Mazda 6e is here to rescue Mazda, which has long been number 2 in Australia. But that crown slipped to its ankles and is now more of a ball and chain. The rebadged Deepal L07 (previously SL03) comes from a partner called Changan. The 50:50 bedfellows formed Mazda Changan to try to do what Mazda alone couldn’t, produce an EV fast, and cheap.
The SL03 became L07 and will launch in Australia as a Deepal alongside its sibling, the S07. Likewise, Mazda will have the Mazda 6e and Mazda CX-6e, so why buy the Mazda? Mazda has one thing Deepal doesn’t, local factory backing and an extensive dealership network. Unless the Deepals are 10k cheaper, the Mazda seems to have a lay down misere.
Even though the donor car is 4 years old, the Mazda looks all class.
After a week in the saddle, is Mazda 6e any good?
By jove, I think they’ve got it. Mazda 6e is a cracker from stem to stern, but characteristic Japanese charm feels European. The resulting Italian influence comes from both the Deepal and Mazda having Italian designers.
Above: 2026 Mazda 6e Atenza is it really a Mazda and is it worth the money
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ABOVE: 2026 Mazda 6e
The resulting car is a delicious modern body that still has the Kodo style. I’m usually critical of naff fake grilles in E-Cars, the Mazda 6e gets a thumbs up because rather than an ugly chunk of nasty plastic, it forms part of the lighting array and even the flying M is lit up like an Ekka ride.
The hatch has a built-in flippy uppy spoiler, the fastback profile has pillarless windows, and the roof has a 2-part fixed glass moonroof. Unlike some we could name, twin roller shades glide across using voice, or any number of buttons.
While Mazda seems keen to distance itself from the partnership that just may save it, the glass is identical, even on the side windows. The wheelbase is 5mm different to the L07 and that is down to the slightly altered suspension geometry bolted to the same holes that carry the Deepal. Mazda says there is very little in common. Sorry to disappoint, but the cabin is the same size.
UPDATE:
Yes, there is plastic and metalwork given the Kodo once-over, but stamping a slightly different panel is what Holden used to do, and call it a new model. See HQ, HX, HZ, and WB where holden “co-developed” models with itself using slightly altering body panels, but it was badge engineered none the less. They glued an HZ badge on an HX, after bolting an HX badge on an HQ. Call this what it is, a 4 year old car with some new panels, and that is not co-developed by any measure.
Let the debate rage, as long as is sells, Mazda unlikely to be bothered.
Considering the rest of Mazda’s frumpy range, Mazda 6e is a breath of fresh air. In fact the new release inline engine models have received a haircut pricewise, such is their misjudged visage. Mazda 6e on the other hand, is sexy, well priced, quiet, well equipped and comfortable.
Crucially, there are bits missing such as front seat massage and cooling. There is seat ventilation though, which is the more common form of “cooling”. It sucks rather than blows. Make of that what you will.
The voice control is like your psychotic aunt who likes a martini at am 9 o’clock. It seems to be always listening, to offer help whether it is wanted or not. It seems less eager when help would do something useful like open CarPlay or the like.
Full brochure and spec sheet HERE
The Cabin is a triumph.
Working off good Deepal bones, Mazda added sexy seats clothed in leather and genuine fake simulated suede-cum-Alcantara.
Although not a pure EV platform, this EV-first Changan EPA1 has the space packaging of a ground-up EV design. It can also take REEV and hydrogen fuel cells, so its conservative frock covers some very fetching undergarments. Mazda has only taken the EV option, but it can, if desired, change course.
The Rear Wheel Drive ICE designs usually have a hump on the floor but this one is flat, and there is an under-console shelf in the front where a messy old transmission would normally live.
The screens are clear as crystal, especially the 10.2” driver’s readout. Sadly, some of the font needs Hubble roped in to be able to read it. Perhaps a gen Z would have at it, but this gent of a certain age sets the iPhone on large text for good reason. Microscopic print being read at 110km/h is a recipe for a very bad day. It is a computer readout for goodness sake. Make it configurable, this isn’t the 20th century after all.
The 14.6” landscape infotainment screen uses Mazda-over-Android Open Source Project, so for the moment, has bugs. So sayeth any one of dozens of models using AOSP. 70% of cars sold will have it by 2028 according to a 2022 Gartner report in FutureIoT.
