2026 Mazda 6e review, quick drive

The Mazda 6e is almost here, and after driving it in Europe earlier this year, I’ve now had a second chance behind the wheel – this time on familiar New Zealand roads.

Mazda New Zealand is due to have the first examples in dealerships within weeks, with the electric liftback arriving in a single Takami specification with a starting price under $60k.

That makes the 6e an interesting proposition in a market where electric vehicles have become increasingly competitive, but where Mazda has been noticeably absent since the MX-30.

My first drive of the 6e took place in Barcelona, Spain, where I came away impressed by its refinement but less convinced by its suspension tune and straight-line performance. The New Zealand car changes the equation somewhat.

It seemingly benefits from a revised suspension tune developed for New Zealand, Australian and UK markets, while the battery is also different from the one fitted to the European car I drove.

Where my European test car had an 80kWh lithium-ion battery, the New Zealand-specification 6e uses a 78kWh lithium iron phosphate battery (LFP). Less is more here, because our version won't mind being charged to 100% regularly.

Most importantly, the 6e drives better than I remembered. It still isn’t fast by modern EV standards, but spend some time on Auckland’s roads and a different side of the car emerges. 

The Mazda 6e feels remarkably well suited to the sort of broken, uneven and often poorly surfaced roads we have here.

That’s arguably more important than a big 0-100km/h number.

How much does the Mazda 6e cost?

Mazda New Zealand has confirmed the all-new Mazda 6e will arrive in local showrooms in September, with the first examples due at dealerships within weeks.

There’s only one version for New Zealand: the flagship Takami, priced from $58,990 before on-road costs and premium paint options.

That’s a pretty aggressive price for a large, rear-wheel drive electric liftback with a 78kWh battery, a claimed 560km WLTP range, 190kW of power and a substantial standard equipment list.

It also puts the 6e directly into the thick of one of the most competitive parts of the New Zealand EV market.

The Mazda undercuts the Tesla Model 3 Premium Rear-Wheel Drive by almost $5000 on headline pricing, or $6710 once delivery and order fees are included. It’s also $7000 cheaper than the equivalent BYD Seal Premium.

That makes the 6e less of a niche alternative and more of a genuine mainstream proposition.

Mazda’s previous attempt at a battery-electric vehicle, the MX-30, was always compromised by its relatively small battery and limited driving range. The 6e is a very different proposition.

It’s larger, has substantially more range, charges considerably faster, and – crucially – looks and feels like a car designed to be used as your only vehicle rather than an urban second car.

The pricing also makes the 6e an interesting alternative for buyers who might otherwise gravitate towards a Tesla or BYD.

What’s under the bonnet?

There’s no motor under the bonnet of the 6e. Instead, you’ll find a useful 72-litre frunk capable of swallowing charging cables and a reasonable amount of luggage.

The electric motor sits at the rear axle, making the 6e one of the few mainstream rear-wheel drive electric liftbacks at this price point.

For New Zealand, the 6e gets a 78kWh lithium iron phosphate battery powering a single rear-mounted electric motor producing 190kW of power and 290Nm of torque.

Mazda claims a 0-100km/h time of 7.8 seconds, while the claimed WLTP range is 560km. Maximum DC charging is rated at 195kW, while the 6e can also accept three-phase AC charging at up to 11kW.

On paper, none of those numbers make the 6e look particularly exciting. And, frankly, it isn’t.

A 0-100km/h time of 7.8 seconds is almost offensive for a 2026 EV. We’ve become accustomed to electric cars producing supercar-rivalling acceleration, and even relatively affordable models can now crack 100km/h in around five seconds.

But that misses the point of the 6e. It isn’t trying to be a performance EV. It’s trying to be a Mazda that happens to be electric. And that becomes increasingly obvious once you stop looking at the specification sheet.

What is the Mazda 6e like inside?

Unlike almost every other Mazda, the 6e’s cabin feels as though it has been designed from the ground up around an electric vehicle.

There are still familiar Mazda touches, particularly in the materials, steering wheel and general attention to detail, but the overall layout is much more minimalist than the cabins of the CX-5, CX-60 or CX-80.

The seats are particularly good.

The New Zealand car comes with tan leather and synthetic suede trim with quilted stitching, while matching tan synthetic suede is used across the dashboard and doors. There’s also a two-tone steering wheel and plenty of soft-touch material throughout the cabin. It feels appropriately premium for a $58,990 car.

