2025 Mazda CX-90 PHEV consumer reviews

We have owned 3 of the Mazda cx90 hybrids. Great comfortable and lots of room for the whole family. Looks great too. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a comfortable suv.

The CX90 PHEV is a great car hampered by an average powertrain. The overall average experience could be mitigated by some changes to the drive modes. The vehicle really suffers from the way the hybrid powertrain works especially in cold weather. The value proposition falls flat in areas with more expensive electricity where you may end up spending more on electricity than you would if you were allowed to just drive it on the ICE, which is one of the real shortcomings of the drive modes. If they had a drive mode that allowed you to force it to only use the ICE or reserve the battery for power boosts it would be very welcome. In severe cold weather (below 20 degrees) you may find yourself getting less than 1m/kwh which is likely more expensive than electric depending on where you live. In the cold the battery drains fast but there is no easy way to force it to mainly use the gas engine except sport mode but that will keep the revs high and still use the battery more casually than just for high power demand. The one work around is if you engage the manual shifting via the paddles it will then default to gas but there is no way to engage that without manual shifting. Considering how fuel efficient the base inline 6 appears to be I would recommend that version over the PHEV. I miss the occasional trip to a gas station in comparison to the daily plug in of the PHEV. This vehicle does not like to drive with its battery drained and in cold weather it will on occasion automatically charge its battery in cold weather using the ICE. I have seen it where it will initiate this process around 20% battery and keep it charging until 40% without any real way to modify those settings. When charging the battery off of the gas engine the entire powertrain feels labored and unpleasant and the MPG tanks. I still average 19-20 mpg in all city/hilly driving when not charging via plugging in but those are not enjoyable miles. Aside from the powertrain the rest of the vehicle is a joy. It is a handsome car with enough space to be useful and haul 8 people on short trips but long trips are best left to fewer passengers. Once my lease ends with the PHEV I intend to look at an inline 6 version to replace it.