This is a mix of the good, the bad, and the downright dystopian.
Information goes both ways, and Mazda 6e has an internal camera for gesture control. You can ask it to take a picture of you, isn’t that nice? So, a car has internal mics and cameras. It also has tattle-tale computers that report everything you do, including your details. Every single AOSP car can do it, as well as a host of other brands, yes you Tesla. Wasn’t Kia reported to head teacher?
Kia cars collect and share driver behaviour, location, and voice command data with third parties, including data brokers and AI developers. Oh dear. This information is utilised by insurance companies to adjust premium rates, though drivers can disable tracking through the Kia Connect app. For more information, run, don’t walk, to the Kia website.
Of course they’re all at it, and Polestar was famously forced to use the USA’s back door for just such concerns. Imagine an AI gathering all that stuff, sitting, waiting, watching, and listening. On second thoughts, don’t. You’ll have an attack of the vapours.
Use CarPlay unless you want to have a whack at opening the roof shade, windows, or turning off lane centring by voice. I assure you, hours of hilarity ensue. It is funny the first time but gets old fast.
Fun EV VS ICE facts
The table below shows 2 cars ICE vs EV. We used the average parameters for both cars doing 15,000km a year of mostly city driving. We made the EV at the most expensive rate, then at home only in renewables. Then, we calculated the CO2 from all power generated from the filthiest source, coal, and from 100% renewables. Then we added those same kilometres on a petrol car running 98RON at a (now conservative) $2.50/L. Keep in mind, in some states, Australia’s power is 100% renewables anyway. That’s by the way. It turns out that no matter how you add the numbers, ICE is for dinosaurs.
| How it’s fuelled | Use | Cost a year | Cost a day | CO2 a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petrol at $2.50/L | 10L/100km | $3,750 | $10.28 | 3.46 tonnes |
| EV, fast charger at 78c | 20kWh/100km | $2,340 | $6.41 | 2.70 tonnes |
| EV, street pole at 50c | 20kWh/100km | $1,500 | $4.11 | 2.70 tonnes |
| EV, home at 29c | 20kWh/100km | $870 | $2.38 | 2.70 tonnes |
| EV, home solar | 20kWh/100km | $0 | $0 | None |
How we worked it out. 15,000km a year, mostly city driving. Petrol car at 10L/100km and $2.50/L, with CO2 taken from the fuel actually burnt at 2.31kg a litre, not the brochure figure. Mazda 6e at 20kWh/100km measured at the plug, which is the 18kWh/100km we averaged on the dash over our week plus charging losses. Street poles and fast chargers change their prices through the day, so we’ve used the dearest rate in every case. The EV CO2 assumes every single kWh comes from black coal at 0.9kg a kWh, the dirtiest power in the grid; on renewables it’s zero however you charge. Servicing, tyres, rego and insurance are left out of both, and that’s a story for another day.
Based on an exact daily energy requirement of 8.22kWh for the electric vehicle versus 4.11L for the petrol car, the daily cost breaks down as follows across daily use at the same specified rates:
- Public fast charging at 78c: $6.41 per day
- Street pole charger at 50c: $4.11 per day
- Home charging at 29c: $2.38 per day
- Petrol at $2.50/L: $10.28 per day
The drive
2 programmable buttons on the bottom left of the steering wheel can do useful things like silence overspeed nagging, intrusive lane departure, and rather quaintly, regenerative braking. The latter can only be done on a customised drive mode. Normal and Sport have a fixed ratio of regen. That monumentally stupid idea can be aced with an update. When Deepal S07 launched, it did so without CarPlay. Deepal didn’t like us laughing at them so rushed an update through lickety split.
Geely allows you to gather all the rubbish into a single profile setting so many toggles can be tugged with a single todge. It is a computer, you should simply be able to say, “Hey Mazda My profile – on” and all settings tune to the particular warp of your weft.
China spent far too much time making Teslas, so in addition to the Brussels edicts foisted upon us by EuroNCAP via ANCAP, we have stupid Tesla gear sticks thanks to a spot of light back-engineering. Remember, Model 3 and Model Y are made in China. It’s enough to make your cuspids quiver.