The driving position remains one of the few things I’m not completely sold on. The seat is comfortable and there’s no shortage of head room for those around 6 feet tall, but you sit slightly higher than you might expect given the 6e’s low-slung liftback body. 

I’d prefer to be dropped a little further into the chassis, although the market seems to prefer a high-riding experience, so maybe it’s on the money.

That said, it does make the car easy to place on the road, and after spending more time with it in New Zealand, I’m less bothered by the driving position than I was in Europe.

The biggest adjustment for existing Mazda owners is the technology. Almost everything is controlled through a large 14.6-inch touchscreen, including functions you’d normally expect to have dedicated buttons or stalk controls.

Want to adjust the wipers, wing mirrors or adjust the raido to a station that isn’t saved? You’re going to need to dive into the touchscreen for all those adjustments.

It sounds like a terrible idea, but the system works better than you might expect.

The screen is responsive, the graphics are sharp, and there’s a permanent menu along the bottom that gives you quick access to frequently used functions such as climate control, heated seats and driving modes.

There are also two customisable shortcut buttons on the steering wheel (Mazda NZ configured one to turn off speed sign warnings, I highly recommended owners do the same), which help reduce the number of times you need to go digging through menus.

The 6e also gets a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster and augmented reality head-up display, with the latter doing much of the work of keeping important information directly in your line of sight.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, as is DAB+ digital radio. There’s also a 14-speaker Sony sound system, which is a welcome inclusion at this price.

The panoramic sunroof helps make the cabin feel even more spacious, while tri-zone climate control, heated and ventilated front seats, a 10-way power driver's seat, four-way power passenger seat and 64-colour ambient lighting all add to the premium feel.

The rear seats are also genuinely usable for adults.

The 6e is a large car and its long wheelbase provides plenty of leg room, while the flat EV floor means there’s no major hump to contend with. The sloping roof does compromise the visual impression of space, but head and shoulder room remain generous.

It’s also practical for luggage. The electronically operated liftback opens to reveal a large cargo area, while the 72-litre frunk provides somewhere useful to store charging cables or smaller bags.

The 6e therefore manages something Mazda’s old 6 sedan never quite could: it looks like a sleek sedan while retaining the practicality of a five-door hatchback.

How does the Mazda 6e drive?

This is where the New Zealand 6e gets interesting.

I remember enjoying the 6e in Europe, but I also remember thinking its suspension was perhaps a little too soft for my tastes.

The New Zealand car feels different.

It seemingly benefits from an updated suspension tune, and the changes are immediately noticeable once you leave the smooth roads around Auckland.

The Mazda 6e is proof a finely tuned two-tonne EV with ‘only’ 190kW and 290Nm can be more than adequate.

To no one's surprise, it’s slow in a straight line. From a standstill to 100km/h takes 7.8 seconds. For a 2026 EV, that’s almost offensive.

But think about 0-100km/h times as the amount of time you get to enjoy a car’s performance. When the car behaves, communicates and gives you feedback, more time with your foot flat is actually a good thing.

That’s particularly true in the 6e.

On SH16 between Wellsford and Kumeu, the Mazda revealed it’s already tailor-made for New Zealand roads. It may lack punch coming out of corners, but its road manners over bumpy surfaces, and from corner entry through to the apex, are excellent.

The front axle has ample grip and delivers plenty of confidence on wet and dry roads, including through banked blind corners where you’re relying on the car to settle itself rather than constantly making corrections through the steering wheel.

There’s a sense of composure here that’s become a trademark of Mazda, in any segment or price point, and the 6e is no different. The 6e weighs 2090kg, so it’s never going to feel like a lightweight sports sedan. Yet Mazda has done a good job disguising and controlling that mass.

Turn into a corner and the car settles quickly. Hit a series of bumps mid-corner and it doesn’t become unsettled. Get back on the throttle and it drives cleanly towards the exit.

The steering is also light enough to make the 6e easy to drive around town, but there’s enough response and weighting to give you confidence when you start pushing harder.

At its core, the 6e has two seemingly opposed strengths.

Around town and during highway cruising, it’s a well-mannered and comfortable tourer. It soaks up poor surfaces, remains quiet at motorway speeds and feels like exactly the sort of car you could happily drive several hundred kilometres in.

When the road gets twisty, however, it demonstrates the handling characteristics you’d expect from a brand many people refer to as ‘Japan’s BMW’.

That doesn’t mean it’s a sports car. It isn’t.

