Mazda is steadily ramping up its electric vehicle plans with the announcement of a new factory located in Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, in Japan, which will make battery packs for its future all-electric models.
Taking the electric plunge
So far, Mazda has only sold the MX-30 crossover as a fully electric vehicle, and the company has been one of the more cautious EV makers, preferring to wait until both the vehicle technology and charging networks are more mature before taking the plunge.
Well, this new factory represents a big step forward towards the edge of that plunge, as it will be capable of turning out as much as 10gWh (that’s gigawatt/hours) worth of battery packs for future Mazda EV models each year.
Indeed, the factory will initially be making those packs for Mazda’s first all-battery model, based on a dedicated electric car platform, which will have no hybrid nor petrol-powered versions. That new car won’t be the already-on-sale Mazda EZ-6 electric saloon, which — alas — remains a Chinese-market-only model for now.
New EV crossover
No, the all-new electric Mazda will be a crossover, similar in size to the CX-5, a third generation of which — using petrol and plug-in hybrid power — will be launched in 2026. The all-electric SUV will launch in 2027 and will probably look a lot like the Arata concept car show off in early 2024 and Mazda has said that the new car will be the start of its plan to: “provide its customers with its unique battery-electric vehicles that offer a high level of design, convenience and driving range by using the battery module packs produced at the new plant.”
Collaboration with Panasonic
Mazda won’t be making its own battery cells at the new Iwakuni City factory. Those cylindrical cells will instead be made by Japanese battery and electronics giant Panasonic, and the two companies signed a major supply agreement back in 2023 to set all this up. The new factory has been built with the agreement of Japan’s all-powerful Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and is expected to generate considerable employment and economic development in the Yamaguchi Prefecture (a Japanese Prefecture is roughly the equivalent of an Irish county).
According to a Mazda spokesperson: “Mazda is steadily preparing for electrification technologies based on the multi-solution strategy that provides a variety of technological options to meet customer needs and regulatory changes, in order to contribute to solving the social issue of curbing global warming. In the field of batteries, one of the key components of electrified vehicles. Based on the plan, Mazda will provide its customers with its unique battery-electric vehicles that offer a high level of design, convenience and driving range by using the battery module packs produced at the new plant.”