SCOOP NEW MAZDA MX-5

REVEALED US filings suggest next generation of legendary roadster is set to be offered as a pure EV, as well as with Mazda's efficient new Skyactiv-Z petrol engine

- Alastair Crooks

THE current Mazda MX-5 has always been the antithesis of increasingly heavy electric sports cars, but this could change soon, because Auto Express has uncovered patents of an electric MX-5, and our exclusive images show how it might look.

The patents, filed last month in the United States, show batteries located in the transmission tunnel section in what is clearly an MX-5-sized vehicle. This is at odds with the 'skateboard' architecture seen on most pure-electric vehicles, which would make it difficult to create the MX-5's usual low driving position.

Placing the batteries in the tunnel is designed to retain the traditional size, shape and weight distribution of the MX-5. Mazda has also put batteries in front of the passenger seat and behind both seats. The battery in front of the passenger's seat can be swapped to the driver's side, which we assume is to cater for left and right-hand drive.

The idea of needing a 'transmission tunnel' in the first place suggests that the set-up is based on an architecture shared between an ICE car – with a traditional gearbox mounting – and a pure-EV, although this isn’t mentioned in the patents.

Mazda states in the filing that “since the battery is installed in the tunnel portion, the gravity centre of the vehicle can be close to the actual centre of the car, thereby reducing the yaw moment of inertia more”.

The “yaw of inertia” Mazda is referring to here is, in essence, the vehicle's directional change – lowering this helps make a car feel more nimble, a trait of the MX-5 since its launch thanks to the Japanese company’s renowned philosophy of ‘Jinba-ittai’ (horse and rider as one).

Information on the battery is slim, although Mazda does state it could be either conventional lithium-ion or even solid-state.