The Mazda 6e arrives with a genuinely competitive set of numbers. What Car? reports a starting price of £39,000, an official range of 348 miles, a 195 kW charging peak and a 10 to 80 percent top up quoted at 24 minutes in ideal conditions. That undercuts an entry level BYD Seal by £6,700 and an MG IM5 by £1,000, and lands within touching distance of a Tesla Model 3. The cabin drew praise, the front boot is unusually large, and the review puts the warranty at six years or 100,000 miles with eight years of battery cover. Then the test reaches British B roads, and the recommendation does not survive it.
The 6e is not an electric version of the old Mazda 6. What Car? explains it is built on the Changan Deepal SL03, a car Changan does not sell in the UK, with Mazda restyling most of the exterior and fitting bespoke front and rear suspension components tuned for European rather than Chinese tastes. Shared parts are limited to items like the door mirrors, handles and side glass. The video frames this as normal, and it is, pointing to the Nissan Micra and Renault 5 and to the Volkswagen ID.4 and Ford Explorer as the same idea. The reviewer also notes that Changan sold more than twice as many cars worldwide as Mazda last year and has far deeper electric experience, which is the practical reason for the arrangement. Worth adding for UK buyers specifically: the UK has not matched the EU's additional duties on China built electric cars, which is part of why models sourced this way tend to land here at prices that look aggressive against European rivals. That is a policy position rather than a permanent feature of the market, and it is worth factoring in if you expect to sell the car on in a few years.
What Car? measured 0 to 60 in 6.9 seconds against 6.3 for a Tesla Model 3 rear wheel drive tested the same day, and recorded a lower cabin noise reading at a 70 mph cruise. Real world efficiency came out at 4.1 miles per kWh in warm weather against 4.8 for the Model 3, though the larger battery gives the Mazda a higher theoretical maximum range of 312 miles to the Tesla's 288. Practicality is mixed. The reviewer fitted seven carry on cases in the 466 litre boot against eight in a Model 3, but got two into the Mazda's front boot where the Tesla took one. The criticism is dynamic. The video argues the 6e suffers from loose body control on undulating roads and vague steering just off centre, and says the combination makes it hard to hold a line at normal speeds. Rear seat comfort also drew complaints about a high floor and limited under thigh support, and the reviewer found the 14.6 inch touchscreen awkwardly angled, with Mazda’s long standing rotary controller now gone entirely. Equipment is not the weak point. The video says both trims, Takumi and Takumi Plus, are separated by only £1,000, with heated and ventilated front seats, a panoramic roof, a 360 degree camera, a 14 speaker Sony system and a powered tailgate standard even on the cheaper one, and that the car scored five stars from Euro NCAP.
Bottom line: this is the rare case where the spec sheet and the drive point in opposite directions, and the drive wins. If your mileage is motorway and town, where the review found the 6e quiet and comfortable, the price, the cabin and that warranty make a real argument. If you live anywhere with lumpy rural roads, take the reviewer's warning seriously and drive one over a road you actually know before signing. There is a lot to like here and none of it fixes how the car behaves when the surface stops being flat.
Commentary on a third-party video. Figures and claims are as presented in the source and have not been independently verified. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it.