Evora 400

Make
Lotus
Segment
Coupe

It seems that nearly every major automaker today is getting behind the green car bandwagon. Only a decade or so ago, these same automaker's laughed off the EV as a poor investment that was better suited to be left on the golf course. You know, as a golf cart. Jump ahead to today and things have changed big time and we're seeing more EVs in development than ever. However, there's still one mainstream automaker who has stated that EVs are not in their immediate future. That would be Mazda.

According to a post from The Charging Point, during the international launch for the new CX-5 small SUV in the Scottish highlands, several fake road signs were staked into the ground that warned motorists about 'EV Drivers Hitchhiking', 'Abandoned EVs Ahead', and 'Next Charging Point: 225 Miles Away.' It's clear that Mazda wants us to know that they're sticking with the continued development of gasoline and diesel engines and not so much with battery technology. Last November at the LA Auto Show, Mazda CEO Takashi Yamanouchi made his point loud and clear:

"Electric cars are for the future. By 2020, 5 percent of car sales will be electric at best. Until obstacles such as cost, range and charging times are overcome, they are not for Mazda, at least as mainstream production vehicles." As a quick reminder, the new CX-5 features the Japanese automaker's new SkyActiv engine and transmission technologies, which have been designed for both fuel efficiency and performance. Because of this technology investment, Mazda's range today is now 30 percent more fuel efficient than it was back in 2008. If all goes to plan, by 2015 that number will climb an additional 30 percent.

However, Mazda isn't ignoring EVs completely. They have developed a Mazda2 EV city car but it's not even considered to be going into regular production until sometime closer to 2020. All that's missing now is a new rotary engine.