I mean, maybe they could. Anything’s possible. But Mazda’s executives are adamant that the beloved little roadster isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. This latest bit of anxiety relief comes to us from the UK’s Autocar, which spoke to Mazda’s CEO in Europe, Martijn ten Brink, at the recent Brussels Motor Show. Here’s what he had to say about the Miata’s future, emphasis mine: It will never die! We love to hear it, folks. “I think it will continue to exist forever and it will have to go with the times. That’s a super challenge, and people are passionate about this car in Mazda. “Of course, as you can imagine, people have opinions on which direction it should go. So I’m very curious where it will end up, but it will definitely remain part of the line-up.” Even more importantly in this interview, ten Brink said that from 2023 onward the Miata will be compliant with Europe’s latest crash regulations, which have basically doomed the Toyota GR86 and Alpine A110 over there. Granted, the European market isn’t everything, but it’s big, and the Miata losing access to it would be bad news all around. We’ve known for some time that Mazda is working on a next-generation version of the Miata, tentatively called the NE, but that the current ND model—launched in 2015—still has at least a few years left in it. That’s a good thing because that car is fantastic, and it tracks with history; Miata models tend to last around a decade. The latest we’ve heard is that the next Miata could launch around 2026, and that it’s probably likely to pack electrification of some kind; most likely as a hybrid. Mazda has already ruled out the new inline-six from the CX-90 and other models. Since Mazda is promising to keep the weight down—it wouldn’t be a Miata if it got too fat—my guess would be a smaller four-cylinder engine with some kind of mild-hybrid system optimized for boosting performance and cutting emissions. Last year, The Drive (where, in the interest of Full Disclosure, I once served as Editorial Director) dug up some Mazda patents for a hybrid system with a 3.5 kWh battery pack mounted somewhere in the transmission tunnel that powers three electric motors—two of which were in the front wheels. Patents are just patents and shouldn’t be taken as gospel, but the level of detail on this one may give some hints as to where the Miata’s going next, or at least what Mazda is thinking about. Mazda is a much smaller company than most of its competitors and in the race to electrify all the cars, it has to call its shots carefully. Luckily for us, the Miata still seems to be a shot worth taking. As long as Mazda can keep the weight down, and I have more faith in Mazda to pull that off than most, I’m excited to see what’s coming next. Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.
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A lightweight sub-2,500 lb all-electric Miata carting around a 35 kWh pack is certainly doable without exotic materials and processes if they keep the drag down. Maybe not in convertible form, but definitely in coupe and/or targa top form. Opening the top might cut range by 1/3 if the enclosed baseline form is something with a Cd value below 0.20. The potential to get a 200+ mile range in real-world driving conditions is there with a 35 kWh battery pack when keeping load reduction front and center as a design criterion, in the context of what the car is(it is a sports car, so tire/brake performance should not be skimped on in the name of efficiency). Forget aesthetics as an initial focus. They’ll come into their own if the form is efficient from the start. Think Alfa Romeo BAT cars, Jaguar D-Type, Porsche 356 coupe, Porsche 550, Peugeot CD Panhard 66C, ect. Those designs are considered timeless and beautiful by many, but cutting wind resistance was their initial focus, NOT styling. A more recent example might be an Opel Eco Speedster concept, also not an ugly car, but very slippery, and I think its looks still hold up well 20 years later. They need to be designed with a style that is not going to be switched up when the vibe shifts, and ned to be intended as timeless from the start. The modern fad of angular designs is just that, a fad, and should be avoided. Doing this will kick planned obsolescence regarding the car’s overall design to the curb, and the same body style might have to stick around for decades. So be it. Any improvements the car has from there should be rooted in available technology. This way, as many parts as possible with future models and old models can be shared, keeping costs down and allowing cheaper repairs. Forget the next quarterly report. Think 20-30 years ahead. I’d personally enjoy more collaboration between Honda and Mazda for this (so we could get a new S2000 replacement) but as of now, nobody wins and that’s the disappointment we all live with. The RX Vision is a bigger car, which also means heavier. Keeping the car Miata-sized or smaller, I like the idea of fitting bigger engines into these smaller cars, then streamlining the crap out of them and pursuing weight reduction via deletion of extraneous luxury features all in order to keep mass down in the name of reducing operating cost, reducing purchase price, and reducing fuel consumption. 50+ mpg highway in a big-engined small car capable of 200+ mph should be doable, and if it shares the Miata’s base platform and the vast majority of its parts, cost can be kept low as well. If Mazda goes electric, I think it should partner with Tesla on sharing components and Mazda EVs should be optimized to use Tesla’s charging infrastructure. Mazda has excellent suspensions and platforms to use, and the fact that they can make a Miata pass today’s onerous regulations without going broke is an indication of what they could do if they actually had resources. Tesla has resources(for now), the best all-around mass-market EV drive systems available, seeks to open-source their components to any hackers that crack them, but what seems to be a vision centered around Musk’s fever dream of “mo’ money” and dystopian-chiq aesthetics becoming dominant to compliment what modern society has been turned into. Musk would be willing to do something crazy, and Mazda is the sort of operation that has the knowhow to build it, and could with access to Tesla’s parts at a massive discount. Both of those two collaborating could do beautiful things in the EV space. We especially need, and more than have the tech to allow, an affordable, sub-$20k small/aero EV with the added gimmick of hypercar acceleration and subsequent value confirm as a result of it, in order to make a compelling proposition for creating a market that doesn’t currently exist. Sure, a few minutes runtime at full throttle would drain the hilariously small battery, but if designed right, a 25-30 kWh battery would be all that is needed for acceptable range if one’s foot is kept in check, using Tesla’s Model 3 drive system and a battery pack that weighs less than a modern Miata’s small little engine.
