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by kenhwang 298 days ago
Mazda as a company has a very good track record of adopting green production initiatives. For example, they were one of the first to switch to water based paint to reduce VOC emissions, and specifically formulating the paint to not require heat-drying to lower energy use.

Their current stance seems to be that PHEVs are better than EVs for the environment because it better matches the driving patterns of the typical customer and charging availability, and minimizes the weight of the vehicle and production of batteries, both of which are still contribute significantly to pollution.
2 comments
yabones 298 days ago
Mazda punches way above their weight when it comes to "moonshot" innovation over and over again. Few of them really "succeed" commercially (Rotary engine, miller-cycle engine, HCCI) but I respect them for constantly pushing the technology forward.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Wankel_engine

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_cycle

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyactiv#Skyactiv-X

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homogeneous_charge_compression...

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skhameneh 298 days ago
In theory, that seems sound. In practice, there is very little information on efficiency details for vehicles like the CX-90 PHEV. At first glance, it seems other manufacturers are outperforming Mazda's PHEVs with standard hybrids.

There are so many questions this (the battery storage) raises regarding ROI and alternatives. I think it's great they're trying something, but I can't help but wonder if this will be another failed attempt on their track record.

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