The new Mazda CX-60 joins Autocar's long-term fleet - the firm's largest and priciest car is also its first PHEV. Does it make any sense?
Money well spent? You would struggle to argue otherwise after a few minutes poking and prodding your way around inside. This is a delightfully well-appointed cockpit with carefully chosen materials, subtle but attractive f lourishes throughout and – praise be – an infotainment interface that’s controlled by a dial and supported by a raft of actual buttons and switches.
The CX-60 is big and made visually bulkier by the questionable execution of Mazda’s generally acclaimed Kodo design language. Here, it’s manifested in a disproportionately long bonnet , an expansive, featureless side profile and a bulky rear - although I’m happy that it hasn’t fallen into the trap of sacrificing interior space for a more ‘style-focused’ sloping roofline.
When I first saw the CX-60, it wasn’t its size or look that surprised me most but that Mazda hadn’t called on strategic partner Toyota to provide the means of propulsion for its first PHEV. Especially as the CX-60 is such a similar mechanical proposition to the RAV4 PHEV, pairing a 2.5-litre Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder petrol engine with a circa-18kWh battery and with a driven axle at each end.
The real calling card of this drivetrain is efficiency. Officially, our car will get 188mpg – but I won’t bang on about that, because that’s a figure measured on the notoriously flawed WLTP cycle. What’s more important is the claimed 39 miles that it can do on electricity alone, because that’s the sort of number that would give an owner the confidence to use this PHEV as they are meant to: commute on the battery, then switch on the ICE for longer weekend trips.
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