- Have never, will never, owned an SUV. I could see myself driving an old Air Cooled VW as my only car. Don’t get me wrong…it’s a good car that has historical significance, but the groupthink/auto journalist fawning over it is disproportionate to how good it actually is. I once saw it put this way in a comment on the Orange site and I think it’s perfect: if you’re used to driving appliance cars the GTI is amazing, but if you have experience with actual sports cars you’re not going to be impressed. Those journalists also said the ride of the Kona N was prohibitively bad and after I test drove mine I thought they were a bunch of babies. The hot hatch/sport compact ethos isn’t about driving around in your living room…it’s about driving an economy car that’s been factory hot rodded into something fun. Who cares if it doesn’t ride like a luxury cruiser, if that’s what you want go buy one. The ST/RS products aren’t all that different from the N products I’m advocating for either. They’re intentionally rough around the edges. At the end of the day it makes for a more memorable driving experience. Who cares if the interior is a little blah, theres some torque steer, and the exhaust farts. That’s good! I enjoy driving my Kona N every day and still remember what a hoot the Elantra N I got the chance to beat the snot out of was. I don’t think I can tell you a single memorable thing about driving my GTI other than the fact that the low end torque is nice and the launch control is fun when it actually works…which is never because VW lol. I’ve also driven a Golf R and I can’t tell you anything about it other than it was fine and I thought the GTI was more fun…. My own “experience with actual sports cars” includes an ’81 Triumph TR8, a ’71 MkIII Midget, an ’87 911 Carerra, a ’90 944S2, and an H Production Spitfire: I’m good, thanks. 3 seats (including the driver’s seat) is the optimal amount of seats for me, 1 passenger is a little too personal, 4+ seats is more than I’ll ever use 99% of the time. I wonder if Mazda would ever pull a McLaren with the Mazda. and have a central driving position with 2 seats on either side behind the driver’s seat. -_- A Miata with a small battery and a 150ish mile range would be the perfect seasonal toy, charging in the garage and ready to play whenever the sun comes out. The EQXX proof-of-concept vehicle made it 1200km (750mi) on public roads with a 100kWh battery weighing 495kg (1100lb). Total vehicle weight was 1755kg (3800lb). The EQXX used some cutting edge materials, but the battery itself was conventional tech (top-of-the-line and air-cooled, but not like, solid state or anything). I like using the EQXX as a point of reference because it proves so thoroughly that the biggest obstacle to EV range isn’t the battery tech or the weight, it’s the wind resistance. Here’s why I think a Miata EV could work: a Miata is smaller than the EQXX. It’s lower and narrower, so it should be able to achieve similar drag figures even with a higher drag coefficient (it would need significant redesign, which would probably compromise looks). It doesn’t need four seats or four doors, and that means the base chassis is lighter at around 1000kg (2200lb) even without the exotic materials. And 400km is a lot less than 1200km, so the battery could be around 180kg (400lb) including wiggle room for cheaper chemistry. Incidentally, if you were to start with something mass produced like a Model 3 and shave off pounds and drag with the smaller size, you come to very similar numbers. All said and done, a 1200kg (2700lb) Miata EV that hits 400km (250mi) in real-world driving should be possible with our current generation of battery tech. Now the real question is, could Mazda do it without breaking the bank with R&D costs? Most BEVs have a ton of coolant in them and in extreme cold all that coolant hurts warmup times. Then on the other end of the spectrum you got cars like the Leaf and the e-NV200 that would probably preform a ton better with a desk fan cooling the batteries FFS. Active air cooling of battery packs along with the use of ram air and active shutters to close off the air intake in very cold weather and during “startup” would simplify things while likely greatly reducing the weight of the battery packs. Formula is there just follow it. Aluminum Monocoque, non turbo 1.5 skyactive I3 (half the new I6). Mild hybrid with 45hp/60ftlb electric motor and a manual transmission. 200hp output combined, Aluminum offsetting weight of rear trunk mounted battery. It would still be far lighter than the current cars. Wont happen but eventually once the car needs a huuuge battery pack THEN they will make cars in Aluminum but a second before. It’s only really fun late at night or super early in the morning. That being said having an automated Dorito you can’t rev, can’t row your own gears with, etc. is pretty sad for rotary guys. You can see it, hear it, smell it, feel it, but you can’t drive it, you have no control over the throttle, you can’t run it to redline, etc. I wouldn’t want an electric Miata with a Rotary range extender, I’d just be sad every time I got in it. a sa 6 7. sta n g @ google’s email address It will never be the next Miata though. For one simple reason. The Miata has always, and will always be open topped. I forget which particular HMFIC said that of the Miata, but it is one of the rules of the car. The Vision is not designed to use the sky as its roof. Still, great looking concept. Hope a lot of it ends up in the next Miata. Sidenote: it tickles me that with the next generation The Answer is now going to get a question. (“ne” added to the end of a sentence in Japanese indicates a question being asked)
