Mazda might be making headway in the pursuit of bringing back an electric vehicle (EV) stateside.
Ever since it discontinued the MX-30 EV in the U.S. last year, the Japanese automaker has had zero EV offerings for potential U.S. customers.
And things didn’t look any brighter last summer when Mazda launched the new EV-6, its first global electric sedan. U.S. would-be buyers never got to share the enthusiasm generated by the EV’s starting price of under $25,000. Given that the EV-6 was built in partnership with China’s Changan Automobile, doubts quickly surfaced about it ever passing through the 100% tariffs imposed on Chinese EVs by the Biden administration.
Now, however, Mazda has made a series of announcements that indicate it’s taking electrification of its vehicles into its own hands, possibly re-opening the road to hybrid and EV offerings in the U.S.
The Japanese automaker announced it’s developing its own hybrid system for the next-generation CX-5 crossover SUV, due to be launched between 2025 and 2027. The non-electric CX-5 has been Mazda’s bestselling vehicle in the U.S.
And by 2027, Mazda says it also plans to launch an electric SUV from its own EV platform. Plug-in hybrid variants are also under consideration.
The new electric SUV is expected to resemble the Mazda Arata concept, which was shown at the Beijing auto show alongside the EV-6 sedan last summer. Mass production of the Arata is scheduled for the end of 2025 for a first introduction to the Chinese market.
On the road to electrification, Mazda also said it has signed deals with AESC and Panasonic for the supply of batteries through 2030.
Looking beyond to between 2028 and 2030, Mazda is promising a “full-scale launch” of electric vehicles.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.