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Say hello to the battery-powered Mazda 6e liftback, the Japanese manufacturer’s long-overdue return to the electric vehicle (EV) market.
In Australia, the brand’s first attempt at a mass-produced ‘EV’ (the MX-30 small electric SUV) has been over two years since it was discontinued in Australia. Yet, what you see here is a much more advanced and, to be honest, hard work at creating an international EV that can compete with its now well-established competitors.
First time around, Mazda tackled the challenge of developing an EV alone, designing and building the MX-30 in Japan.
Mazda is working with its Chinese affiliate this time to bring this new-generation EV to life. Mazda’s first model is the Mazda 6e, which was developed in partnership with Changan Automobiles, a company that built its first car in 1959 and whom Mazda has worked for 20 years.
But for a moment, don’t you think that the Mazda 6e is just some Chinese car from another manufacturer which has never been mentioned. The 6e’s platform was developed from the outset by Mazda, which played an important role in developing the company’.
Despite Changan’s attention to battery development, as well as much of the 6e’s cabin hardware and technology, Mazda built its own exterior (and interior) model for the operating system while tuned the suspension and steering specifically for European and Western markets such as Australia or New Zealand.
This partnership with the Changan Mazda allows the Japanese automaker to use Chinese experience in battery and EV production, which frees up Mazda from keeping its strong suits ride and handling characteristics; interior and exterior design.
Paper paper The 6e (and its next sister model, the CX-6e SUV) should be the world’s best of both worlds – state-of-the-art Chinese EV production and battery technology; Mazda’s reputation for making cars that are actually fun to drive.
We walked out on the narrow city streets, 120km/h motorways and twisting hills in and around Barcelona, Spain, to see if that’s the case with the spiritual successor of the long-lamented Mazda 6.
How much does the Mazda 6e cost?
The all-new mid-size electric liftback will be available in Australia with two variants of this model – the 6e E35 GT under $50,000 and the 6-e Atenza under $53,000.
| Model | Price before on-road costs |
| — | — |
| 2026 Mazda 6e E35 GT | $49,990 |
| 2026 Mazda 6e E35 Atenza | $52,990 |
Each variant is differentiated only by interior materials, and each variant is priced below the 6e’s most direct competitor, the top-selling Tesla Model 3 (from $54,900 plus ORCs), but not the BYD Seal, which is priced from $49,888 plus ORCs and is also available in three grades.
To see how the Mazda 6e lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
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What’s the Mazda 6e like inside?
Unlike any Mazda we’ve seen yet.
However, the materials and visual design are unmistakably Mazda (as is true) – as it seems to be for . It’s really a very comfortable seats, the leather they’re wrapped in feels premium and even suede on the top of the door cards. Unlike their price points, Mazda has a knack for making its interiors feel more premium than they cost; and the 6e is no different.
But do anything beyond sitting in it is a different story.
The touchscreen-heavy controls are the most heavily weighed relationship between Changan and Mazda with China. All except the windows, hazard lights and gear selector (mounted behind the wheel), adaptive cruise on/off and indicators are controlled by the central 14 of which is used to control everything. touchscreen display of 6-inch touchscreen, .
Needing the wipers adjustment. Touchscreen Touchscreen Adjust the side mirrors? Turn on a non-prepar radio station? Yep, touchscreen It sounds crazy, but in practice it is better than you’d think.
It has a special menu on the bottom of the screen that’s always there, so you can quickly adjust cabin temperature and turn the heated seats on, control fan speed or access the drive menus. I got used to it much faster than expected when I learned where everything is.
It is easy to use those wipers and mirror controls, which when you think about it they’re items most drivers normally set and forget. The wipers are in auto mode, but if you give your 6e to a friend and then use it for mate’s mirror controls, you may have to do.
A customisable menu is also available along the bottom, and there are two ‘Favourite’ shortcut buttons on steering wheel which you can preset to access the menus or modes that you regularly use. The screen is also high-definition and very responsive to touch when touched, thereby contributing to the fact that it helps with its ability to respond in a way that can be highly sensitive. That’s a faster-than-the smartphone, and I don’t want it to be slower with this kind of touch-centric control layout.
The driver’s 10-year-old is a who speaks of screens. A full digital 25-inch instrument cluster is also available and all 6e vehicles have a head-up display that dwarfs the driver’s cluster, which can be adjusted via the vehicle’. touchscreen, yeah, .
While some customers may have to deal with this, it is a bit of annoyance for the people who work with Changan Mazda at Mazda Japan and Europe said that “the feedback and direction given to Changans Mazda by their colleagues has made this one of the easiest touchscreen system I’ve ever used in EV manufactured from China.” It’s something I didn’t expect in a left-hand drive car to use it fluently on the move in less than.
