Long-term test: Mazda CX-80 Homura Plus

Verdict

We’re looking forward to the challenge of maxing out the large SUV’s economy with regular charging, and seeing how it fares on longer trips. In the meantime it’s proving more than capable for the school run – but were we wrong to opt for a regular middle row of seats rather than captain’s chairs? We’ll find out on future family holidays.

• Mileage: 2,423 miles
• Efficiency: 44.2mpg

Plug-in hybrids are the car world’s ultimate compromise. Two power sources are merged and crammed into a single car, which takes on a strange third character – not quite that of a petrol car, not quite that of an EV but capable of delivering the best and worst bits of both. With the Mazda CX-80’s arrival on our long-term test fleet, I am committed to doing it right. 

That really means charging, and lots of it. When the 17.8kWh battery that underpins the electric part of the powertrain is flat, all its EV tech becomes very heavy luggage that the CX-80’s poor-old 2.5-litre petrol engine has to haul around. The secret to getting the most out of any PHEV is to keep that battery brimmed as much as possible, and I’m lucky enough to have a home charger to do it with.

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As soon as I heard I would be getting the keys to the CX-80 Homura Plus long-term test car, I could hear the distant rattle of the first big problem coming down the tracks. I drove a Mazda MX-30 for six months in 2021 and learned then that Mazda favours charging cables of the shorter variety. 

A three-metre cable would be no issue for most prospective owners, but for me? Well, let’s just say that when your home charger installer asks whether you want the wallbox located five metres away from your parking space to save running an ‘unsightly’ cable down the side of the house, say “no”. 

After I made that foolish decision, cars with shorter cables force me into all kinds of elaborate multi-point turns, depending on where their charging flap is located. With the CX-80 being a 4,995mm-long, seven-seat SUV, those manoeuvres would have had to be worthy of the Red Arrows, so I bit the bullet and went on eBay for one of Tesla’s gorgeous 7.5-metre-long charging cables. 

I’m now in the position to charge the Mazda CX-80 as the manufacturer intended (a lot) with minimal faff. And it’s a good job because the car is currently delivering only about 22 miles of its official 38-mile WLTP electric range before it declares the battery is too depleted to power the car on electricity alone. 

It’s early days and my daily driving – a school run with a giant hill in the middle – is notoriously unfavourable to EV efficiency, yet I saw 145mpg on the trip computer in the first week. Stay tuned for more news of the CX-80’s performance in EV and hybrid modes.

So charging aside, what else can I say about the CX-80? The 323bhp power output with 500Nm of torque sounds like a lot, but it has a 2,300kg SUV to contend with. The 0-62mph dash is over pretty rapidly, in 6.8 seconds, but Mazda’s famous sporty DNA isn’t evident.

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This car costs £56,530 in mid-range Homura Plus trim, with just one option fitted: Melting Copper paint, at £650. The only free colour option is Arctic White, while Mazda’s trademark Soul Red Crystal paint is £900. But that might be a bit much on a car of the CX-80’s bulk, anyway.  

There’s an intriguing no-cost option to have two captain’s chairs in the middle row instead of the bench seat for walk-through access, but we didn’t go for that. What we have got is a panoramic sunroof that lets some extra light into the sombre interior. 

If anything, the cabin feels a little old-fashioned, but don’t knock it. In the first few days with the car, having a bank of physical buttons for the climate controls and a rotary knob for the unfussy infotainment system has been a revelation. Just like the old days when plugging in an electric vehicle was an experience only enjoyed by milkmen.

*Insurance quote from AA (0800 107 0680) for a 42-year-old in Banbury, Oxon, with three points.

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