- Mazda's new all-electric liftback, the 6e, has been awarded a 5 Star safety rating by ANCAP.
- The 6e performed well across all areas, achieving 93 percent for both adult and child occupant protection.
- The Mazda 6e is sold in New Zealand as a single high-spec Takami model for $58,990.
Mazda’s all-electric 6e has earned a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating, with strong results for occupant protection and good performance from several of its crash-avoidance systems.
The ANCAP assessment applies to all Mazda 6e variants sold in Australia and New Zealand, with the new model achieving 93 percent for both Adult Occupant Protection and Child Occupant Protection, while Vulnerable Road User Protection was rated at 74percent and Safety Assist at 79 percent.
For adult protection, the 6e scored 37.39 out of 40 points, while it also achieved maximum scores in the 60km/h side-impact test and far-side impact assessment, with the passenger compartment remaining stable in the frontal offset test.
Child protection was similarly strong, with 46 out of 49 points, and maximum scores were awarded for both frontal and side dynamic testing and for the installation of child restraints. ANCAP also noted that all selected child restraints could be accommodated in the rear seating positions tested.
The 6e recorded 47.12 out of 63 points for Vulnerable Road User Protection and its autonomous emergency braking system performed well in testing involving pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, with collisions avoided or mitigated in most pedestrian scenarios and at all tested speeds for cyclists.
The 6e's Safety Assist score was 14.28 out of 18 points, with ANCAP rating its car-to-car autonomous emergency braking performance as good, with collisions avoided or mitigated in all rear-end test scenarios. Its emergency lane-keeping system also performed well, although standard lane-keep assist was rated marginal.
The Mazda 6e is equipped with nine airbags, including a centre airbag designed to reduce occupant-to-occupant contact in side impacts. Standard safety technology includes autonomous emergency braking, lane-keeping and emergency lane-keeping assistance, blind-spot monitoring, speed-sign recognition and a driver monitoring system capable of detecting drowsiness and distraction.
The ANCAP rating uses the 2023–25 assessment criteria and is valid until December 2031. Sold in China as the EZ-6, the 6e is a product of the long-standing partnership between Mazda and China's Changan Automobile and is based on the platform of the Deepal [Changan's EV brand] SL03.
The 6e is sold in New Zealand in a single Takami specification, with a 78kWh LFP battery, WLTP range of 560km and rear-drive from a single 190kW/290Nm motor, and it lands here at $58,990.