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The company's CEO claims that affordable and reliable vehicles with combustion engines are a priority for US buyers:
Mazda is late to the electrification party. The MX-30 is far from being the roaring success the Japanese automaker had hoped it would be. It was axed from the United States at the end of the 2023 model year due to poor sales. The range-extending version with a rotary engine is only offered in certain markets, and the US is not on the list. In addition, the EZ-6 electric sedan isn't coming here either. However, the situation isn't all that bad.
Why? Because Americans primarily want gas cars. Speaking with Automotive News, Mazda CEO Masahiro Moro said ICE has a long future in America. Even at the end of the decade, traditional gas cars and mild-hybrid models will make up about two-thirds of annual sales. Plug-in hybrids and EVs will represent the remaining third. In other words, most vehicles will still have a gas engine five years from now.
Mazda's head honcho primarily referred to entry-level models, specifically the 3 and CX-30. Moro believes EV growth in the US has slowed down in the last 18 months or so, adding the trend will likely continue in the foreseeable future. That buys the company more time to develop a lithium-ion battery entirely in-house. The goal is to have it ready for 2030 in plug-in hybrids and purely electric cars. Expect a much higher energy density and "very short" charging times. Interestingly, the engineers already have a "very advanced research base for solid-state batteries."
In the meantime, work is underway on a two-rotor gas engine that will serve as a generator.
Related:
(Score: 4, Insightful) by ledow on Friday December 13 2024, @08:18AM (8 children)
I want an EV for reason entirely unrelated to anything to do with the environment.
I want one because:
- They're cheaper to run.
- You can "fuel" them up at home. At work. Anywhere you have a plug.
- Vastly reduced maintenance and moving parts.
- They're just as - and often far more - performant.
People want gas cars because:
- They make a noise like brrm, brrm.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by driverless on Friday December 13 2024, @08:27AM
And, specifically for the US, people want F150s, which are essentially 1970s gas-guzzlers moved into a form factor that bypasses CAFE requirements.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday December 13 2024, @11:42AM
I've been driving fairly small hybrids for over a decade for similar reasons:
1. It gets extremely good distance per amount of fuel: About 1.6 * gas powered sedan, and about 2.5 * a pickup. That's extremely handy when gas prices skyrocket like they do periodically because of reasons that are totally not price gouging or weird stuff on the commodities markets.
2. Since I'm not infrequently on the road for distances beyond the range of a single tank, refueling time matters. That's why a full EV isn't yet really suitable.
3. Maintenance has not been substantially worse than a gas-only vehicle.
It's one of those cases where "spend money up front to save money in the long run" is very much in play.
And I'll add that if you're in one of the more enlightened locations, it's fairly easy to add solar power generation capacity to your home, and that brings your running cost to fuel an EV or plugin-hybrid down even more, even to $0.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 2, Troll) by DadaDoofy on Friday December 13 2024, @01:06PM (4 children)
You've never own an EV have you? Almost half the people who have wouldn't buy another one.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/jun/22/46-of-us-electric-car-owners-want-to-switch-back-t/ [washingtontimes.com]
Now that the truth is out, they have to practically give them away.
https://www.aiada.org/ev-leases-go-as-low-as-20-a-month-to-help-dealers-clear-their-lots/ [aiada.org]
(Score: 1, Troll) by Frosty Piss on Friday December 13 2024, @07:56PM (1 child)
A yes, the Washington Times, which seems to be your favorite source of Right Wing Propaganda. Very "reliable" - defiantly in quotes.
(Score: 1, Troll) by DadaDoofy on Saturday December 14 2024, @11:59AM
Before you regurgitate your spoon fed CNN/MSNBC talking points, maybe you should crack one open and see for yourself. About half their "news" comes from Associated Press articles they reprint. So yes, you'll need to avoid those if you are concerned about reliability. If that's too heavy a lift for you, here is a link directly to the cited study.
https://executivedigest.sapo.pt/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Mobility-Consumer-Pulse-2024_Overview.pdf [executivedigest.sapo.pt]
(Score: 2, Touché) by cmdrklarg on Friday December 13 2024, @08:50PM
You obviously haven't either. That also means that over half WOULD buy another one.
And where exactly are these $20/month leases?
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 2) by ledow on Saturday December 14 2024, @04:22PM
Strange, because similar surveys in the EU said that 1% of EV owners would change back to an ICE.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by vux984 on Saturday December 14 2024, @12:12AM
but they cost more upfront; you aren't really saving money if the financing costs are eating those savings
Yeah, anywhere you have a plug, which is actually a major issue. Most people in townhouses/condos/apartments and renting basement suites do not have access to a plug at home or at work.
I had nowhere to plug in when i lived in a townhouse, not at home, nor at work. I have a garage now, but my kids park on the street, and they don't have access to plugs at work either. I doubt if even half the urban population can actually can plug in "conveniently", and this is a HUGE deal. If you can't plug in I'm not sure an EV makes any sense at all. From what I've read - the VAST majority of EV owners can charge at home suggesting pretty clearly that people who don't have access to a plug at home aren't buying EV cars.
It is 100% true the electric drive train needs virtually no service. But its also true that gas car drive trains are pretty bullet proof too, especially for the first 10 years. There's a reason they have the longest warranty on the car. So you don't have to replace the timing chain or clutch every 10-20 years in your EV, hurrah.
The suspension will still collapse, the tires wear out, the autolevelling headlight will fail, and lane keeping sensors will work intermittently, the sunroof jams, the power door lock on the rear passenger stops working, the mirror adjustment motor breaks, the seat adjustment controls don't work, the rear view camera cover intermittently doesn't open, the air conditioning condenser dies, the ventilation fan in the rear driver side climate zone starts buzzing, bluetooth keeps resetting the connection to your phone during calls, the app won't unlock the doors, the wiper fluid tank cracks and leaks... EV cars are still chock FULL the stuff that breaks.
I have 3 cars, and drive train issues is simply not where I'm spending money on them. The 23 year old one has had its timing belt replaced twice as part of regular service intervals, and its clutch replaced once. And I've spent a few thousand over the years fixing oil leaks and doing the regular drive train maintenance. But the cost of that is dwarfed by the 'other stuff' i've had to do over the years. And at 23 years I'd probably be into a new battery pack on an EV.
Yea, markedly faster off the line than most cars especially cars at similar price points, with a low centre of gravity. Fun to hit the gas and feel the torque hit right away. I'll give you that.
But most are also limited by thermals (ie most can't be driven aggressively for long without overheating), and thus can't really be used as weekend track toys at all.
And most are really heavy making them land yachts in comparison to actual performance cars.
Bottom line, If you want an actual performance car, you probably aren't buying an EV.