Mazda 6e review

Some say that if you end up in prison, the first thing you should do is find the toughest inmate and give them a black eye. Well, here comes the Mazda 6e electric car to try to do something similar – square up to the strongest model in the executive class.

In case you're not in tune with our Car of the Year Awards, the key rival the 6e will be throwing punches at is our reigning executive car champion, the Tesla Model 3. It’s tough to beat because it’s well priced, good to drive and will go good distances on a full charge of its battery. 

This is somewhat unfamiliar territory for Mazda because the 6e is only the second electric car it's produced, after the MX-30 EV, and quite a shift from the now-discontinued Mazda 6. Mind you, the Japanese brand has had some help: the 6e was co-developed in conjunction with a Chinese car company called Changan.

In China, the 6e is badged the EZ-6 and it’s been on sale there since late 2024. So is the Mazda 6e good enough to trouble the mighty Model 3, and other rivals including the BMW i4, Polestar 2 and Volkswagen ID 7? While we’re still a long way off the UK launch of the 6e in summer 2026, we've already driven a European-spec car on our roads to see how it fares.

The Mazda 6e will come with a choice of two battery options, a 68.8kWh standard one and an 80kWh Long Range alternative.

The standard version has a 254bhp electric motor giving a 0-62mph time of 7.6sec, making it quick enough for most uses. It feels punchy enough from behind the wheel, although it can’t touch the entry-level Tesla Model 3 and its 0-60mph time of 5.8sec.

The smaller battery comes with an official range of 297 miles. Again, that’s down on the entry-level Model 3 (318 miles), as well as the BMW i4 (311 miles) and Polestar 2 (344 miles), but not to a drastic degree.

The 6e Long Range gets a less-powerful electric motor (241bhp) but the resulting 0-62mph time is only slightly slower, at 7.8sec. You won’t notice much of a difference between it and the standard car.

The real reason you might want to choose the Long Range comes down to (you guessed it) range, because the official figure rises to 342 miles.

That’ll be enough for a lot of buyers, but there’s no denying it’s far short of the Model 3 Long Range RWD (436 miles). It’s a similar story when you compare the 6e with the i4 eDrive40 (372 miles), Polestar 2 Long Range Single Motor (408 miles) and VW ID 7 Pro S (436 miles).

On a twisty road, the 6e is confidence-inspiring enough, but you never feel any inclination to drive it particularly spiritedly. It’s bigger and heavier than a Model 3 and it feels that way; the Model 3 offers more grip and sharper steering, although there is very little body lean in the 6e.

The compromise for that, though, is a fractious and lumpy ride. And oddly, despite the firm setup, the body isn’t very well controlled, giving an almost pogo effect over undulated roads. Indeed, the Model 3, i4 and ID 7 are all more comfortable.

On a more positive note, wind noise is well contained, even at speed, and there’s just a bit of tyre noise to contend with, so the 6e is a refined motorway cruiser. The brake pedal is nice and progressive too, making it easy to come to a smooth stop. The pedal in the Polestar 2 is grabby by comparison.

“The 6e has four settings for the regenerative braking system, but I think it’s a shame there’s no one-pedal driving mode.” – George Hill, Used Cars Writer

The driving position in the Mazda 6e is fundamentally sound, with plenty of adjustment in the seat and steering wheel. The seats are comfortable and provide decent side support, but you do perch up high for an executive car.

As a result, tall drivers might find they don’t have the best view forwards, because the windscreen is quite small and the roofline encroaches on your view. The thin windscreen pillars do help with your view slightly, but some might feel a little bit cocooned inside. While rear visibility isn’t great, you do get lots of visibility aids as standard to help with this.

User-friendliness has been a strong suit of Mazda car models for many years because it’s one of the last car makers to remain very proactive with physical buttons and dials. As such, we were a bit saddened to sit in the 6e and be presented with an infotainment touchscreen that houses almost all the car’s functions. That includes the air-conditioning, heated seats, wing-mirror adjustment and much more. 

The screen is of a decent size (14.6in) and helpfully the air-con controls are permanently displayed. It also helps that you have a customisable home screen that allows you to configure shortcut buttons. However, the screen can be a bit slow to respond to inputs and there are still too many menus to sift through in order to carry out certain functions.

For example, to adjust the level of regenerative braking, you first have to ensure the car is in its Individual mode. This can be done via the steering wheel, handily, but then you have to press the car icon on the touchscreen, then the section for driving modes, then your preferred intensity setting. 

