Mazda has dropped yet another video teaser of its
new EV that will debut next week at the Tokyo Motor Show. While the last video revealed
glimpses of the interior, this time we get to see fragments of the vehicle’s
exterior. As most products penned by Mazda’s designers in recent years, this
one too promises to be a looker.
The video may not show much, but it reveals a key
aspect of the EV’s styling: the sloping roofline which the automaker describes
as a “coupe-like cabin.” This gives us an important clue regarding the body
style of the first production EV to hail from Hiroshima.
We already know it’s a subcompact vehicle, so it
would make little sense for Mazda to give it a four-door coupe body as that
would mean practicality would suffer. A so-called coupe-SUV, on the other hand,
would be a more logical choice.
Factor in the fact that the company has been testing
the EV powertrain under the bodywork of a CX-30 crossover and the coupe-SUV
theory gains even more traction. The automaker says the EV features the
successful Kodo — Soul of Motion design language but also explores “new
directions more in touch with futuristic values and changing lifestyles.”
Mazda claims this new approach has resulted in an
original design that “embodies the expansion of Kodo’s expressive range.” We
also learn from Mazda that its electric vehicle adopts a unique door concept
and a front end with a “friendly expression.”
The model’s unique design will be backed by a
dedicated platform featuring an electric drivetrain consisting of an electric
motor delivering 141 HP and 265 Nm of torque,
powered by a 35.5-kWh lithium-ion battery.
