- We test the Mazda 6e ahead of launch
- Electric hatchback arrives in the UK 2026
- Mazda 6e put through its paces in Spain's Gorafe Desert
- Real-world driving range tested
- Not your typical Spanish road trip!
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Two hundred miles, six hours, and an endless desert — an easy task for the Mazda 6e.
Fiestas, siestas, flamenco dancing, golden beaches; Spain is the perfect place to soak up the sun without straying too far from Britain.
Behind the holiday hot spots, though, Spain also offers vast picturesque landscapes, winding tarmac, and majestic wildlife, something we explored behind the wheel of the Mazda 6e.
Here's everything you need to know:
What is the Mazda 6e and when does it launch in the UK?
The 6e is Mazda’s newest EV, and while it looks like a saloon car, it’s marketed as a hatchback. The car, due to go on sale in Q1 2026, will be offered with two battery packs: a 300-mile 68.8kWh with 200kW DC charging, and a 345-mile 80kWh that charges at 90kW DC. Our car was a Mazda 6e Takumi Plus, the top-spec model, in stunning Melting Copper hue, equipped with the 68.8kWh battery.
How did the Mazda 6e cope with a desert road trip?
Before hitting Spain’s open roads, we were briefed on the circular 309km (200-mile) route. Departing from the Alhambra Palace Hotel, Granada, we would head to Andasol 3, a large solar-thermal power plant located north of the Sierra Nevada, before navigating the Gorafe Desert’s dramatic badlands filled with deep canyons, interesting rock formations, and cave houses. Our mission was to return to the hotel from which we had started without stopping for a charge.
A glance at the car’s battery readout showed 95 percent and 455km, leaving 146km of wiggle room, all going well. After navigating Granada’s tight and busy streets, we were soon on the highway heading towards Andasol 3, a perfect time to familiarise ourselves with the Mazda 6e.
Being a modern car, it’s filled with various safety systems like lane-keep assist, lane departure warning, and driver attention alert. All were turned off for our drive to avoid any Italian Job-like mishaps while carving our way through the winding Sierra Nevada roads.
This said, there aren’t many physical switches in the 6e, meaning accessing the safety systems can be a task, as most settings are controlled via the centralised touchscreen. Mazda has included a configurable ‘task bar’ along the bottom, allowing you to quickly change the cabin temperature, adjust mirrors, and other systems.
After two hours of driving, we arrived at Andasol 3 for a tour, highlighting the importance of Spain’s renewable energy. The 200-hectare solar-thermal plant is truly a sight: 204,288 curved solar mirrors — located in large fields — quickly douse any views of the surrounding landscape when inside, and a large 49.9MW turbine sits in the middle to process any harvested energy.
Known as a CSP plant (concentrated solar power), Andasol 3 works by concentrating solar energy to heat fluid. This then generates steam, which drives a turbine before producing electricity. Each solar mirror has a 70mm wide pipe that measures 4.06m in length. There are 21,888 pipes throughout the site.
The pipes, known as collectors, have a parabolic shape which is perpendicular to the Sun, and all the Sun’s rays are concentrated into something called “focus”. The “focus” is a special tube through which the heat transfer fluid circulates and is heated from 293 to 393 degrees Celsius along a loop.
Andasol 3 generates 165 to 179GWh of electricity annually. In perspective, a UK wind farm with 11,000 turbines generated 30GWh of electricity (16 GW onshore and 15 GW offshore). It was easy to see how Spain is a leader in renewable energy, as next door to the solar farm lay a large wind turbine blade construction facility. Similarly, its goals of all electricity being naturally generated by 2050 are taken seriously.
Mazda 6e - performance and handling
Tour over, we drove deeper into the Sierra Nevada en route to Gorafe, climbing 3,400m above sea level. Ears popping as we ascended. Soon enough, we found ourselves on the delightful A395; a 26km route filled with meandering tarmac, sharp bends, steep drops, dry foliage, and snakes — an ideal excuse to stretch the 6e’s legs.
Cycling the car's driving modes is done via a steering wheel button, and as you would expect, Sport tightens the suspension, adds steering weight, and sharpens the throttle response.
Of course, we couldn’t go too wild as we still needed to get back to base. On the twisties, however, the car performed effortlessly thanks to its balanced front and rear weight distribution. Meanwhile, grip was aided by the warm tarmac. And although the 6e is only available with a single motor, its power and torque were more than adequate for the straighter sections — not once did it feel slow.
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Spain's Gorafe Desert - Europe's Wild West?
Breaking up the vast dry wilderness was a green area, located somewhere between the Sierra Nevada and Gorafe Desert. The sand, bendy tarmac, and dryness were replaced with rows of olive trees and various pine trees; Canadian forests sprang to mind. It was a quick reminder of how quickly Southern Spain can alter its appearance and trick you into thinking you're somewhere else on Earth.
Mule Deer hopped around the increasingly dense forests, while campervans and cyclists began populating the roads ahead. The pathways were no longer filled with a convoy of silent Mazda 6es.
Around 30 minutes later, the treescape disappeared, leaving us feeling like we had crossed a border into another continent. Utah and Colorado quickly came to mind; Gorafe is best described as Europe’s wild west, but that’s no secret, as many western films like Once Upon a Time in the West and Any Gun Can Play were filmed here.
The layered rock formations are massive, and cave houses, built into smaller rocks, are common, each featuring uniqueness like door colour and garden ornaments.
Our desert road trip - the final stretch
Stopping for a quick lunch in Gorafe, we hit the road again and made our descent into Granada, circa two hours from the lunch stop. The Mazda team checked our cars for range before leaving: “You’ll need 190km to get home,” they said, and we had 200km left.
We trickled our way through the desert, contemplating whether we should hypermile the Mazda 6e back to the hotel, which involved turning off most of the car’s electronics to save battery. However, temperatures were climbing and having no air conditioning would’ve turned us into sweaty, dehydrated messes.
Still, using the brake regeneration system helped put some miles back in the battery, and after two hours, we arrived at the hotel; the battery readout showed 23 percent, and just 40 miles.
I had just completed the Spanish adventure - in a “short-range” EV. And the car? Sure, it took a bit of getting used to, like most new things, but my God, it’s good. Especially on longer, warmer journeys.
Forget Benidorm. Rent a decent EV or a campervan and explore Spain. Believe me, you won’t regret it.
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