You could argue that the Tesla Model 3 is just as screen-centric, and you’d be right, but we found the 6e's system fiddlier to use. 

On the plus side, the 6e does have a 10.2in digital driver’s display, which you don’t get in the Model 3. While it’s sharp and crisp to look at, it’s not as configurable as the setup in the Polestar 2.

Another area Mazda has typically aced is interior quality, and fortunately we have good news here. The 6e looks and feels premium inside – more so than the Hyundai Ioniq 6 and, by smaller margins, the Model 3 and VW ID 7. It even gives the Polestar 2 a run for its money, thanks to plenty of suede material on the dashboard and doors, as well leather on the centre console and armrests.

“I can see long-time Mazda owners being particularly disappointed with how reliant the 6e is on its touchscreen.” – Oliver Young, Reviewer

Up front, taller passengers should have no complaints inside the Mazda 6e. And in the back, there’s plenty of head and leg room on offer, but there is an issue with the seating position. You see, because of the battery being located under the floor, the footwell is very shallow, so rear passengers will find themselves sitting with their knees raised, almost in a squatting position. The VW ID 7 is a more comfortable car in the back.

The cubby spaces are pretty accommodating, with the door bins and the space under the central armrest being of a good size. There’s also a large space below the centre console, as well as a small space below the rear-seat air vents that can take your phone, wallet or other small items.

Speaking of storage, the 6e's boot space measures 466 litres in volume, making it bigger than that of the Tesla Model 3 (425 litres) but not the ID 7 (536 litres). It’s a conveniently rectangular shape and the hatchback opening means loading large items should be an easy task.

Like the Model 3, the 6e has a front boot (frunk). At 72 litres, it’s smaller than the Model 3’s frunk (88 litres) but still a good size. It’s big enough to accommodate the charging cables or a rucksack or two. The ID doesn't have a front boot.

The 6e's back seats fold down in a 60/40 arrangement. Many electric cars – including the Hyundai Ioniq 6, Polestar 2 and Model 3 – have the same split, but the BMW i4 and the ID 7 offer a more flexible 40/20/40 split as standard.

“There’s effectively no underfloor storage in the 6e's boot but I don’t mind too much because it has a decent-sized frunk.” – Oliver Young, Reviewer

Pricing has yet to be announced for the Mazda 6e, but we expect list prices to start from around £42,000. If that's the case, the 6e will be more expensive than the Tesla Model 3 but cheaper than the BMW i4, Polestar 2 and VW ID 7. The Mazda 6e Long Range is likely to cost about £2000 more. 

As for trims, there are two available: Takumi and Takumi Plus. Both are very well-equipped.

Takumi gets creature comforts including faux-leather upholstery, heated front seats, a panoramic sunroof, a 360-degree surround-view camera, a 14-speaker Sony sound system and a powered tailgate. Takumi Plus adds Nappa leather and a sunshade for the sunroof. 

With the smaller battery, the 6e can charge at 165kW, which is similar to the entry-level Model 3 (170kW) but bested by the i4 (200kW) and Ioniq 6 (220kW). A 10-80% charge is achievable in around 24 minutes.

The 6e Long Range has a battery with different chemistry (nickel manganese cobalt, as opposed to lithium iron phosphate with the standard-range car, if you’re interested), so it has a slower maximum charging speed of 90kW. The 10-80% charge time is around 47 minutes.

The 6e was awarded a full five-star safety rating by Euro NCAP, with particularly good scores in the adult and child occupant protection categories. All cars come with plenty of safety kit as standard, with features such as rear cross-traffic alert, blind-spot monitoring and rear collision warning. 

The 6e is a while away from going on sale in the UK, let alone appearing in our What Car? Reliability Survey. To give you a steer on dependability, Mazda finished in 15th place out of 30 brands in the manufacturer section – below BMW (sixth) and Tesla (seventh) but above Audi (22nd) and Volkswagen (24th). We'll have to wait and see how the 6e does.

Mazda's warranty lasts for six years or 100,000 miles, which is better than the cover from Hyundai, Tesla and VW. It can't quite match Kia's seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty, though. The battery has a separate warranty that lasts for up to eight years.

“The slow charging speed would put me off the 6e Long Range. It can only travel 45 miles farther than the standard car officially and you’ll be waiting much longer at charge stops.” – George Hill, Used Cars Writer

Buy it if…

- You want a smart, high-quality interior

- You like a car with lots of standard equipment

- You want a hatchback boot opening

Don’t buy it if…

- You value ride comfort

- You want a car with lots of physical buttons

- You regularly carry passengers in the back

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