Mazda restarts MX-30 100-mile EV program without rotary range extender or rationale for buying it
Mazda fans rejoice! After a brief hiatus, the Japanese automaker has brought its 100-mile range EV back to the masses … of California. Mazda shared updated pricing and available packages of the 2023 MX-30 today, but to our (somewhat reserved) surprise, without the small rotary range engine previously promised – all for an MSRP higher than its previous model.
Don’t get us wrong, we’re always excited to see fresh EV models announced, but the question that continually surfaces when discussing the Mazda MX-30 is why? Or, at the very least, why now? The Japanese automaker kicked off its entry into BEVs with this five passenger crossover in the summer of 2021, and while it was exciting to see Mazda deliver an actual electric vehicle to the United States, its specs left quite a bit to be desired.
At a lean 100-mile range, the Mazda MX-30 looked to fill a segment of low range commuter EVs that will one day be more popular (probably), but right now we’re still in a relatively young period of EV adoption when the common consumer is not properly educated on how much actual range they need, a time when range anxiety and high prices remain a major hurdle in getting combustion drivers to make the switch.
The market shared a similar sentiment, as sales of the crossover started slow and dwindled down to single monthly digits a year after launching. Only selling the EV in California didn’t do Mazda any favors either. If you’re going to try to compete in the current EV mecca of the United States, you better bring more to the table.
After selling 505 units in 2022, Mazda relayed that the MX-30 had sold out in the United States California, again showing limited faith and resources in a BEV we wondered would even return in 2023. Today we have learned that Mazda is in fact bringing the MX-30 back in 2023, but if you were hoping for more range or a lower MSRP, we’re sorry to be the ones to have to tell you that you won’t be getting them.
Mazda MX-30 arrives in CA this spring, where else unknown
Mazda shared details of the 2023 version of its MX-30 today, including its revised starting price of $34,110 – up about $700 compared to the 2022 version. That price increase would actually be quite agreeable if there were any improvement’s the the BEVs performance, but its still equipped with the same 35.5 kWh battery pack delivering approximately 100 miles of EPA range.
It does have an 8.8-inch center display and Apple CarPlay though, sooo …
For an extra $3,000, you can upgrade to the Premium Plus package, which includes a 12-speaker Bose audio system, heated steering wheel, 360° View Monitoring, and (are you sitting?) three free months of Sirius XM. What were you expecting? Upgraded performance?
It also comes in Jet Black, but you can upgrade to Gray Metallic or Ceramic Metallic for another $595 or $895 respectively. Or you can buy a Chevy Bolt EV for about $9,000 less and get an extra 150 miles of range.
The truth is, the MX-30 is essentially designed as a plug-in hybrid, but it currently lacks an engine – a vital component in hybrid performance. Its tiny battery pack even leaves room for a rotary engine that can work as a range extender, something Mazda previous shared it intended to add to the EV.
The problem is, Mazda still hasn’t introduced the rotary engine on the 2023 MX-30, so its limited range remains an almost impossible sell to consumers when there are other BEVs that go further for less of their hard earned money.
Mazda is not wrong about there being a future need for short commute EVs for work or as a second vehicle for trips around town, and that’s how the company has pitched this vehicle. However, its price remains too high to justify a purchase for many, especially as other competitors like GM and Hyundai Motor Group are reaching a sweet spot at, or in some cases, well below $40k.
We’ve asked the automaker about the missing rotary engine and if it plans to sell this bad boy outside of California, here’es the response we got:
We have no update to share on the US availability of MX-30 PHEV. Globally, Mazda introduces models and powertrains to markets based on a multi-solution strategy that considers regional differences in energy production, environmental regulations, and customer needs. In the U.S., we’re currently focused on electrifying our upcoming CX-90 and CX-70 that will debut this year.
For now, California residents can expect to see the 2023 MX-30s rolling out to Mazda dealerships this spring. How many the company intends to sell before declaring this year’s model sold out also remains a mystery at this point, but 505 units shouldn’t be a difficult benchmark to surpass … or perhaps it will be.
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Environment
A lesson for the West? Japan was better prepared than most for China’s rare-earth mineral squeeze
Bulldozer scoop soil containing various rare earth to be loaded on to a ship at a port in Lianyungang, east China’s Jiangsu province on September 5, 2010, for export to Japan.
Str | Afp | Getty Images
Japan has been quietly blazing a trail for supply chain resilience.
Long before China in early April imposed an export ban on several rare earth elements and magnets widely used in the automotive, robotics and defense sectors, Japan became something of a canary in the coal mine for Beijing’s mineral dominance.
The East Asian country was thrust into panic mode in 2010 when China implemented an export ban on rare earths that specifically targeted Tokyo following a heated territorial dispute.
The embargo only lasted for around two months, but it was enough to incentivize the world’s fourth-largest economy to change its approach to supply chain security.
