 miles (241 km) on a single charge. That would be almost as much as you get from the new Mini Cooper SE, with the subcompact hatchback featuring a 32.6 kWh lithium-ion battery that’s good enough for an 168-mile (270-km) range.
Performance should be decent, as Mazda’s first electric vehicle is believed to pack a single electric motor, producing 141 HP (143 PS / 105 kW) and 195 pound-feet (265 Nm) of torque. Thanks to the instant response of the electric powertrain, the as-yet-unnamed zero-emission car should be fairly agile from a standstill.
Aside from the battery-electric powertrain, which will probably be aimed at markets such as Europe, China and Japan, it could also be sold with a range extender in America – and it might just be the one to bring back the rotary engine that’s been in development for a few years now and was confirmed by Mazda itself last year at the Paris Auto Show.
