Mazda 6e
Tuesday, June 23, 2026View original
Mazda enlists Chinese help to finally build a long-range EV – can it take the fight to Tesla?
The Mazda 6e feels like something of a forced hand for the Japanese manufacturer.Many of us would love for Mazda to merrily keep making MX-5s and a supporting cast of sensibly sized hatchbacks with zingy petrol engines and manual gearboxes, maybe with a couple of straight-six diesels thrown in.But the powers that be have decreed otherwise. Whether it wants to or not, it needs a credible EV, (the MX-30 had charm, but not much else).If you’re BMW, you can counter any legislative flip-flopping by betting on all the horses: petrol, diesel, hybrid, electric, and tick off hydrogen just in case. But Mazda just doesn’t have the engineering might to do all of it well, so for its new 6e, it has turned to its Chinese manufacturing partner Changan and Mazdafied its Deepal SL03.