Alongside stockpiling, recycling and promoting alternative technologies, Japan has since invested heavily into non-China rare-earth projects — notably Australia’s Lynas, the world’s largest rare earth producer outside of China.
As a result, Japan’s overall dependence on Chinese rare earths has dropped to below 60% from more than 90% at the time of the incident, according to data provided by Argus Media.
Jonathan Rowntree — CEO of Niron Magnetics, which produces rare earth-free permanent magnets — said the U.S.-based company was born a decade ago following the world’s first rare earth crisis that “had a particularly significant impact on Japan, albeit less so on the rest of the world.”
“Because of that, Japan’s actually much more prepared this time around than most other countries,” Rowntree told CNBC by email.
“They’ve stockpiled more, invested in Lynas, and secured Western rare earth supply to meet some of that demand through a combination of Lynas, the Australian mines, and their Malaysian processing facility,” he added.
Japan reportedly plans to further reduce its reliance on Chinese rare earth imports to below 50% this year. CNBC has reached out to the Japanese government for comment.
A worker prepares to tie up the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp.’s (JOGMEC) marine resources research vessel, Hakurei, at a pier in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, March 21, 2012.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
China is the undisputed leader of the critical minerals supply chain, producing nearly 70% of the world’s supply of rare earths from mines and processing almost 90%, which means it is importing these materials from other countries and refining them.
Western officials have repeatedly flagged Beijing’s supply chain dominance as a strategic challenge, particularly given that critical mineral demand is expected to grow exponentially, as the clean energy transition picks up pace.
Japan’s supply chain transformation is seen as both a template for Western nations — and a stark reminder of just how difficult it is to escape China’s critical mineral orbit.
Further to go?
Japan has enjoyed success through Lynas and its international supply chains by not only investing in rare earth mining but also in the facilities needed to process and refine the materials into usable goods, according to Nils Backeberg, founder and director at consultancy Project Blue.
Still, the country has a long way to go to cut its dependency on China in some key areas, Backeberg told CNBC. This is especially true for heavy rare earth elements, which are generally less abundant in the Earth’s crust, elevating their value.
The Lynas Rare Earths Ltd. processing plant in Kalgoorlie, Australia, on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. Lynas Rare Earths explores and mines for rare earth minerals such as cerium and neodymium.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
“Not a lot of heavy rare earths come out of Lynas, and most of the ones that do actually get sent to China for further refinement,” Backeberg said, adding that China’s latest export ban underscores Beijing’s importance in heavy rare earths.
But Lynas has continued to make progress in this area. Over the past month or so, the company has announced breakthroughs in two heavy rare earths, claiming to have produced them outside China for the first time.
‘A real problem’
China’s latest rare earth export curbs were implemented as part of a response to U.S. President Donald Trump‘s tariff increase on Beijing’s products.
“When the tariff war started and tariffs were put on China, the first thing that China did was say ‘we’re going to stop exporting rare earths.’ A few weeks later, we couldn’t manufacture a car in America or in Europe, so it is a real problem,” Eldur Olafsson, CEO of Greenland-focused mining company Amaroq, told CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition” on Thursday.
“No country in the Western world wants one country to corner the market,” Olafsson said.
Western auto industry groups have been hit particularly hard by the export curbs, with many increasingly concerned about production outages.
Ivan Espinosa, chief executive officer of Nissan Motor Co., speaks during an interview at the company’s headquarters in Yokohama, Japan, on Thursday, May 15, 2025.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The disruption also extended to Japanese automakers. Suzuki Motor suspended production of its popular Swift car model earlier this month, with local media attributing the step to China’s rare earth export restrictions. A Suzuki Motor spokesperson did not respond to a CNBC request for comment.
Meanwhile, Japanese car giant Nissan said it was exploring ways to minimize the impact of China’s export controls by working with Japan’s government and the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.
“We need to continue finding alternatives for the future, keeping flexibility and keeping our options open,” Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa told CNBC earlier this month.
A push for alternatives
Looking ahead, Niron Magnetics’s Rowntree said an all-encompassing government and industry approach would be needed to tackle China’s mineral dominance, from accelerating permits for domestic mines to investing in new alternatives to provide sufficient magnet supplies.
“Everyone has seen that this supply bottleneck is an issue. We’ve all known for a long time that this could happen, but now it has actually happened,” Rowntree said.
“I think many customers share my view — that this issue is unlikely to disappear and that we need to have alternatives in the West to address it.”
Europe’s domestic production of rare earths is limited. Just like the U.S., the region heavily relies on imports, particularly from China, although plans are underway to develop domestic resources and processing capabilities.
For instance, Belgian chemical group Solvay, which operates the largest rare earths processing plant outside of China in La Rochelle, France, aims to supply 30% of Europe’s processed rare earths demand for permanent magnets by 2030.
