Mazda teases new EV’s cabin ahead of Tokyo unveiling

Mazda teases new EV’s cabin ahead of Tokyo unveiling

Mazda has just dropped a teaser video of its upcoming electric vehicle, which will be officially unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show next week. The clip, which doesn’t reveal much, did give us a glimpse of the new floating centre console, featuring a brand new, stubby electronic gear lever, as well as the familiar controller for the MZD Connect system. Going by the knurled surrounds, the dials are likely carried over from existing cars.

Upon closer inspection, the large, flat panel resting in front of the gear lever appears to be a digital screen that’s installed in a vertical fashion, below which is a narrow gap that possibly does, well, nothing.

Other than that, there are also close-up shots of the door trims that are made from a felt-like material, offering a nice light contrast to the conventional, black plastic door cards.

A closer look at the material reveals tiny strands of fibre, presumably made from natural fibres that are either sustainably created, or more likely from recycled materials. There is also a close-up view of the fabric seat upholstery, featuring a triangular pattern that’s separated by a brown stripe in the middle. It’s not quite the full thing, but we think it looks great.

Other than that, there’s not much to go about, although the text “Toyo Cork Kogyo Co. Ltd” was briefly brought up in the teaser video. This refers to Mazda’s origins – the company was formerly known as Toyo Cork Kogyo when it was founded in 1920, then renamed to Toyo Kogyo in 1927, before being officially known as Mazda Motor Corporation in 1931.

Back to the EV. Now, Mazda claims that the electric car is a completely new model that was “developed in accordance with Mazda’s human-centric philosophy” and “offers performance drivers can enjoy effortlessly and whole-heartedly.”

As far as we know, Mazda has already developed e-TPV (Electric Technology Prove-Out Vehicle) test mules fitted with a 35.5 kWh battery, and the onboard electric motor outputs 105 kw (140 hp) and 264 Nm of torque. However, this is said to be Mazda’s internal development, separate from the joint development work it is doing with a Toyota-led EV consortium that was founded in 2017.

Word is the Mazda EV will be offered in two forms, a fully electric version and one with a range extender system. The full EV will be sold in markets such as Japan, Europe and China, while the latter version could be offered in North America or in similar markets with longer commuting distances.

The range extender model is expected to be augmented with a small rotary engine, the details of which can be found, here. Sales of the Mazda EV is set to begin next year, before putting its plug-in hybrid line of cars on sale in 2021 or 2022.

GALLERY: Mazda e-TPV electric prototype

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Matthew H Tong

An ardent believer that fun cars need not be fast and fast cars may not always be fun. Matt advocates the purity and simplicity of manually swapping cogs while coping in silence of its impending doom. Matt's not hot. Never hot.

 

Comments

  • Fabric seats? This is for lower end specs?

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  • sATRIAN on Oct 16, 2019 at 8:25 pm

    Would love to see this car without the black cladding…..
    Porsche Macan in the making…..

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