Mazda 6e review – UK first drive 2026

Make and model: Mazda 6e
Description: Large electric liftback
Price range: £38,995 to £39,995, plus optional extras

Summary: The Mazda 6e looks good, is well equipped and seems decent value, but it misses the driving polish we expect from Mazda.

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For a broader ownership picture, see our full Mazda 6e Expert Rating.

Introduction

This is our second drive of the Mazda 6e, and the first in a full UK-spec, right-hand-drive car. Our earlier review was based on left-hand-drive European cars driven in the UK, with Mazda saying that it still had work to do before the final UK model arrived.

Some of that work appears to have paid off. The driver assistance systems, which were overactive on the earlier cars, were somewhat less intrusive this time. That’s good news, because annoying safety alerts ruin plenty of otherwise decent cars.

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Unfortunately, the bigger problems remain. The ride and handling are disappointing, and the cabin relies far too heavily on a poor touchscreen interface.

The Mazda 6e is a joint venture with Changan, and is based on Chinese electric car hardware rather than being a ground-up Mazda project. Mazda has added its own exterior and interior design work, and the car certainly looks more like a Mazda than a Changan. But once you drive it, the Mazda influence feels too thin.

Our test car was the standard Takumi model. The more expensive Takumi Plus has a plusher interior, but the two versions use the same battery, motor and chassis set-up, so the driving impressions apply to both.

Price and equipment

The Mazda 6e range is unusually simple. There are two trims, both using the same 78kWh battery and rear-wheel-drive electric motor. The Takumi costs £39K, while the Takumi Plus costs £40K.

That pricing looks competitive for a large electric car, especially as both versions are well equipped. Standard kit includes 19-inch alloy wheels, a panoramic glass roof, powered tailgate, 15-inch central touchscreen, 10-inch driver display, head-up display, Sony sound system, heated and ventilated front seats, heated steering wheel and a wide range of safety kit.

Takumi models get either black or stone artificial leather, while the Takumi Plus adds tan Nappa leather with artificial suede and cloth trim. The tan interior looks lovely and gives the cabin a warmer, more premium feel than the more generic black upholstery in the standard car.

On paper, the Takumi Plus looks like the better buy. It only costs £1,000 more than the Takumi, and the upgraded cabin does a lot to lift the whole car. But both models are strongly equipped, and the 6e’s price gives Mazda something useful to work with against cars like the Tesla Model 3, BYD Seal and Hyundai Ioniq 6.

Inside the car

The Mazda 6e’s interior makes a decent first impression. Material quality is good, the driving position is easy to settle into and the front seats proved supportive over a few hours behind the wheel.

The overall cabin design is clean and modern, with a wide dashboard, a floating centre console and plenty of light from the panoramic roof. It feels pleasant rather than especially distinctive, but there’s nothing cheap or flimsy about it.

The problem is the control layout. Mazda has traditionally been one of the better car makers for ergonomics, with a sensible mix of physical buttons, rotary controllers and touchscreen operation. The 6e throws too much of that away.

There are no proper buttons on the dashboard or centre console, just a few controls on the steering wheel. Most major functions are handled through the central touchscreen, and the operating logic is poor. Other brands make the same mistake, but it feels worse here because Mazda should know better.

The company talks up the ability to use voice control for many functions, but voice control is not a proper substitute for physical buttons. It can help in some situations, but it is not as quick, reliable or intuitive as simply pressing a clearly labelled switch.

At least the air vents are adjusted manually, which is a small mercy in an industry increasingly determined to make basic tasks more complicated than they need to be. There are also two customisable buttons on the steering wheel, which helps a little, but not enough to overcome the broader problem.

Rear passenger space is good, helped by the 6e’s large footprint. The car is not far short of five metres long, so it should be roomy, and rear-seat passengers are reasonably well served.

The boot is not huge by large-car standards, but the Mazda 6e looks like a saloon while actually being a liftback. That gives a much wider opening for bulky items, and makes the car more useful than its sleek shape suggests. There is also a 72-litre frunk (front trunk), which is ideal for charging cables.

Driving range and charging

The UK-spec Mazda 6e uses a 78kWh battery, with an official test range of 348 miles. That is a useful figure for this kind of car, and competitive enough for most buyers looking at a large electric saloon or liftback.