Instead, it’s about the way the car responds to your inputs and maintains its composure when the road stops being smooth and straight. That was something I appreciated during my European drive, but the New Zealand car makes a stronger case for itself.

The difference in suspension tune is particularly important because our roads are rarely perfect. Even major highways can feature patches, dips, changes in surface and the occasional pothole. The 6e deals with them remarkably well.

It’s also quiet. Road and wind noise are well suppressed, while the electric powertrain is smooth and unobtrusive. At motorway speeds, the car feels planted without becoming heavy or cumbersome.

There are three driving modes: Normal, Sport and Individual. Normal provides the most natural balance between performance, regenerative braking, steering weight and efficiency. Sport increases steering weight, strengthens regenerative braking and gives you access to the full performance of the powertrain. Individual allows you to configure various characteristics yourself, including regenerative braking.

There’s one obvious omission, though: there’s no dedicated one-pedal driving mode. Even with regenerative braking set to its strongest setting, the 6e doesn’t slow down enough to bring the car completely to a halt in every situation.

You’ll still need the brake pedal when coming to a full stop. It’s not a deal-breaker, but it’s an odd omission in a modern EV, particularly when one-pedal driving has become second nature in many competing models.

And then there’s the acceleration. The 6e simply isn’t going to win many drag races. Put your foot down and it moves away cleanly rather than violently. There’s no instant shove in the back and no attempt to overwhelm the rear tyres.

But that’s also part of why the car works on a twisty road.

You can use more of what the 6e has to offer without constantly worrying about running out of road.

There’s enough power to make overtaking easy, enough torque to keep the car moving briskly, and enough chassis ability to make a challenging road enjoyable. It’s a very different interpretation of what an electric Mazda should be. The first time I drove the 6e, I thought its biggest strength was refinement.

After driving the New Zealand-specification car, I think its biggest strength might actually be balance.

It doesn’t have the headline performance of a Tesla Model 3. It doesn’t have the outright acceleration of some of the newer Chinese EVs. It doesn’t even have the most intuitive interior in the segment.

But it feels like someone has spent a lot of time making the car behave properly. And on New Zealand roads, that matters.

What do you get?

The Mazda 6e arrives in New Zealand in a single Takami specification, so there’s no need to climb through a lineup to find the good stuff.

The standard equipment includes:

• Tan leather and synthetic suede seat trim with quilted stitching
• Tan synthetic suede trim on the dashboard and doors
• Two-tone black and leather steering wheel
• 19-inch alloy wheels
• Automatic LED headlights
• Panoramic sunroof
• Heated, power-folding exterior mirrors with memory
• Power tailgate
• Rain-sensing wipers
• Keyless entry and start
• Bluetooth key
• Augmented reality head-up display
• 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster
• 14.6-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• DAB+ digital radio
• Tri-zone climate control
• Heated and ventilated front seats
• 10-way power driver's seat
• Four-way power passenger seat
• 64-colour ambient lighting
• 14-speaker Sony sound system

CarExpert’s Take on the Mazda 6e

The Mazda 6e is a more convincing proposition in New Zealand than it was on my first drive in Europe.

Part of that comes down to familiarity. Driving a new car on unfamiliar roads in another country is never quite the same as taking it onto roads you know intimately.

But the New Zealand-specific suspension tune also seems to have made a meaningful difference.

Where I remembered the European car as being comfortable but perhaps a little soft, the local 6e feels much more composed when driven quickly over imperfect surfaces.

And that changes the character of the car. The 6e isn’t a performance EV. A 7.8-second 0-100km/h time makes that abundantly clear. But I’m increasingly convinced that’s not a problem.

There’s something refreshing about an EV that doesn’t rely on ridiculous acceleration figures to make itself interesting.

The Mazda 6e instead gives you a quiet, comfortable cabin, a long driving range, a useful liftback body, rear-wheel drive and a chassis that genuinely wants to be driven.

It’s also sharply priced. At $58,990, the 6e undercuts the Tesla Model 3 and BYD Seal while bringing a generous equipment list and Mazda’s approach to ride and handling.

There are still things to question. The touchscreen-heavy cabin won’t appeal to everyone, the lack of genuine one-pedal driving is strange, and buyers looking for neck-snapping acceleration will find better options elsewhere.

But if what you want is a refined electric car that can handle the daily commute, swallow a long road trip and still make a winding piece of New Zealand road enjoyable, the 6e makes a compelling case.

After driving it twice, in two very different environments, I’m more convinced by it the second time around.