Who didn’t watch The Jetsons as a child and know they would one day drive – or, more accurately, fly – their bubble car to their home in the sky? The future of motoring seemed paved with space-age technology that would largely serve to make cars cooler rather than more functional.
The actual future car is something quite different. Features and functionality have been developed to support safety, efficiency and the longevity of driving. Full electric models entering the market are challenging the old ways with a more sustainable vision.
Mazda is one manufacturer looking for new ways to encapsulate a futuristic experience that’s harmonious with the environment and offers the best car-driver relationship. Mazda’s director of marketing, Alastair Doak, offers his thoughts about what to expect from the future of motoring.
1. Integrated technology features
Connected cars are already on our roads, communicating with internal and external devices, and sharing useful data. Their functionality ranges from improving driver mobility – for example, by providing traffic information – to entertainment, hazard warnings and paying tolls. “Beyond that, we’re seeing more features,” Doak says, “where cars can be updated over the air or keep the driver and passenger connected in the social space.”
Technology built into the car is also evolving. “There are more LCD digital displays, whether for the instruments themselves or touch screens,” Doak says. “The Mazda has touch-screen functionality beyond our other cars.”
The Mazda MX-30 Electric’s cabin noise is another example of using technology to foster the relationship between car and driver. “We wanted to engineer it in a way that made it feel like a classic driving experience,” Doak says. “We didn’t want the sound in the cabin to be an artificial engine noise, but we wanted all the senses working together to give that driving enjoyment. It’s a noise that helps support the immersive experience of driving.”
2. Evolving electrification
While the new MX-30 is Mazda’s first fully electric vehicle, Doak is excited about a whole range of electrified options. “We’ve said by 2030 all of our vehicles will have some form of electrification and 30% of our cars, pure EV,” he says.
By 2030, 30% of Mazda’s cars will be pure electric vehicles.
“There are a few areas that have stepped up over the last little while. We’re starting to see more EVs coming into the marketplace, while other forms of electrification, whether that’s mild hybrid or plug-in hybrid or full EV, will create diversity in driving experiences.”
3. Features and finishes with the planet in mind
Traditionally, car manufacturers have used plastic and other non-recyclable products to fit interiors and exteriors. Cars of the future, such as the Mazda MX-30, take bold steps in both sustainability and style with their materials.
The material on the doors is made of recycled PET bottles. Heritage cork creates a unique highlight for the car’s centre console area, in a nod to Mazda’s beginnings as a cork producer. The seats are designed with material that contains at least 20% recycled fabric, and the synthetic leather is produced with water-based solvents.
These aesthetic achievements are a step on the path to future style choices. “There is growing awareness, and car companies, including Mazda, are thinking about sustainability and delivering it in their products,” Doak says. “Once you’ve proved them and made them work in the real world, confidence builds from there.”
4. Focus on safety
“Until recent times safety’s been more about what happens to the passenger cell after you have a crash, more airbags and those sorts of features,” Doak says. “Now, we’re seeing autonomous technology that can actually take over.”
Mazda’s Jinba-Ittai philosophy focuses on the connection a driver feels to their car, and this influences the manufacturer’s safety approach. Rather than pushing a fully autonomous experience, Mazda is pursuing a “co-pilot” concept. “If the situation arises where the person is not capable of controlling the car,” Doak says, “that’s when the systems we’re developing will step in.”
5. Sustainability from well-to-wheel
Incorporating sustainable elements into finished vehicles is only one part of Mazda’s approach – its Sustainable Zoom-Zoom 2030 vision outlines other strategies, including an environmentally conscious production line.
Mazda has a goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
“We have a target of net zero by 2050 and we’re already working hard on our manufacturing plants,” Doak says. “We have solar at our factories and a very efficient power plant that we use to help reduce emissions.
“You look at materials and how you use them,” he says. “We’re always looking at ways to minimise the impact. It’s not just a matter of the car driving along the street, but from production all the way through.”
6. Responsiveness to consumers
Ultimately, Doak says, drivers still want to enjoy the experience of hitting the open road. Designing cars is a balancing act between creating something sustainable while still appealing to consumers’ emotions.
“You have to listen to consumers and think about the trends that are emerging,” he says. “But companies also know that they have a responsibility to reduce the impact on the world, which becomes part of their thinking.” It’s this combination of factors, he says, that drives car makers to continue to improve.
“The car has been around now for over 100 years. It’s changed the world for a lot of good things, allowed people to travel and move around and transport things. This is about evolution, not revolution. There are lots of exciting things to come from motoring.”
Combining sustainable materials and clean engine technology, the Mazda MX-30 Electric is a vision for the future. Now available.