That’s enough screen chat for , but that’. More to this cabin than pixels,’ . In my previous statement, “the seats are comfortable” – but the driving position in the 6e is slightly higher than I thought it would be (a little more) above what I expected. A power-adjustable driver’s seat is the same as that of the front passenger, and headroom isn’t a problem. But I would rather have it dropped in the car more into the chassis than . maybe it is just an indication of what this liftback listens to – comfort over performance?
A wireless phone charger is located below the screen and there’s storage space between front occupants with USB-C outlets. The leather-covered central armrest is also uncovered and opens to reveal another large storage bin.
A 14-speaker Sony sound system was also installed on our tester, which sounded great playing Kiwi rock while I was driving to the other side of earth.
Back row There’s a lot of room for at least full-size adults in the back row, and there’s plenty of space. While the liftback is a six-foot-four-ish, with sloping rear roofline, shoulder and knee room are plenty for anyone under six feet-4-inch. It’s an EV, so the rear floor is flat because it’t an ‘EV’ but two-wide (a hump in the middle seat base) is the best option for adult travel.
Guests of rear-seat seats enjoy the panoramic glass roof, while tailgate is power-operated and shows 466 litres of total boot space. With the 72L frunk up front and the 6e pips, add that to 477L’s boot capacity of last Mazda 6 sedan.
| Dimensions | Mazda 6e |
| — | — |
| Length | 4921mm |
| Width | 1890mm (excl. mirrors) |
| Height | 1485mm |
| Wheelbase | 2895mm |
| Cargo capacity | 337L (to belt line, incl. under-floor storage) |
To see how the Mazda 6e lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
What’s under the bonnet?
a decent frunk with enough space for your charging cable, two boxes of wine and 2 full shopping bags. Where I was in Europe, where the bottles of wine is one-meter?
| Specifications | Mazda 6e |
| — | — |
| Drivetrain | Single electric motor |
| Battery | 78kWh lithium iron phosphate |
| Power | 190kW |
| Torque | 290Nm |
| Drive type | Rear-wheel drive |
| 0-100km/h (tested; prototype) | 7.35 seconds |
| Energy consumption (claimed) | 15.9kWh/100km |
| Claimed range | 560km (WLTP) |
| Max DC charge rate | 195kW |
| Braked towing capacity | 1500kg |
| Kerb weight | 2090kg |
But under that you won’t get any electric motors. Mazda’s first ever all-new rear wheel model since the RX-8 is The 6e and there are no plans for an all wheel drive variant of the car at this time.
A European-spec test car was our test, a 60kWh LFP battery with an electric motor in one at the rear axle giving 180kW of power and 320Nm of torque. Claimed 0-100km/h acceleration is 7 175km/h) – 9 sec and top speed175m/.
In the table above, Australian-spec cars will have a slightly different battery and motor as you can see in the below picture. We’ve already found they’ll be just under 5 minutes faster than their original counterparts but we know that it is very much more likely to get them out of this world.
The LFP battery can charge DC at 195kW, when Mazda says 3080 per cent charge is possible in as little as 15 minutes.
To see how the Mazda 6e lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
What’s the Mazda 6e like to drive?
I have to admit, I was a bit worried about this part. I read and watched Paul’s review of a pre-production 6e ahead of time and was concerned I’d find the 6e a bit soft as well.
That was not the case for that turned out to be what it is. electric Mazda 6 – A rear-wheel drive, on the move the 6e feels like. That’s no bad thing in my book, that’d be a .
Paul is from, but I do get him where he comes from. It’s a good idea for the Mazda 6e to absorb bumps and uneven surfaces around town and at slower speeds, especially when it is really well-suited. In Barcelona, none of the potholes concerned the Mazda under 60km/h. Props to the Mazda Europe engineers who tuned up 6e vehicles suspension for Australia and New Zealand – they certainly know what they’re doing.
When I got fast, my experience was different from Paul’s when I became . On the motorways of Barcelona, you can travel 90 to 120km/h and if anything is so good that 6e I drove on them felt better at these speeds. A light car is on the wheel, but it never floats at speed; noise and vibration inside the cabin were also low (one of my very best experiences in electric sedan segment) and one of the few things I’ve ever experienced.
There are three drive modes for the 6e Normal, Sport and Individual. Similarly, in the latter you can turn up the brake’s regenerative to its maximum setting but even then I found it wasn’t quite forceful enough to be a true one-pedal drive mode (requiring light touch of the Brake to bring it to halt). Then, ‘Normal’ gives you a balance between range/efficiency and performance, using standard steering weight and regenerative braking force.
The most I really wanted to try was ‘Sport’ and I did so on the twisting rural roads around Barcelona. The 6e cuts the steering assistance in this mode, regenerative brakes and allows you to use as much energy as the system can muster.
The driving position is a bit high for ‘low-slung liftback’, again, but it helped me put the car more easily on the wrong side of the road in unfamiliar territory.
