Mazda3 to Get Mild Hybrid System

Mazda Motor Corp.’s redesigned Mazda3 small car will be the first vehicle to offer the carmaker’s new mild-hybrid system.

The architecture will include a lithium-ion battery, CEO Akira Marumoto tells Automotive News. He says Mazda plans to use the system in other upcoming models, possibly including an unspecified SUV/crossover in the “not too distant future.”

Mazda previously has said the new Mazda3 will be the first model powered by its SkyActiv-X homogeneous-charge-compression-ignition engine technology. The fuel efficiency of the new engine encouraged the use of a mild-hybrid system rather than a full hybrid, Marumoto says.

The combination will allow a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder SkyActiv-X engine to deliver the same performance as Mazda’s 2.5-liter 4-cylinder gasoline engine in combination with the fuel economy of a 1.5-liter diesel, according to the carmaker. The vehicle, which is to be unveiled later this month at the Los Angeles auto show, also will be available with Mazda’s 2.5-liter Skyactiv-G gasoline engine.

Mazda plans to electrify every vehicle in its lineup by 2030. Mild- and plug-in hybrids will account for 95% of the total, most of which Marumoto says will be mild-hybrids. Only 5% of the company’s fleet will use full-electric and range-extended hybrid powertrains.