Mazda CX-6e gets an external speaker that can be used to swear at scooter riders
Mazda’s new electric CX-6e includes a 20 W external speaker that is not just for playing music. The car can use it to deliver preset warnings, text entered by the driver and, in some markets, the driver’s own voice. Australian journalists discovered that the system does not filter out swear words either.
The idea is to communicate with other road users
The CX-6e is based on the Chinese-market Mazda EZ-60, for which Changan Mazda had already described the external speaker as a feature allowing occupants to communicate with pedestrians and other road users from inside the car. Users can save their own text and have the car read it aloud outside.
Mazda’s European materials confirm the presence of a 20 W external speaker, but present it primarily as a way to play music via Bluetooth when the car is stationary. Functionality may therefore differ between markets.
The system tested in Australia allowed users to select preset phrases, enter their own text on the touchscreen and broadcast the driver’s voice. The journalists found no filter for offensive language.
The CX-6e itself is an important model for Europe
The external speaker is more of a side issue. The CX-6e has greater significance for Mazda because, following the Mazda 6e, it is the brand’s second global electric car developed in China together with Changan.
The European CX-6e uses a 78 kWh LFP battery and a 190 kW rear motor. WLTP range reaches 484 km with 19-inch wheels, while DC charging is supported at up to 195 kW. Charging the battery from 10 per cent to 80 per cent takes 24 minutes, according to Mazda.
The car is 4850 mm long, 1935 mm wide and 1620 mm high. The CX-6e also shares the Chinese EZ-60’s large 26.45-inch screen and some of its smart features, although Mazda tuned the chassis separately for the European market.
In Europe, it is still best to keep the swear words to yourself
Using an external speaker to shout messages at other road users is not the same as an electric car’s mandatory pedestrian warning sound. Separate requirements govern external sound and road-user behaviour in the European market, and Mazda does not promote the European CX-6e as a public-address system.
Technically, though, the external speaker is there. It illustrates how many software features developed for the Chinese market are now reaching European cars along with electric vehicle platforms from China.
