Mazda Begins Testing Its Long-Overdue U.S. EV

• An engineering mule for Mazda’s future U.S.-specific EV was spotted testing in California.
• The new Mazda midsize electric crossover will ride on a new bespoke EV architecture and arrive around 2028.
• Mazda wants to sell at least 25% EVs globally by the end of the decade.

Is Mazda finally taking electric vehicles seriously? A strange new mule spotted in California and reported on by Automotive News would seem to suggest so.

According to the outlet, the prototype engineering vehicle represents Mazda’s first EV developed specifically for the U.S. market. It’s still a few years away, but the SUV would fill a major gap in Mazda’s EV-less lineup in America. 

The mule was seen driving on the highway near Mazda’s U.S. R&D headquarters in Irvine, wearing a modified CX-90 body with what looks like a shorter CX-60 rear end. Its proportions are strange, and the wheels are very inset, signifying that this is a very early development vehicle. In more advanced mules, the body starts to follow the dimensions of the future vehicle more closely.

We know it’s electric because the front of the vehicle is completely closed off. The grille is the same shape as on the CX-90, but it’s completely blocked off; however, a smaller opening in the lower part of the bumper does allow air to pass through.

Under its cobbled-together body, this mule may hide Mazda’s new dedicated EV platform called Skyactiv EV Scalable Architecture, which can underpin both tall and regular cars and accommodate a wide range of vehicle sizes. The manufacturer hasn’t said whether it will run on 400 or 800 volts, but it has noted that affordability was one of the main goals with this platform, hinting that it may be the former.

Mazda declined to comment on future products to Automotive News, only saying that it regularly tests new technologies and features. 

We do know that the first vehicle built on this platform will be an SUV or crossover. It will roll off the production line in a new factory that’s currently being built in Japan, and it should debut around 2027. We’re not sure if this mule is a testbed for that model or if this is a different EV, one designed specifically for the U.S. market. It’s probably the latter, given the timing and where it was spotted.

Mazda has stayed very tight-lipped about its new dedicated EVs and their platform. All the manufacturer has said so far is that its future EVs built on the new platform will have “advanced design, superior convenience, and extended driving ranges.”

Up until now, Mazda has mostly watched the electrification trend from the sidelines. It launched a range-challenged electric crossover called the MX-30 to the U.S. market, then yanked it after just two years, leaving it with no EV options in America. 

Through a joint venture agreement with China’s Changan, it launched the 6e (also known as the EZ-6), and that car looks great. It drives pretty well, too, and it’s way better than Mazda’s own attempt at making a pure EV. It will also soon launch the crossover version of the same car called the EZ-60, which will likely change its name before it hits the European market. But it gives you a good idea of what an electric Mazda high-rider might look like.

It plans to electrify a large chunk of its lineup by the end of the decade, when it hopes EVs will make up around 25% of its global sales.