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As I weaved through a dry canyon pass in Southern California, I felt stealthy, quick, quiet, and nimble in the first electric Mazda released in the U.S.

Until I looked at my battery level on the dash of the MX-30. After more than an hour of driving I had already chewed up about half the mileage available on the small, 35.5 kWh battery. I knew it was enough to get back, but the plunging double-digit numbers made me panicky.

Mazda sent me and a group of reporters on a 60-mile loop that went from Irvine, Calif., along the Pacific Coast, and up through nearby rolling hills. It was the exact opposite of the type of driving Mazda execs seem to have in mind for future MX-30 customers.

One manager said during a press interview that the small SUV was for getting around town and to work during the week. He called it a "more sensible approach," with its light-weight battery that only has a 100-mile range on it and a single motor on the front wheels. Other similarly sized single-motor EVs like the Kia Niro and Hyundai Kona have 64 kWh batteries with close to 250-mile range.

With its small release of 560 MX-30s, the electric version of its CX-30, it feels like Mazda is preemptively hedging on its weak EV entrant. To start, it'll only be for sale in California, where public charging is readily available. The Golden State has five times the number of stations than New York, the second-most charging-friendly state. The MX-30 will start at $33,470 before federal and California tax incentives, so at least it's priced fairly for its poor range. The cheapest Tesla is $39,990, with only local tax discounts available.

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The car is smooth and quiet, with regenerative braking to help refill the small battery, but it's a range anxiety-inducing vehicle. The cute exterior with friendly headlights and rounded edges and floating center console with cork lining can't cover up the dismal EV stats.

After my two hours in the car, the battery was at 46 percent. If I had kept driving, my next stop would have been a charging station.

It's got a good look but that doesn't hide the low range.Credit: SASHA LEKACH / MASHABLEA cushy interior.Credit: MAZDA

With only about 100 miles of range, Mazda is just barely putting itself on the EV roadmap. Mazda execs told reporters it expects people who are curious yet hesitant about EVs to be intrigued by the MX-30. It has many of the safety features of other gas-powered Mazdas and more, like blind spot detection and assistance and front cross-traffic alerts. But like other Japanese auto brands, it's too weak of a start. Toyota still doesn't have a full electric option — just the hybrid Prius — and Subaru only announced plans for its first EVs this year.

There are already plans for a longer range plug-in hybrid version of the MX-30 in 2022, and other EVs and hybrids from Mazda into 2025, but the Japanese company is not there yet. Its first foray into electric feels like a half-hearted attempt to catch up to Hyundai, Kia, General Motors, Volkswagen, Volvo, and other legacy automakers who have embraced electric. With space left under the hood to potentially add an internal combustion engine to one day modify the car into a plug-in hybrid is telling. Especially since that means no frunk (front trunk) storage space on this EV.

Open up.Credit: SASHA LEKACH / MASHABLESEE ALSO:Rivian R1T first reviews are in: A quick, quiet electric truck made for exploring nature

The MX-30 will be available starting Oct. 14 with pre-orders currently open online, but only for a few hundred California drivers willing to charge up often.

TopicsElectric Vehicles

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