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Gracelin Baskaran, director of the critical minerals security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think tank, said the U.S. and European Union will need to work together to create a market for non-Chinese rare earths.
“The West is creating a nascent rare earths industry outside of China at a time when prices are low and companies are grappling with profitability,” Baskaran told CNBC by email.
Tax credits and subsidies will be “essential” to ensure that non-Chinese projects can build and scale up, Baskaran said, noting that rare earths go into nearly every modern industry.
HOLMS Attachments has made it easier for heavy equipment fleets to electrify with a new sweeper attachment that’s equipped with its own power source, freeing it from the need for a mechanical or battery (e) PTO.
Commercial trucks do more than just move people and things from place to place – special implements like street sweepers, cherry pickers, and tow beds mean they do real work, as well. But the attachments, implements, and even utility bodies being upfitted onto these trucks were largely developed for diesel platforms. They typically get juice from hydraulics or other power take-off (PTO) systems that typically take the form of a splined drive shaft powered directly by the ICE.
BEVs work differently, and have to draw on their battery power to operate these tools. That takes away which takes away from both the range and performance of the EVs in question. Adding to the complexity, some of these attachments are still mechanically driven, requiring an electrically-driven spline shaft, or “ePTO” to operate.
The new eSL Electric Sweeper attachment from HOLMS aims to solve for all that new complexity that’s emerging as electric equipment becomes more commonplace.
“Electric equipment in general has taken a lot of different directions,” said Dan Snedecor, President and General Manager of HOLMS Attachments. “We realized, let’s not use the power from the machine, because keeping up with that will be even harder than keeping up with the different style hooks and hydraulic systems.”
Developed for the electric equipment needs of the near future, HOLMS’ eSL optimizes the uptime of your electric vehicle or equipment asset so you can complete more tasks between charging sessions.
“Our theory is this will be kind of like an electric drill that we all have at home, where you leave it plugged in until you need it. You go out, you use it, and then you put it back on the charger when you’re done,” Snedecor told Equipment Journal. “The real benefit of that will be the end users don’t need machines that have extra hydraulic functions necessarily.”
The prototype sweeper is controlled from the cab of the wheel loader via Bluetooth and is equipped with a 10 kWh, 48V li-ion battery pack that’s good for three-and-a-half hours of runtime on a single charge. HOLMS says the sweeper’s battery can be recharged in about 90 minutes.
Electrek’s Take
Bobcat was arguably the first big equipment company to start rethinking the way implements would work on electric machinery that didn’t have a reciprocating engine at its core, but the replacement of hydraulics and PTOs with servos and gears seems to be well under way.
We’re here for it.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Equipment Journal, HOLMS.
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We’ve been big fans of highly capable LSVs for a while here on Electrek, and the newest Cushman Hauler XL ELiTE electric utility vehicle keeps that trend alive with an extra-long, 68.5″ aluminum bed for even more cargo-hauling capability.
The Cushman Hauler XL ELiTE’s truck-like layout, functional dash, and familiar, car-like controls make it easier to operate than an ATV with a trailer, while its 1,200 lb. bed load capacity and 1,600-pound payload capacity (plus 1,500 lb. towing capacity) beat the pants off the classic, 00’s-era Ford Ranger pickup’s 1,140 lb. payload capacity.
The Cushman’s flatbed can be upgraded to add steel drop sides, an aluminum box bed (shown, above) and other custom upfit solutions that enable fleet operators to perfectly tailor the Hauler’s capabilities to their specific needs.
You already know how to drive it
The Hauler XL features a “twin pack” of two 56.7V, 4.2 kWh ELiTE lithium-ion batteries (8.4 kWh total) developed by Samsung SDI. The batteries are expected to be good for between four to eight hours of operation, depending on load, and are backed by a 5-year battery warranty.
What’s more, the newest Cushman features a technology that’s commonplace in cars and trucks, but still incredibly rare in the world of UTVs: regenerative braking.
“The Hauler XL … is an industry leader in bed size, vehicle rating and bed load capacity,” says Adam Harris, vice president and general manager of Cushman and E-Z-GO. “With our five-year battery warranty and patented E-brake technology, it’s built for the most difficult jobs.”
Cushman lists the Hauler XL’s manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) at $19,989, but dealers are advertising new ones for as low as $17,398. For that money you get a day’s worth of silent, emissions-free operation and the previously-mentioned 1,200 lb. bed capacity.
Electrek’s Take
Every smart fleet manager eventually asks themselves whether they need a pickup, or a payload. When they ask that question, they’re usually trying to decide between something like a Ford Maverick and an F-150, but with vehicles like the Hauler XL ELiTE, Club Car Urban UTV, or the latest weird thing Micah Toll dredged up on Alibaba, you get the bed and the payload capacity – and you get them both for $20-30,000 less than a conventional pickup.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Cushman, via Equipment World.
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