Reason for joy. The electric Mazda 6e is not an SUV, while except for the MX5, all new Mazdas that they still sell here now fall into that depressing genre. There is also reason for sadness. It’s not a Mazda anymore. The 6th borrows its technology from the Chinese Changan Deepal SL03, a name that you should not mention in male conversations about your new lease car if you care about your pride.
I had to google it like more new Chinese cars. Voilà, more of the same. China does not obstruct. The rear with the continuous cliché light bar and logo in the middle looks like two drops of water on the Mazda butt, the nose on all the other Chinese people you knew. This applies even more to two other models that Changan will also sell here. Difficult in an EV era in which design has gradually become the only calling card, because almost all of those plug-in things drive exemplary.
Mazda did that better. The 6th is a beautiful, long five-door limousine with the characteristic pentagonal, this time illuminated Mazda grille and an enormous tailgate for a luggage compartment in which there is no longer a charging cable; you store it in a compartment under the hood. Despite the battery pack under the floor, the Mazda looks less raised than the Volkswagen ID.7 or the Volvo ES90, which with their high-rising bodies are reminiscent of platform boots.
Click on the points for an explanation of the detailsMerlin Doomernik
At least aesthetically, it appears to be a worthy heir to the previous 6, a large middle class car with plenty of space in the front and rear and driving capabilities that the Mazda man of the past gave up on Opels from the same division. Even when the headstrong Mazda driver with his weakness for the special technology that Mazda once excelled in was driven out by short-tempered SUV drivers, the beautiful and solid interiors remained an attraction for the last 6 drivers with a sense of style.
The damage inside is not too bad. The decoration remained generous, the design of the dashboard Mazdaesque, despite the far-reaching standardization of the interior design. The disproportionate multimedia display above the skybridge-like center tunnel with loading platform and the chrome cup holder cave can now be seen everywhere. In terms of quality, the 6 does not meet the Mazda standard. On top of the dashboard you see the edges of a speaker grille slightly wavy. It compensates you for that inconvenience with a price that is justifiable for its size and comfort of around 45,000 euros, but unfortunately not with the driving qualities of older Mazdas. Like most Chinese people, the car goes in the right direction without any steering feel and that’s it.
Confusing the range of models. The 6 is available with a 68.8 kWh battery and a fast charging capacity of 165 kW or with a larger 80 kWh battery but a charging speed reduced to 90 kW. What do you mean? Top speeds and acceleration of both variants are almost the same. The 552 kilometer 70 kilometer greater range of the 6th with the 80 kWh battery is offset by the loss of time at the fast charger and the prices barely differ at 1,600 euros. I don’t see the logic. Moreover, the charging performance does not make a big impression at a time when the cheaper standard model of the spacious Xpeng G6 already fast charges up to 382 kW. What drove an innovative Japanese engineering brand with a resounding track record to collaborate with a technologically non-leading Chinese partner? Wasn’t there a better party?
But that is nothing compared to the major annoyances that make every drive with this basically good car painful. The sound of the concentration sensor that watches your attention to the road with a camera is hellish. One sideways glance at a screen or cup holder and the braying starts to wreak havoc on your nerves to the rhythm of a train, kedèng. ‘Your field of vision is wandering. Drive carefully’.
Photos Merlijn Doomernik
Menu architecture
Unfortunately, the eye is forced to wander permanent off. The inscrutable menu architecture of the touchscreen takes all your attention hostage. Where is the windshield wiper control located? How do I operate the temperature control? It is a reason to refrain from purchasing. I shouted at the Chinese. Stop it, act normal, damn it. The new age: the car as neurosis. On the other hand, it is exemplary economical with a consumption of 14.9 kWh per 100 kilometers. That’s Japanese about him, he still does things better than expected. Although according to the on-board computer the range is never much more than 400 kilometers, you always drive back from Groningen to Amsterdam on one charge. In that respect you can’t go wrong with the 6, but the ingenuity that once belonged to Mazdas is dead.
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