A front-wheel drive electric vehicle patent was recently uncovered pointing to an EV Mazda3.
Mazda, like the rest of the Japanese car industry, is playing catch up on the battery electric vehicle front. Currently, they have just one on offer – the MX-30 and it’s only capable of under 200km on a full charge where rivals are offering two to three times as much range often with more power. However, Mazda is something of a disruptive force in the market. They took the performance car segment by storm with the rotary engine, then stole away sales in the mid-sized SUV market with the CX-5. Now there are rumours that they’re building an electric 4-door sedan – something its rivals just don’t have on offer yet.
These rumours were substantiated when a new patent was discovered by The Drive. This patent describes a compact sedan in the size of the Mazda3 that sits on a skateboard chassis – typically used as the platform for electric vehicles. The patent images also show an electric motor mounted to the front axle.
Of course Mazda might also introduce an all-wheel drive version later on, but for now the patent images don’t indicate that. The patents also show a rather thin battery pack, which could make it a prime candidate for Toyota’s upcoming solid-state battery cells.
And while most publications are referring to this patent as a potential electric Mazda3, we don’t know for sure if that’s what we’re looking at. Sure, the dimensions and layout indicate as much, but Mazda could just as easily create an electric vehicle to sell alongside the existing ICE-equipped Mazda3. The current Mazda3 generation was only introduced in 2019 and it still hasn’t undergone a facelift. The last Mazda3 was in production for 5 years. Toyota’s solid state batteries will be ready for production by 2024, which would give the current-gen Mazda3 its 5-year production cycle time to complete.
Sales have not been encouraging for the current Mazda3 and the brand might need a drastic change for the next iteration. This lines up with the Hiroshima-based company’s target: 40% of its sales must be purely electric vehicles by 2030 and that’s not a lot of time. Going all electric for the Mazda3 could be the nameplate’s lifeline in an increasingly crossover and SUV focused market.
