Mazda Australia’s new EVs won’t get petrol engines

Extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs) are all the rage in China at the moment, but Mazda isn’t interested in bringing its own such vehicles here.

The new Mazda 6e sedan and CX-6e SUV developed by the Changan Mazda joint venture in China are due on sale here this year with electric powertrains, but their EREV counterparts won’t make the trip.

“At the moment, we have no plans to introduce the range-extender versions of the 6e and CX-6e models,” Hiroshi Ozawa, general manager of Changan Mazda’s Technical Development Centre and the program manager of the 6e and CX-6e, told Australian media including CarExpert through an interpreter.

“The reason is… as I talked about the multi-solution [strategy] earlier at Mazda, we have enough [products in the] lineup that can compensate for the range-extender models. So, thinking about the Mazda portfolio, we decided to introduce just battery-electric versions.”

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With the 6e and CX-6e, Mazda will once again offer electric vehicles (EVs) here. It also has plug-in hybrids (CX-60 and CX-80), with regular hybrids (CX-5) on the way to join a plethora of petrol-powered models as well as the diesel BT-50 ute.

Not only does Mazda offer plenty of powertrain types, but EREVs remain a rarity in Australia.

EREVs are designed to primarily operate like electric vehicles, but feature a small combustion engine that is used to charge the battery.

Unlike series hybrids like Nissan’s e-Power models, however, they can be plugged in and charged. In essence, they’re similar to plug-in hybrids – like Mazda’s own CX-60 and CX-80 – but with more of an EV feel to their driving experience.

After BMW discontinued its i3 EREV here, just one has appeared since: the Leapmotor C10 REEV.

In China, however, they have proliferated. According to the China Passenger Car Association, EREV sales grew by 6.0 per cent in 2025 to 1.17 million units.

To put those numbers into perspective, however, PHEV sales were up 8.8 per cent year on year to 3.4 million units and EVs were up 24.4 per cent to 7.88 million units. Nevertheless, it’s a growing segment of the market.

Mazda offers two EREVs in China, based on the 6e and CX-6e; its MX-30 R-EV, which it developed without the assistance of Changan, isn’t offered in China. Both are offered exclusively with rear-wheel drive like their electric counterparts.

The EZ-60 (aka CX-6e) EREV swaps the 78kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery of the electric model for a smaller 31.73kWh pack, reducing CLTC range from up to 600km to just 200km.

It features the same 190kW/290Nm electric motor but adds a 1.5-litre petrol engine.

Instead of a 56.1kWh or 68.8kWh LFP battery like in its electric variants, the EZ-6 (aka 6e) liftback’s EREV variants use an 18.9kWh or 28.4kWh battery. Range is slashed from 480-600km to 130-200km.

Like its SUV sibling, the EREV liftback features a 1.5-litre petrol engine to serve as a generator. Mazda claims a combined range of over 1300km.

Customer deliveries of the electric-only 6e in Australia will commence in July, with the CX-6e due to follow in the third quarter (July to September) of this year.

They’ll crucially give Mazda EV options for the first time since the MX-30 was axed in 2023.

Mazda’s ruling out of EREVs for Australia comes after it effectively closed the door on additional PHEVs.

The CX-70 and CX-90 large SUVs are offered as PHEVs in North America, but will only be offered with mild-hybrid petrol and diesel powertrains in Australia.

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