Mazda announces electrification plans
At the moment barely a day goes by at the moment without a major vehicle manufacturer announcing how long it will be until all its new models are electrified to some degree. After Volkswagen, Mercedes, Volvo, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and others, on Friday it was the turn of Mazda, which is one of the more interesting contenders in the race to electrification as it's currently of the few mainstream manufacturers that have so far made very little effort in this area with just a single hybrid version of the Mazda3 in its range. But in the face of ever-tightening global emissions regulations, Mazda has decided to make a commitment that all its vehicles will be electrified by the early 2030s.
The Japanese media organization, Kyodo News, has reported that Mazda will use electric motors in all its models by that time, although Mazda has declined to comment on the reports so far. However, Mazda has already announced it will be introducing electric powertrain technology to its range, including all-electric models, from as soon as 2019.
In a move that's now becoming increasingly common in the auto industry, Mazda won't be going it alone in its journey towards electrification. That's because Mazda partnered with Toyota to develop its electric vehicle technology, which makes a lot of sense as it does have a long way to go to catch up with rivals such as Nissan, who are much further along the road to electrification.
But in the meantime, Mazda has been working hard on developing what it claims to be revolutionary, new, ultra-efficient compression ignition petrol engines. These will eventually be used as part of hybrid set-ups from 2019, and Mazda has pledged that this next-generation of gas engines will actually be cleaner than electric cars.
Mazda isn't making any bold claims about going totally electric anytime soon though. When he was unveiling the new compression ignition petrol engine technology last month, Mazda's CEO Masamichi Kogai said his company saw gas, diesel and electric vehicle technologies co-existing in the future. Volvo has so far gone the furthest by committing to all its new models being electrified by as soon as 2019. And as Volvo has already met its promise to offer no engines bigger than four-cylinders, even in its biggest models, its 2019 electrification target looks the one to beat.
