Photography by Chris Tropea
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Welcome to this week’s test vehicle, a 2024 Mazda CX-90 PHEV Premium Plus.
Yes, while a turbocharged inline-six is available, this CX-90 is–as the PHEV suggests–the plug-in hybrid model.
Instead of a six-cylinder engine, the PHEV model gets a four-cylinder engine that's combined with a 100kW motor for a total output of 323 horsepower and 369 lb.-ft. of torque when running on 93 octane. (Use 87, and power drops to a combined 319 horsepower.)
In addition to being good for 56 MPGe, Mazda says the plug-in CX-90 can travel 26 miles on electricity alone.
Also worthy of mention? Shifting is handled via a more traditional (for an electrified vehicle, anyway) 8-speed automatic, and buyers can tow up to 3500 pounds.
MSRP for the CX-90 PHEV starts at $49,945 for the base "Preferred" model, with our top tier "Premium Plus" model carrying a sticker price of $58,920. (Side note: for those who are committed to the CX-90, but don't need a third row, there's also the virtually-identical, two-row CX-70.)
Questions? Comments? Feel free to post them below.
I took the CX-90 out for lunch and first impressions are good. The interior is on par what you would expect to see in a modern Mazda. The seats are comfortable and the radio was easy to connect my phone to. One cool feature I noticed was a light above the rear view mirror to show how many passengers are buckled in and what seat they are in. 
The EV range was at zero miles when the car was dropped off so when I got home I plugged it in to charge on a standard 110V plug. The car said 9 hours and 40 minutes to charge to full. Once it is charged up I will report back on how the hybrid drive feels. 
After charging for 4 hours we have 9 miles of EV range. That should be enough to run to the grocery store and back fully in EV mode. I'll leave it plugged in overnight tonight to get it up to a full charge.
So that's maybe a 10kwh pack? So cute!
With all the seats up there isn't a ton of trunk space but there is enough for a small trip to the store. 
Tom Suddard said:So that's maybe a 10kwh pack? So cute!
Specs say 17.9, so about the same as a Volt. Good size for a plug-in. Enough to cover most daily needs without the overhead of a big expensive pack.
On a 24 mile round trip drive of mixed highway and surface roads we were able to get 2.4 miles/kWh. We started with 23 miles of claimed range on the dash when we started the car this morning and about a mile and a half from my house on the way back the ICE engine took over. For around town use this seems to be a good option for a big plug in hybrid so far.
Keith Tanner said:Tom Suddard said:So that's maybe a 10kwh pack? So cute!
Specs say 17.9, so about the same as a Volt. Good size for a plug-in. Enough to cover most daily needs without the overhead of a big expensive pack.
Is that total or usable? I found the same spec you did, but Chris says range in electric mode is 24 miles at 2.4 miles per kWh, which makes me think only 10 kWh is available before the transition to hybrid mode. But that seems to leave a lot of battery on the table. Mazda's quoted range is 26 miles, and they quote 11 hours to charge on a level 1 charger.
I'll bet it transitions to mild hybrid mode once the battery is below a certain point to maintain full performance. That makes more sense than fully depleting the battery and going ICE-only. The smaller non-PHEV Prius uses a 4 kWh pack and it's packing a much smaller electric motor.
Keith Tanner said:I'll bet it transitions to mild hybrid mode once the battery is below a certain point to maintain full performance. That makes more sense than fully depleting the battery and going ICE-only. The smaller non-PHEV Prius uses a 4 kWh pack and it's packing a much smaller electric motor.
If it helps, Mazda offers this snippet:
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