Mazda admits electric MX-5 is “a possibility”, mystery concept teased

Mazda is actively weighing up an electric MX-5 sports car, powertrain development boss Kato Matsue has told TopGear.com, in a move that would dramatically shift the brand’s so far cautious approach to EVs.

Having introduced just one electric car so far - the MX-30 - Mazda only has plans for two more by 2025, and it still hasn’t revealed what they will be. It’s also only committed to having a fully electrified line-up by the end of the decade, betting heavily on hybrid vehicles instead of full EVs like many of its rivals.

However, this week it’s announced that its stand at the Japan Mobility Show (yup, the Tokyo Motor Show has been rebranded) will focus heavily on the MX-5, and the concept teased above will symbolise ‘the future created by the love of cars’. So if you put two and two together…

And asked by TopGear.com last week about the idea of an electric MX-5, Matsue replied: “That’s a possibility. The MX-5’s main markets are the United States, Europe and Japan. Japan is a bit behind, but the market demand is changing towards electrification. So we need to think about that.

“By 2030 all our products will have some electrification. So that means the sports car is not outside of that scope. But I can’t say exactly when we’ll introduce a battery on the MX-5 at this moment.”

The company credo remember is Jinba Ittai - ‘horse and rider in perfect harmony’ - which doesn’t exactly align with the uber heavy, lithium-ion shift that’s happening across the industry. Does that mean Mazda is counting on battery tech getting much lighter to make an electric MX-5 stack up?

“Thinking about our development duration [until 2030], seven years is a short time,” says Matsue. “I don’t expect power density to become two or three times [better] compared to the current power density. Of course I expect better, but I don’t think that will happen.

“We don’t want to have a very heavy MX-5. So if the MX-5 is 1.5 tonnes of peak weight, that is not the MX-5.

“What I can say is the MX-5 is our symbol. If the MX-5 becomes a battery EV, that battery EV should have very special characteristics, Jinba Ittai feeling, human centric of our basic concept philosophies. That’s our hope.”

The current, fourth-gen MX-5 is now eight years old and it’s still going strong: Matsue refers to “record” sales in Japan, where it shifted 5,369 and 9,567 units in 2021 and 2022 as the country emerged from Covid. “I’m a bit surprised!” he admits, but explains: “The customer changed their mind to have an enjoyable car.”

Meanwhile a facelifted MX-5 is in the pipeline, which could see the Mk4’s lifespan extended well beyond the 10-year mark to bridge the gap to an eventual replacement, electric powertrain or otherwise.

An electric, two-seat convertible sports car still feels far-fetched (Mini Electric Convertible and MG Cyberster excepted), but then Mazda loves an oddball - just look at the new, rotary-powered MX-30 range extender - so why the heck not, right?

And could that kind of attitude lead to the return of something like the RX-7 one day? “I still have the RX-7 in Japan, so I really love [it]!” Matsue laughs. “I would expect that kind of super sports car [eventually], but after the [mid-term] plan.”

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