Mazda says that smaller batteries like those in its upcoming 2021 MX-30 electric crossover are more responsible than larger batteries.

The company's European R&D director has compared the life-cycle carbon emissions from the MX-30 EV and its popular Europe-market Mazda 3 diesel.

Mazda is essentially recommending EV owners replace their batteries at 100,000 miles.



Mazda, while attempting to dissect the total life-cycle carbon emissions of electric cars, says its upcoming MX-30 crossover will emit as much CO2 as the Mazda 3 diesel model sold in Europe. That's to justify fitting a small battery pack that likely won't let the little MX go past 150 miles when it goes on sale sometime in 2021.

Mazda

In an interview with Automotive News Europe, Mazda Europe's R&D director, Christian Schultze, said the MX-30's 35.5-kWh battery was sized according to the emissions generated from producing the car's electrical components and factoring in a battery swap at 100,000 miles to "maintain battery performance." The automaker uses an abstract line graph to show how its new EV would produce more emissions at the start of its life, produce less in later years, and, after a battery replacement, would essentially equal the diesel for a few more years. In effect, Mazda is trying to say that its MX-30 is a net zero on emissions.



Mazda

It might seem odd for an automaker to downplay the significance of its first ever EV, but Mazda is the smallest of the major Japanese automakers and one of the few independent car companies of its size to sell globally. It's treading with even more caution than Honda and Toyota, which continue to invest heavily in hybrids. Unlike Nissan, which has sold Leaf EVs for nearly a decade, Mazda is suggesting what no automaker wants to sanction: that lithium-ion batteries degrade over time, reducing performance and range, to the point where it could negatively affect long-term ownership. There aren't enough EVs with six-figure mileage to say for sure, but it seems accurate that fast charging, depleting the battery to empty, and age can all reduce battery health.

Mazda is also suggesting another hot take: EVs with large batteries are bigger polluters over their life cycles than EVs with smaller batteries. This makes sense, given the energy needed to replenish a battery at several times the capacity of the MX-30. Mazda cites a life cycle assessment by the journal Sustainability and quotes an unnamed figure of the European Union's average CO2 emissions from producing electricity in 2016 to say all this.

Yes, diesel cars pollute with other gases and particulates at the tailpipe that EVs don't. But at least the CO2 emissions from driving an EV are mostly understood, since battery-electric cars can only run as clean as the local electrical grid. Then there's the humane problem of people in poor countries mining rare-earth minerals, and the environmental impact of extracting lithium.

So, is Mazda wrong or is Mazda right? There's no way to prove or disprove theories like this given today's limited scope of large-scale battery production, the varying estimates that competing life-cycle assessments use, and the mind-boggling complexity of automotive supply chains. Like so much about the industry right now, we'll know more later.

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