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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EV sales kept up their momentum in December 2024, with incentives playing a big role, according to the latest Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book report.
December’s strong EV sales saw an average transaction price (ATP) of $55,544, which helped push the industry-wide ATP higher, according to Kelley Blue Book. The December ATP for an EV was higher year-over-year by 0.8%, slightly below the industry average, and higher month-over-month by 1.1%. Tesla ATPs were higher year-over-year by 10.5%.
Incentives for EVs remained elevated in December, although they were slightly lower month-over-month at 14.3% of ATP, down from 14.7% in November.
EV incentives were higher by an impressive 41% year-over-year and have been above 12% of ATP for six consecutive months. Strong sales incentives, which averaged more than $6,700 per sale in 2024, were one reason EV sales surpassed 1.3 million units last year, according to Cox Automotive, a new record for volume and share.
(My colleague Jameson Dow reported yesterday, “In 2024, the world sold 3.5 million more EVs than it did in the previous year … This increase is larger than the 3.2 million increase in EV sales from the previous year – meaning that EV sales aren’t just up, but that the rate of growth is itself increasing.”)
Kelley Blue Book estimated that in December, approximately 84,000 vehicles – or 5.6% of total sales – transacted at prices higher than $80,000 – the highest volume ever. KBB lumps gas cars and EVs together into this luxury vehicle category, so this is where Tesla Cybertruck is slotted.
However, Tesla bundles sales figures of Cybertruck with Model S, Model X, and Tesla Semi(!) into a category it calls “other models,” so we don’t know for sure exactly how many Cybertrucks Tesla sold in Q4, much less in December. However, Electrek‘s Fred Lambert estimates between 9,000 and 12,000 Cybertrucks were sold in Q4, and that’s not a stellar sales figure.
What will January bring when it comes to EV ATPs? What about tax credits? Check back in a month and I’ll fill you in.
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Tesla is now claiming that Cybertruck was the ‘best-selling electric pickup in US’ last year despite not even reporting the number of deliveries.
There’s a lot of context needed here.
As we often highlighted, Tesla is sadly one of, if not the most, opaque automakers regarding sales reports.
Tesla doesn’t break down sales per model or even region.
For comparison, here’s Ford’s Q4 2024 sales report compared to Tesla’s:
You could argue that Tesla has fewer models than Ford, and that’s true, but Tesla’s report literally has two lines despite having six different models.
There’s no reason not to offer a complete breakdown like all other automakers other than trying to make it hard to verify the health of each vehicle program.
This has been the case with the Cybertruck. Tesla is bundling its Cybertruck deliveries with Model S, Model X, and Tesla Semi deliveries.
Despite this lack of disclosure, Tesla has been able to claim that the Cybertruck has become “the best-selling electric pickup truck” in the US in 2024:
It very well might be true. Ford disclosed 33,510 F-150 Lightning truck deliveries in the US in 2024 while most estimates are putting Cybertruck deliveries at around 40,000 units.
Those are global deliveries, but Tesla only delivered the Cybertruck in the US, Canada, and Mexico in 2024, and most of the deliveries are believed to be in the US.
However, there’s essential context needed here, as we highlighted in our recent ‘Tesla Cybertruck sales are disastrous‘ article.
First off, Tesla had a backlog of over 1 million reservations for the Cybertruck that it has been building since 2019. This led many to believe Tesla already had years of demand baked in for the truck and that production would be the constraint.
However, based on estimates, again, because Tesla refuses to disclose the data, Cybertruck deliveries were either flat or down in Q4 versus Q3 despite Tesla introducing cheaper versions of the vehicle and ramping up production.
Again, that’s after just about 40,000 deliveries.
Furthermore, with almost 11,000 deliveries in Q4 in the US, Ford more likely than not outsold Cybertruck with the F-150 Lightning in Q4.
Electrek’s Take
Tesla is in damage control here. There’s no doubt that it is having issues selling the Cybertruck.
Inventory is full of Cybertrucks and Tesla is now discounting them and offering free lifetime Supercharging.
Tesla is great at ramping up production, and it’s clear the Cybertruck is not production-constrained anymore. It is demand-constrained despite having over 1 million reservations.
Again, those reservations were made before Tesla unveiled the production version, which happened to have less range and cost significantly more.
The upcoming cheaper single motor version should help with demand, but I have serious doubts Tesla can ramp this program up to more than 100,000 units in the US.
As a reminder, Tesla installed a production capacity of 250,000 units annually and Musk said he could see Tesla selling 500,000 Cybertrucks per year.
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