- 5 days ago
Mazda CX-6e looks the part, but the test drive quickly reveals a very Chinese electric SUV underneath the Mazda badge. Marek compares it with the Deepal S07, checks the design, dimensions, boot and frunk, rear seat space, cockpit layout, range, charging, and real-world driving impressions on European roads.
The review digs into the awkward infotainment, the long screen, intrusive driver assists, and the mixed results of Mazda’s attempt to adapt Changan hardware for European tastes. There are also practical tests, including reverse parking, luggage space, charging from 10 to 80 percent, and a look at how the rear-wheel-drive EV performs with its 258 hp motor.
If you are searching for a Mazda CX-6e review, electric SUV test drive, EV range test, charging review, or a deep dive into Chinese-built cars with Mazda styling, this is a detailed road test with honest commentary and plenty of real-world detail. It is ideal for viewers interested in automotive reviews, electric crossover comparisons, and practical EV ownership impressions.
The review digs into the awkward infotainment, the long screen, intrusive driver assists, and the mixed results of Mazda’s attempt to adapt Changan hardware for European tastes. There are also practical tests, including reverse parking, luggage space, charging from 10 to 80 percent, and a look at how the rear-wheel-drive EV performs with its 258 hp motor.
If you are searching for a Mazda CX-6e review, electric SUV test drive, EV range test, charging review, or a deep dive into Chinese-built cars with Mazda styling, this is a detailed road test with honest commentary and plenty of real-world detail. It is ideal for viewers interested in automotive reviews, electric crossover comparisons, and practical EV ownership impressions.
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MotorTranscript
00:00mommy mommy i want a ferrari luce but we have a luce at home meanwhile ferrari luce at home
00:06this is the mazda cx6e or a depal s07 dressed in mazda clothes mazda claims its japanese and
00:14german engineers put a lot of effort in adapting this electric suv made in the
00:19changan naking plant to european preferences let's see if they succeeded
00:30the ferrari luce reference is not accidental in order to make the mazda look different than the
00:35depal original the designers went to town with aero so in the front and in the rear there are these
00:42aerodynamic slots which improve the car's efficiency and reduce wind noise more about that
00:48in a moment there are more features we know from other cars for example in order to open the frunk
00:55you have to double pull the lever in the footwell just like in a bmw and the button to open
01:03the
01:03tailgate is integrated in the lower part of the rear wiper housing just like on a porsche macan
01:09it's a shame mazda didn't copy other things from bmw or porsche but let's not get ahead of ourselves
01:19for now the design and dimensions the mazda 6e which debuted a year ago won the world design of
01:25the year title in the world car awards for which i have the pleasure to be one of the jurors
01:29fortunately
01:30for mazda design is evaluated by a panel of design experts automotive journalists judge cars on other
01:36aspects and mazda didn't score high in any other category i believe the mazda cx-6e is another
01:44strong contender for the design award at the next world car awards because like the electric sedan
01:49mazda's electric crossover even in production form looks like a concept model with all its disadvantages
01:56and advantages for example the piano black trim around the car and the fenders will not age well
02:03and the mazda sign on the door sills will remind you of your questionable choices on the other hand
02:10the streamlined rounded rear end in my opinion has something of a rolls royce boat tail about it
02:17this is not an ugly car at 485 centimeters long the mazda cx-6e slots between its ice siblings the
02:27cx-60 and
02:28the cx-80 its dimensions are also similar to those of the lexus rz and volvo ex-60 with mazda's
02:36290
02:37centimeter wheelbase being longer than the lexuses and shorter than the volvos and how do these dimensions
02:44affect maneuverability according to the specification the mazda cx-6e needs 12 meters to turn around that's
02:51as much as in considerably longer vehicles and some car makers offer optional rear wheel steering which
02:59reduces the turning circle on longer cars but not mazda at least you get a 360 camera which helps when
03:07maneuvering for example reverse parking into a gate i live by a four meter wide street and i reverse park
03:13all cars into my three meter wide gate mazda fits but the right rear is very close to the gate
03:20post
03:20fortunately regardless of any safety systems this car has it does not break during reverse parking into
03:27the gate good because it drives me nuts when other cars keep braking the boot now you may hear different
03:35values depending on who read the press release or the actual specification the boot volume is 363 liters
03:46in five seat configuration and 1434 liters with the second row backrest folded the 468 liters quoted here
03:54and there is floor to ceiling volume in five seat configuration however in europe the vda figure is to
04:01the cargo cover hence 363 liters the boot dimensions are 95 centimeters deep by the floor from the sill to
04:09the rear seats 97 centimeters wide between the wheel arches 40 centimeters from the floor to the cargo
04:15cover and 38 centimeters to the cargo cover cassette the cargo cover doesn't fit under the floor there's only
04:23room for a repair kit down there and now for my three random suitcases test it doesn't look very good
04:29especially if i also want to take a golf bag with me there's not enough space under the cargo cover
04:35to stack suitcases on top of one another fortunately i can move one suitcase to the front and not the
04:42smallest one the front dimensions are 44 centimeters deep 38 long and 78 wide the depth is to the false
04:53floor under which there are still two smaller chambers with drain plugs i suspect mazda wanted to reinforce
04:58the floor and maybe prevent some idiot from soaking their feet in here and