The chassis was well reacted to the twisties of spirited driving and the road manners of 6e were kept well-sorted on some very narrow and undulating backroads. I was driving a 6e that had just over two tonnes of weight, but the suspension and brakes were fine with all that mass.
The drive on a difficult road was truly fun and I never thought of myself as if there were few people that would escape me from my life. And that’s probably partly because of the 6e’s straight-line performance, or lack tthereof (or no telafi).
180kW, 320Nm and a 7 with . In Euro spec this is not an EV that violently forces you back into the seat or scares the life out of your passengers, and does not mean 9-second 0-100km/h claim. Also, that means it’s not actually an EV you can steer from the rear axle. I’m sure it will slide, but that won’t lay down black lines or over-rotate on you.
We’ve been numb to some bonkers 0-100km/h times in the EV space, but I drove 400km and found that’s not what the 6e is all about. And for that, it’s a lot more sophisticated than . The 6e really shines as a comfortable daily commuter or highway cruiser where the 6er is actually being used.
It does have a handy 11-year-old . A 6-metre turning circle, similar to the Tesla Model 3, is also used as an example of a parodyr. Nevertheless, any model 3, even the entry-level single motor RWD (as well as its first level) will be left behind under acceleration.
It won’t matter for everyone to care about that, because some people are more economically minded than others. But after 400km of highway, city and spirited backroad driving they should be happy to hear that I actually got better at the 6e’s WLTP energy consumption figure of 15. At 15 ‘I finished my time with the Mazda at 9kWh/100km. A is 6kWh/100km, or a total of 6.kWh.
To see how the Mazda 6e lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
What do you get?
There are two trim levels in the Mazda 6e lineup.
2026 Mazda 6e GT equipment highlights:
- 19-inch alloy wheels
- Automatic LED headlights
- Panoramic sunroof
- Heated, power-folding exterior mirrors with memory
- Power tailgate
- Rain-sensing wipers
- Keyless entry and start
- Bluetooth key
- Augmented reality head-up display
- 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster
- 14.6-inch touchscreen infotainment system
- Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
- DAB+ digital radio
- Tri-zone climate control
- Leatherette-wrapped steering wheel
- Leatherette upholstery
- Heated and ventilated front seats
- 10-way power driver’s seat
- 4-way power passenger seat
- 64-colour ambient lighting
- 14-speaker Sony sound system
The Atenza adds:
- Tan leather and synthetic suede seat trim with quilted stitching
- Tan synthetic suede trim on the dashboard and doors
- Two-tone black and leather steering wheel
To see how the Mazda 6e lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
Is the Mazda 6e safe?
Although the Mazda 6e has been awarded a five-star rating in 2025 by its European counterpart Euro NCAP, it has yet to be evaluated by independent safety authority ANCAP.
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It received an adult occupant protection rating of 93 per cent, a child-occupant defense rating for 94 percent, the most recent safety ratings on roads were 74 per percent (77 per Cent) and 73 perCENT as well as 76 perc.’
Standard safety equipment includes:
- Adaptive cruise control with stop/go
- Autonomous emergency braking (AEB)
-
- Junction assist
- Pedestrian and cyclist detection
- Reverse AEB
- Blind-spot monitoring
- Cruising & Traffic Support
- Driver monitoring system
- Front and rear cross-traffic alert
- Lane-keep assist
- Safe exit warning
- Traffic sign recognition
- Surround-view camera with see-through view
- Front and rear parking sensors
- 9 airbags
To see how the Mazda 6e lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
How much does the Mazda 6e cost to run?
Mazda Australia backs its vehicles with a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.
It hasn’t confirmed service pricing or battery warranty coverage for the Mazda 6e as yet.
To see how the Mazda 6e lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
childcareman.xyz’s take on the Mazda 6e
Our first taste of the Mazda 6e was promising.
We’ve waited for Mazda to return the EV space and since its last attempt, there has been much in the market that is different but it looks like the 6e will be worth waiting.
I was able to say that the ride and handling were much more than Paul’s pre-production drive experience, but it’d be nice to note that 6e is no sports sedan.
However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to drive.
Some EVs hit you, apparently hoping that you’ll miss their hard interior fitment, unresolved suspension or orange-peel paint.
Then Mazda has re-interpreted the 6e as it is about . If it was – of that I am sure, the faster it would have been if it wanted.
It has done instead of making a daily family car that’s fun to drive and efficient when it does. It’s a friendly and welcoming personality like an old friend with nothing to prove that it has no proof of anything.
Afterwards, there’s the look – both the Mazda 6e’ and the ones it attracted in Barcelona. This car was spotted by the Spanish as . People stopped to stare at the 6e, whether it was in a rural town or the city and when they did smile.
Yes, the Mazda is a pleasing sort of car – and not just to drive.
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