Public charging peaks at 200kW, with a 10-80% charge taking 24 minutes in ideal conditions. Mazda also quotes a 30-80% charge in 15 minutes, which is probably the more useful figure on longer journeys if you are stopping briefly rather than arriving nearly empty.

The 6e has a single electric motor driving the rear wheels, producing 258hp and 290Nm of torque. The 0-62mph time is 7.3 seconds, which is quick enough for normal use without trying to turn the car into a performance model.

We did not have the car for long enough to judge real-world efficiency properly, although Mazda quotes energy consumption of 3.9 miles/kWh. As ever, the real number will depend on speed, weather, road type and how much of that range you actually use between charges.

The basic package is sensible. One battery, one motor and two high-spec trims make the 6e easy to understand, which is a welcome change from some electric car ranges that need a spreadsheet to decode.

On the road

This is where the Mazda 6e falls down. Mazda has spent years talking about Jinba Ittai, its idea of car and driver working together. You can feel that in the MX-5, and in plenty of other Mazdas as well. You do not feel it here.

On a smooth motorway, the 6e is fine. It is quiet, refined and easy to drive, with enough performance for overtaking and joining faster traffic. If most of your driving is on dual carriageways and motorways, it will probably seem perfectly pleasant.

Away from those roads, the car starts to unravel. The ride is poor, yet the body control also feels too loose. On one particularly hilly and twisting section, the 6e felt genuinely unpleasant as it tried to change direction while also dealing with vertical movements in the road.

That combination is the frustrating bit. A car can be firm but controlled, or soft but comfortable. The 6e manages to feel unsettled without being properly comfortable, which is not what we expected from Mazda’s final UK calibration.

The steering is better in Sport mode, where it gains some useful weight. In Normal mode, it feels too light. The individual drive mode lets you mix and match settings, so our preference would be to keep the steering in Sport while leaving the rest of the car in a calmer set-up.

The improved driver assistance systems are a more positive story. The earlier left-hand-drive cars had overactive lane and driver monitoring alerts, but those systems did not prove too annoying in the UK-spec car. That is a worthwhile improvement.

Even so, the underlying driving experience remains disappointing. We often criticise Chinese EVs for feeling comfortable on smooth, straight roads but losing composure when asked to deal with corners and bumps at the same time. The Mazda 6e falls into the same trap, which is precisely the problem.

Ownership

The Mazda 6e has a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating, with strong scores for both adult and child occupant protection. It also scored well for vulnerable road user protection and safety assistance technology.

Those are reassuring numbers, and the standard safety equipment list is extensive. More importantly from our drive, the assistance systems appear to have been improved since the earlier left-hand-drive cars, where they were more intrusive.

Mazda’s new car warranty is now six years or 100,000 miles, which is a major improvement over its previous three-year cover. The high-voltage battery is covered for eight years or 100,000 miles.

The Mazda 6e does not yet have a full Expert Rating score in our unique Expert Rating Index. The Expert Rating page already includes safety and warranty information, but we do not yet have enough data across all ownership categories to calculate a full New Car Expert Rating.

The review score reflects the driving experience. Our Mazda 6e Expert Rating tells a broader story, combining the subjective opinions of car reviews with objective safety data, running costs, warranty information and more – which means the Expert Rating often arrives at a notably different conclusion. It’s worth reading both before making any buying decision.

Verdict

The Mazda 6e is an opportunity missed. It looks good, is well equipped, has a useful official driving range and is priced sensibly. There are plenty of reasons why it could have been a strong electric alternative to the usual SUVs.

But this should have been Mazda’s chance to show how a more traditional car company could improve on the latest wave of Chinese electric cars. Instead, the 6e feels too much like those same cars: heavy on touchscreen gadgetry, comfortable enough on a motorway, but short on the control and polish that European buyers tend to expect.

That is especially disappointing because this is Mazda. The company knows how to make cars that feel natural, balanced and satisfying to drive. It has built a reputation on that skill, yet the 6e does not show enough of it.

There are things to like. The cabin is pleasant, the seats are good, the liftback tailgate adds useful practicality and the safety and warranty credentials are strong. The price is also attractive for a well-equipped large electric car.

But the poor touchscreen interface and unsettled road manners are hard to ignore. If you want a stylish, well-equipped electric car for mostly motorway use, the Mazda 6e may still be worth a look. If you are expecting a proper Mazda driving experience, it disappoints.

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