05:09they seem to be rather wet according to mazda the frank volume is just 80 liters that's probably a vda
05:18figure
05:19if one was to pour water in here instead of using 20 by 10 by 5 centimeters vda measuring blocks
05:26you'd get at least 120 liters in here plus another 10 15 liters into each of these small chambers at
05:33the
05:33bottom and now let's check out the rear seats where there's plenty of leg room and headroom i'd prefer a
05:43little more cargo space but the cx6e is based on a chinese car and the chinese design their cars with
05:50rear
05:50seat passenger space in mind there are mazda logos on the backrest of the front seats to remind you what
05:57car you're traveling in i like the minimalistic feel of this interior but the depal s07 interior looks
06:04much more opulent if you're into that kind of thing on the plus side the floor is flat and there's
06:11plenty of
06:11foot room even with the front seats lowered all the way despite the traction battery in the floor
06:17the rear seats are high enough to keep your thighs from dangling in the air there are climate controls
06:24and heated seats ventilated seats are also available on higher trim levels there is also a control for
06:32the shade of the enormous panoramic sunroof you can also slide the passenger seat forward for even more
06:38leg room there are cup holders in the armrest the door pockets are spacious isofix anchor points are
06:45available in the rear and on the front passenger seat on the minus side there is only one usb port
06:52the backrest angle isn't adjustable the backrest splits 40 60 and there is no pass through to the boot
06:58and when the front seat is moved far back the exposed seat belt buckle mount becomes visible
07:05the cockpit is just bad changan did okay with the depal and then mazda tried to improve upon it and
07:14failed
07:15miserably while the mazda 6e had a driver's display and a central infotainment display this one lacks a
07:24proper instrument cluster everything is on this wide central and passenger screen the depal has a central
07:32display which automatically rotates towards the driver lucha but mazda decided that european customers
07:40absolutely need a 66 centimeter long screen that does nothing that would justify it of course the press
07:49release mentions a high 201 pixel per square inch density cinematic 5k color contrast and brightness that
07:57guarantees deep image clarity and comfort in all lighting conditions and this is what it looks like
08:07on a normal sunny day it's hard to believe but mazda has managed to install a car display that's
08:13completely illegible from dawn till dusk regardless of the direction i'm driving in and never mind the
08:19speed warnings displayed as mazda sometimes thinks i'm on an exit ramp from this dual carriageway
08:25fortunately isa can be assigned to one of the function buttons on the steering wheel we'll get
08:30to those in a moment as they are an interesting case on their own going back to the display the
08:35passenger can launch navigation or control music playback but they won't be able to watch a movie
08:41because there is no video playback the screen is well worth it right but the hell with the passenger
08:47what can the driver do on their portion of the screen the driver can do more for which they are
08:53constantly reprimanded with voice warnings please pay attention to the road conditions and drive
08:59attentively for your safety please drive carefully mazda engineers may have adapted this infotainment
09:07system to better suit european clients but it is still a shitshow for example i can't set my own
09:16default view i'd like to have this side menu here extended and android auto in the middle but after
09:24using some other features i never know what will the screen display next sometimes the system reverts
09:32to my settings and sometimes it launches android auto on full screen so i have to exit to the desktop
09:38open the side menu and then reopen android auto it depends on which menu i exit first sometimes
09:45it automatically reverts to android auto and sometimes i have to restart android auto using a
09:50button on the passenger side the air conditioning sometimes reverts to my settings unless for some
09:55reason the automatic defogging launches and then the next time i start the car the air conditioning
10:00starts with its own default setting not my default setting all this seems so random that i can't even
10:06replicate it on camera i only managed to record the system freezing while i was setting shortcuts
10:13and now the buttons on the steering wheel now there's plenty of piano black so they attract more
10:18fingerprints and then there's piano black behind the steering wheel but here with grooves to better
10:25collect dust and make it harder to clean without scratching the screen is already scratched by the way
10:31but back to the buttons on the steering wheel on the plus side there is one for a 360 degree
10:38camera
10:39and then there are two function buttons but they can be assigned not just two but four functions one
10:47function with a short press and another with a long press now is it just me or does this mean
10:54that european
10:55customers where's my menu want four regular physical buttons or ideally 10 regular buttons with permanently
11:05assigned functions they want theoretically they can control everything by voice but i don't like
11:14talking to the car and buttons just work faster for example it's faster to close the panoramic roof with
11:19the blind thingy with a button here for the rear passengers than it is to search for it like somewhere
11:26in this menu just just give me buttons please there's a wireless charger and it works well but there's only
11:36one there are usb ports under the console there's a storage compartment under the armrest there are cup
11:43holders and large door pockets the glove box is average size if it weren't for the screen and the piano
11:50black
11:51this would really be a nice interior i like the materials and the seats are very comfortable it's
11:57like mazda's take on volvo interiors and mazda gave us back a physical wiper switch it's on the indicator
