Mazda Patents What Looks Like a Promising Electric Miata
These are just ideas for now, but they're neat ideas for one of our favorite sports cars.
The Mazda Miata has long been the champion of light weight and affordable open-top driving. The current fourth-generation (ND) model is due for a replacement soon and will eventually be electrified—we just don't yet know in what capacity, or when. Though a full-on EV is unlikely for the next generation, a patent Mazda filed last year illustrates how it might go about designing a fully electric Miata or Miata-like vehicle were something like that to happen.
0:00 / 0:00
Immediately, you can see these patent sketches do not make use of the traditional EV skateboard design. Instead, the stacked battery cells appear to form a "spine" along the vehicle's floor and heading from nose to tail, kind of like how the the Pininfarina Battista/Rimac Nevera batteries are laid out. (Or the original Chevy Volt, which featured a T-shaped pack running down the vehicle's centerline.) Mazda suggests this could be something like a lithium-ion or solid-state battery.
Likewise, the motor (M) is attached behind the seats and to the subframe itself, so it sits extremely low down. In profile, it seems like the intent was for the stacked battery cells and motor to balance each other out. The patent illustrates a rear-mounted motor to drive the rear wheels, but notes that, depending on where the motor is installed, it could drive either the front or rear wheels. Or, if more than one motor is installed, they could drive both front and rear wheels.
The low and centralized placement of the main battery cells, motor, and driveshaft all cause "the gravity center of the vehicle [to] be close to the center of the vehicle, thereby reducing the yaw moment of inertia more," according to the patent, which indicates Mazda is very much considering how the vehicle handles and moves.
This also opens the vehicle up for room for additional battery packs elsewhere, such as one behind both seat each. True, the patent (which was published on April 10) only identifies the vehicle as an "electric automobile" that "can be a coupe, hatchback, or sedan," but all the illustrations seem to be of a two-seater convertible whose vehicular balance Mazda paid extremely special attention to.
Automakers file patents all the time, so don't think the next Miata is guaranteed to go EV. In all likelihood, the replacement model will use some version of the newly planned and so-called Skyactiv-Z gas-driven engine family. The Skyactiv-Z should replace the Skyactiv-G and Skyactiv-X engines that are currently being used.
Still, if a battery-electric Miata were to happen, this patent sure is a promising way to lay it all out, as the battery layout makes room for seats down low—something critical for both a sporty feel and, well, because Miatas are tiny. Who'd want to sit on top of one, above a thick battery, rather than in one?
I got into cars the way most people do: my dad. Since I was little, it was always something we’d talk about and I think he was stoked to have his kid share his interest. He’d buy me the books, magazines, calendars, and diecast models—everything he could do to encourage a young enthusiast. Eventually, I went to school and got to the point where people start asking you what you want to do with your life. Seeing as cars are what I love and writing is what I enjoy doing, combining the two was the logical next step. This dream job is the only one I’ve ever wanted. Since then, I’ve worked at Road & Track, Jalopnik, Business Insider, The Drive, and now MotorTrend, and made appearances on Jay Leno’s Garage, Good Morning America, The Smoking Tire Podcast, Fusion’s Car vs. America, the Ask a Clean Person podcast, and MotorTrend’s Shift Talkers. In my spare time, I enjoy reading, cooking, and watching the Fast & Furious movies on repeat. Tokyo Drift is the best one.
Read More