The rear motor is good for 190kW/290Nm, less torque than the last turbo Mazda 6. Yet, despite a 78kWh lump of LFP under your floor, the 2015kg Mazda 6e is 0.2 seconds faster than the 1627kg Mazda 6 turbo to 100. Almost 400kg difference, yet the Mazda 6e kicks the ICE car in the cobblers.
Charging on the 400V Mazda 6e is 194kW but, who cares? Trying to find a faster than 200kW charger is like trying to find rocking horse poo. Even if all the charging was done at the maximum daily fee from power made of dinosaur, it is still cheaper to run than a ICE car, and emits less rubbish into the atmosphere.
Once silenced, Mazda 6e wafts along in glorious, regal splendour. The lane centring wanders, so could use a few driving lessons, but she is generally well behaved.
Set the AC and seat suck by voice, and Bob’s your uncle. Trying to use the screen at speed in any car is inviting a death wish to visit you in the night. Don’t do it. It is as stupid as fettling a phone. Forgive the phonetics but it is the only way to get a spot of light alliteration and break this cycle of damnable techy tosh that terrorises intrepid travellers. See? I’ll do anything to get that alliteration to work!
Besides, we lost both Dolly Parton and Tim Rice this week, so spelling and grammar be damned.
Let’s wrap up this reckless ramble
The video did go on a bit, but Mazda 6e has a lot to be miss boasty pants about.
It looks divine inside and out. It feels luxurious, even getting the nod of yes-ness from my bowl of gen Zs at Pie in the Sky. They do a nice steak n kidney pie worth a slap. Do drop in.
Despite the dodgy view through the rear window, Mazda 6e is a spiffing bit of gear. Like most EVs, you’re not going to Nürburgring yourself into a lather of testosterone laden sweat. Instead, enjoy a comfy, cosy, well-mannered carriage that is cheap (ish) to buy, cheap (ish) to run, and you can even power a lekky BBQ while your friends gawk in amazement. Actually, one of them is bound to have a cheeky espresso machine going begging too, so give that a whack while you’re at it.
Unlike the truly terrible MX-30 that was a complete waste of space, Mazda 6e is a triumph. Yes, it needs a nip and tuck here and there to rearrange 1s and 0s into a less infuriating order, but China has shown what Mazda can do when it is minded to.
Is it just a Mazda badge on a Deepal?
Does a new frock represent a new car? It might sound silly, but ask yourself this: although the lines won’t match, can the bonnet, doors, and hatch be swapped between cars? If they bolt in, and the latches latch, the answer is no. Holden was fond of this trick, see HQ, HX, HZ and WB as evidence m’lud.
Other reviewers were lukewarm because it didn’t corner like a Porker. I can live with their ardent pissing contest if it means I am comfortable.
Mazda 6e Key Numbers
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Price, 6e GT | $49,990 list, before on-roads |
| Price, 6e Atenza | $52,990 list, before on-roads |
| Drive wheels | Rear-wheel drive |
| Motor | Single electric motor, 190kW/290Nm |
| 0-100km/h | 7.3 seconds, both grades |
| Battery | 78kWh lithium iron phosphate |
| Range | 560km combined WLTP |
| Consumption | 15.9kWh/100km combined WLTP |
| Architecture | 400V |
| DC charging | 194kW peak, 10 to 80% in about 24 minutes |
| AC charging | 11kW on-board charger, about 8 hours for 0-100%, about 12 hours on 7.2kW |
| V2L | 3.5kW via adaptor |
| Kerb weight | 2015kg, GVM 2440kg |
| Boot | 337L seats up, 678L to the parcel tray, 1074L to the ceiling |
| Frunk | 72L |
| Wheels and tyres | 19-inch alloys, 245/45 R19, inflation kit, no spare |
| Screens | 10.2 inch driver display, 14.6 inch centre infotainment |
| Dimensions | 4921mm long, 1890mm wide, 1485mm high, 2895mm wheelbase |
Above: 70mai A810 Lite Dashcam 4G review
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More Mazda Stories
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Alan Zurvas is the founder and editor of Gay Car Boys, Australia's leading LGBTQI+ automotive publication. Before launching GCB in 2008, Alan's automotive writing was published in SameSame.com.au and the Star Observer. With over 16 years of hands-on car reviewing experience, Alan brings an honest, irreverent voice to every review — championing value and innovation over brand loyalty.
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