Mazda’s First Electric Car Is Dead in Europe

Raise your hand if you saw this coming. After exiting the US a couple of years ago, the purely electric MX-30 is also dead in Europe (including the UK). We noticed the model’s absence from several configurators across the Old Continent, so we contacted Mazda to find out what’s happening. Sure enough, the small crossover without a combustion engine has been quietly retired. Here’s what Monique Clark from the company’s UK PR office told us:

“The MX-30 BEV has been removed from sale in Europe, and all examples in the UK have now been sold. The Mazda MX-30 BEV has ceased production for both Europe and the UK. However, the award-winning MX-30 R-EV continues to be available for customers who want the EV driving experience with the range confidence provided by the rotary engine generator.”

Europeans can still buy the MX-30 e-Skyactiv R-EV, a mouthful of a name for the range-extending version. It’s the only production vehicle with a rotary engine, though it doesn’t drive the wheels. Instead, the small 830-cc naturally aspirated single-rotor unit acts as a generator to charge a 17.8-kWh battery pack. Mazda doesn’t sell this version in North America, where a more powerful two-rotor setup is in development for an unspecified model.

Plot twist: The rotary MX-30 isn’t the only flavor with a combustion engine. In Japan and other markets, it’s also offered with a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter gasoline engine featuring mild-hybrid technology. Mazda started production of the small crossover and its RX-8-styled suicide doors about five years ago.

Mazda is launching a larger EZ-60 SUV in China with a range-extender, though not a rotary one. It’s expected to reach other markets, especially since the EZ-6 sedan has already been rebadged as the 6e in Europe. Similarly, the EZ-60 could be renamed CX-6e for Europe and other regions. But because these vehicles are made in China, they’re unlikely to be sold in the US due to newly imposed tariffs.

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Although the MX-30 will be remembered as Mazda’s first mass-produced EV, there was one before it. In 2012, Mazda launched the Demio/Mazda2 EV subcompact hatchback in Japan as a limited series of about 100 units. However, all were leased to local governments and corporate clients near the company’s headquarters in the Chugoku region.

Mazda’s first dedicated electric vehicle platform will be ready in 2027, and a “full-scale launch of EVs” will begin a year later.