12:04stock however the lights are controlled from an on-screen menu which is hidden several clicks deep in the car
12:31settings
12:32mazda cx-6e has a 258 horsepower electric motor which drives the rear wheels there's 290 newton
12:40meters of torque it's one of the two power trains available on the mazda 6e sedan but over here
12:46product people decided it's not worth bothering with the less powerful option it may have a bigger
12:51battery and offer longer range but at the expense of slow charging by the way this slower power train
13:00slower charging power train is also available on the depal so7
13:08the cx-6e has a 78 kilowatt hour lfp battery the claimed range depending on the trim level and the
13:16wheel size is approximately 470 kilometers in the wltp combined cycle the promised energy consumption is
13:23approximately 19 kilowatt hours per 100 kilometers simple math shows that the best case scenario range
13:30will be around 410 kilometers but let's assume that with recuperation you can get a better result
13:37however even with recuperation the average consumption in my test was around 19 kilowatt
13:42hours per 100 kilometers most of which was in the urban area as well as some extra urban but on
13:48country
13:49roads where the speed limit is up to 90 kilometers per hour the weather was perfect around 25 degrees
13:54celsius i don't see much potential for a significant improvement dc charging peaks at 200 kilowatts and
14:02mazda says it takes 24 minutes to top up from 10 to 80 percent state of charge 11 kilowatt ac
14:08charging takes
14:09eight and a half hours from empty to full note the cx-6e does not have battery preconditioning before
14:16charging there is a preheating function but it is tied to the planned departure time on a cold day you
14:23can
14:23preheat the battery before departure while the car is still charging so as not to waste energy to warm up
14:28the battery once you start driving
14:34i drove the last 50 kilometers before charging on a dual carriageway to ensure the battery was warmed
14:39up and then i pulled into a 180 kilowatt charging station there is nothing more powerful in my area
14:45that will also be reliable enough the battery was discharged to six percent i drove 282 kilometers which
14:55gives a real world range of around 300 kilometers and that's well below the 400 kilometers i mentioned
15:03earlier there is some room for error here as the car was on for a while when i filmed the
15:10beauty shots
15:10and chinese cars let's not kid ourselves this is a chinese car don't count energy consumption while the
15:17car is on but stationary but even that won't make up for at least 100 kilometers range anyway
15:25based on what i observed during charging i plotted my own unofficial charging curve
15:34charging was seamless i quickly reached high charging power the two drops from 180 to 150 kilowatts
15:41are interesting i don't know if these are a result of some issues with the charger or with the vehicle
15:46but if it weren't for them the cx-6e would have a relatively flat charging curve at high power
15:52to more than 60 percent state of charge this confirms mazda's claim that charging from 10 to 80 percent
15:59takes 24 minutes in my case even on a less powerful charger
16:07route planning with charging stops is average it's better than in toyota or lexus but that's a low bar
16:15navigation provides basic information about chargers but there is no charging time estimate i need to
16:21figure it out myself based on how long the total route with charging stops is versus how long this
16:29route would take in an internal combustion engine car
16:36the car claimed 0 to 100 kilometers per hour time is 7.9 seconds with 19 inch rims
16:41and 8.1 seconds with 21 inch rims this test car comes on the optional larger wheels
16:47but i still got 7.9 seconds in sport mode and 8 seconds in normal mode
16:58how is it to drive it's hard to say because the driver assistance systems are intrusive
17:03and inconsistent i never know if or to what extent a system will detect for example road markings and how
17:12it will react sometimes it aggressively steers me back into my lane even when i turn on the indicator
17:18while other times i can cut across three lanes without using a turn signal after a while you learn to
17:26be prepared for unusual reactions while also ignoring all the minor interventions the adaptive cruise control
17:34works on par with other assistance systems i try to deactivate as many nannies as possible
17:42and drive on a winding road and then the cx6e drives mediocre like any other generic electric car it's like
17:52hey ai design an electric crossover for me and whoops there it is
18:02on the plus side these aerodynamic shenanigans seem to work keeping the car cabin quiet even at higher speeds
18:10that is you can barely hear the wind noise as other cars are clearly audible the driving position is
18:16comfortable and visibility is quite good the suspension absorbs the bumps well if you could get rid of all the
18:23changan underpinnings install mazda electronics and if it must be electric a drivetrain from a hyundai or even
18:31toyota this would be a decent car
18:42price of mazda cx6e start at 49 990 euro which is on par with the non-chinese competition as the
18:51depal s07
18:52is five grand cheaper this test car with options costs 51 780 euro
19:02mazda 6e was a good first attempt at mazda's mass market ev i'm not counting the mx30 because that was
19:09you know experimental the cx6e is disappointingly chinese but then mazda could say it didn't lose money
19:17on evs like many other car makers if mazda ever decides to make a proper ev i hope it does
19:22it
19:23without changan perhaps third time will be the charm and what do you think about mazda's electric
19:29crossover do you like the looks do you like the performance do you like the tech let me know in
19:33the comment section below if you like my sarcastic down to earth and possibly mildly amusing car reviews
19:42join me every friday at 3 pm central european time and don't forget to subscribe and like this video
19:49as it helps me with the youtube algorithm thanks for watching and i will see you in the next one