Mazda 6e - long-term review

It’s a bad look showing up late to class - but all can be swiftly forgiven if you go on to ace the big test later that day. Thing is, that’s rarely how it goes. More often than not, the bloodshot eyes of the kid who ambles in 15 after the bell aren’t evidence of a late night revision session, but a morning spent round the back of the bike sheds, tooting on jazz cigarettes and throwing rocks at pigeons.

To be clear, I’m not saying we need to set PETA on Mazda. Only that the Japanese marque is alarmingly tardy with regard to embracing EVs. The new 6e, while not Mazda’s first effort, is the first worth taking seriously. 2020’s MX-30 was interesting to look at and pleasant to sit in, but frequently struggled to muster 100 miles of real world range from a charge. There are e-bikes that can match that. Tough sell at £28k.

Not even the subsequent addition of a range extending rotary engine could rescue the languishing MX-30 and, in January of this year, Mazda quietly pulled the plug having shifted just 2,550 cars in the UK.

So, the pressure is very much on this new 6e to deliver the goods and show that Mazda has a place in our predominantly electric future. And initial impressions are… mixed. Let’s do a compliment sandwich.

Good news first, it looks the business. Too often, modern cars are all creases and angles whereas there’s an elegant simplicity to the 6e’s surfacing. It’s a little dumpy from the rear but the front is fabulous - a face familiar from the gorgeous Mazda 3, further sharpened by razor sharp headlights. I also appreciate how, instead of taking the Merc CLA approach and making the car’s entire grille light up like your least favourite neighbour’s front yard at Christmas, Mazda has instead delicately illuminated its edges. It looks like an angry basking shark at night, and I enjoy that.

Less good is the fact that it’s, erm, not a Mazda. Scratch the badges off and you’ll find that under the surface the 6e is in fact something called a Changan Deepal SL03 - a Chinese market saloon. Yep, turns out Mazda’s solution for rocking up to class late is copying the homework of the kid next door.

Now, there’s nothing terribly wrong with a bit of badge engineering when done right. We’re fond of the new Nissan Micra, and that’s just a Renault 5 wearing your grandmother’s reading glasses. But Mazdas are quite particular things. Pleasingly tactile interiors, surprisingly premium material quality and a distinct sense that the engineering was done by people who love to drive - these are traits that define the brand.

Has time and effort been taken to imbue the 6e with those crucial characteristics, or is this merely a lazy face swap? We’ll soon find out.

Back to the good stuff: the spec sheet shows real promise. 348 miles of WLTP range is a useful figure and all the more impressive for the fact it’s extracted from a 78kWh battery pack. That’s an alleged 4.4 miles per kWh - highly respectable efficiency for a car of this size, if true. The price is eye-catching too. Starting at £38,995 it significantly undercuts just about all of its midsize e-saloon rivals: the Polestar 2, Ioniq 6, BYD Seal and VW ID.7. Only a base Model 3 can be had for less, but it’s a smaller car with less range. And if the recent roaring success of Jaecoo is proof of anything, it’s that “roomy car, punchy price” is still a winning formula.

So, is the 6e proof that Mazda is Changan’ its ways? Or a sign that it’s in Deep(al) trouble? Time will tell.