Performance & drive
What it’s like to drive, and how quiet it is
If your priority is performance, you might want to look elsewhere – the Mazda MX-30 is not a quick car. Its 0-62mph time is 9.7sec, which is pretty tepid for an electric car. The pace is fine for city driving, but out on faster roads it makes heavy work of overtaking at speeds above 40mph. By comparison, the dizzying pace of some electric SUVs – including the Kia EV6 – is in a different league.
At the other end of the performance equation is the question of how far an electric car can travel, and by the standards of the competition, ‘not very’ is the answer for the MX-30. In fact, it has the shortest battery range of pretty much any new electric car except the 24kWh battery version of the All-Electric Fiat 500.
As for the ride, it's even better than the ID.3’s. We found it quite comforting over deep callouses and it doesn’t buck about on undulating roads, which the bouncy (and potentially nauseating) DS 3 Crossback E-Tense does.
The MX-30's settled ride also helps its cornering stability. Even on bumpy roads, you can trust that it’s not going to get knocked off its line mid-bend, and the nicely judged steering is light yet accurate.
If you take it on a motorway, the range might create some anxiety, but the noise levels won’t. It’s quiet, with decently subdued suspension, wind and tyre noise. There’s just the reasonably pleasant murmur of its fake engine note when you put your foot down.
