2025 Mazda CX-50 Hybrid may not be moving enough

• Mazda CX-50 Hybrid gets its 38-mpg powertrain from Toyota
• Styling and packaging is mostly unchanged, price is $2,550 to $3,400 more than non-hybrid
• Lacks much of the engaging, responsive driving experience that’s distinguished Mazda

Among mainstream, gasoline-fueled vehicles, with only a few exceptions, our advice to most shoppers is simple: If there’s a hybrid, get the hybrid. 

A hybrid is now available for the Alabama-built Mazda CX-50. After spending a couple of days with it, that advice holds—with a few caveats. 

Unlike rivals such as the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Ford Escape or, soon, Subaru Forester, Mazda doesn’t see the hybrid system as creating the flagship of the lineup. Instead it fits the CX-50 Hybrid between its 2.5 S and Turbo models. 

Mazda CX-50 Hybrid: Hybrid transplant for Mazda’s mainstream middle

The CX-50 Hybrid has the same advantage as other non-hybrid CX-50s: It looks great. The CX-50 has a profile, stance, and styling details that all fit together cohesively. It neither looks like a plus-size compact SUV nor a nipped-and-tucked take on a bigger SUV. The sides are sculpted just right, the cladding is quaffed and minimal, and it doesn’t have awkward angles. 

You’re unlikely to pick out the Hybrid from the non-hybrid from a distance, except for unique alloy wheels. The CX-50 Hybrid’s exterior is discreetly raised 1.4 inches while providing the same ground clearance, and it gets commensurate “higher-profile body cladding” (really a subtle change) to help it fit more easily alongside non-hybrids.

The CX-50 Hybrid also carries over nearly the same overall dimensions and packaging. It has 7.8-8.1 inches of ground clearance, and the 19-inch wheels featured on my Premium Plus test vehicle that provide that extra bump in height. 

Inside, the hybrid, like other CX-50s, isn’t quite as roomy of an interior as it appears on the outside. Versus any of those rivals, the CX-50’s EPA passenger volume of 97.0 cubic feet is markedly less; and it doesn’t make up for it with its cargo volume of 29.2 cubic feet behind the second row, or 56.3 cubic feet with the rear seats folded down.

Mazda CX-50 Hybrid: Trades off space vs. rivals for a pretty profile

Considering the CX-50’s longer body, it took a few walkarounds to understand that there’s a simple answer to where the space goes. The CX-50 looks great because more of its profile is dedicated to the hoodline and less to the cabin. 

At 185.6 inches long and riding on a noteworthy 110.8-inch wheelbase, the CX-50 Hybrid is a few inches longer than rivals like the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, or Subaru Forester, and within an inch or so in most other key dimensions. 

It’s still plenty roomy for four, though. This interior will accommodate 6-footers in the front and rear seats. Although the seats don’t have quite as much back support as those in the Mazda 3 or CX-5, they’re quite good versus what you’ll find in other affordable vehicles. 

The Hybrid’s 1.59-kwh nickel-metal-hydride battery pack has a minor impact on space. It’s positioned under the rear seat. Thus, rear passengers sit closer to the floor but higher from the ground. It results in slightly less legroom, but it’s such a small difference that cross-shoppers might not even notice it. Most of the Hybrid’s floor structure is unique to it, and the front frame rails are set more widely apart—so don’t expect it to carry over the standard CX-50’s NHTSA five-star and IIHS Top Safety Pick+ ratings quite yet. 

Mazda CX-50 Hybrid: 38-mpg AWD hybrid system from Toyota

Under the hood lies a different engine than the one powering non-hybrid versions of the CX-50. Mazda calls this an “eCVT,” but it’s a familiar Toyota-sourced hybrid system as used in the RAV4 Hybrid—a planetary torque-split system allowing several bands of effective ratio spans to enable different electrified torque and efficiency demands. 

Here, the 2.5-liter Toyota inline-4 makes 176 hp and 163 lb-ft of torque, with all-wheel-drive provided only via an electric rear motor making 54 hp and 89 lb-ft. Altogether, the Toyota hybrid system makes the same combined 219 hp and 163 lb-ft as in the RAV4 Hybrid.

It earns EPA ratings of 39 mpg city, 37 highway, and 38 combined. While our first sample of the CX-50 Hybrid suggested that those numbers might be a little optimistic, buyers can look forward to impressive efficiency in everyday driving with this practical crossover. 

The curb weight of the CX-50 Hybrid is 4,008 pounds, according to Mazda. That’s 267 pounds more than a non-hybrid CX-50, or about a hundred pounds more than a Turbo. The CX-50 Hybrid is rated to tow 1,500 pounds, which less than other CX-50 models but still enough to haul weekend projects across town. 

Mazda CX-50 Hybrid real-world mpg proves diesel wrong

Mazda spent years attempting to bring a turbo-diesel engine to the U.S. market, and then when it arrived in the 2019 Mazda CX-5 SkyActive-D, it provided slower acceleration and only marginally better mpg. Now the CX-50 Hybrid shows Mazda should have been looking to hybrids all along. It definitely accelerates to 60 mph quicker than the eight-plus seconds of the base CX-50, while topping that model’s 28-mpg combined EPA ratings—at a price premium that’s going to pay off at the gas pump within a few years. 

To get a feel for why Mazda bailed on its own diesel and turned to Toyota, I took the CX-50 Hybrid on the exact same loop on which I drove the somewhat smaller, underwhelming CX-5 diesel on a few years earlier: a nearly 175-mile route that includes fast-moving, dynamic-driving backroads and steep highways skirting Oregon’s Mt. Hood, with the last 60 miles near the 70-mph flow of traffic. In all, I averaged 35 mpg—significantly better than the 31 mpg the diesel model managed in the same kind of driving.

I then also took the CX-50 on a 53-mile loop that I’ve run a number of different hybrids on, with 700 feet of elevation gain and loss plus a mix of gentle under-65-mph freeway driving, suburban stop-and-go, and rolling-hill backroads. On this loop, I averaged 39 mpg, which is several mpg less than I’ve seen in the CR-V Hybrid and RAV4 Hybrid on this same loop under comparable conditions. 

Like many hybrids, the CX-50 Hybrid is a very efficient cruiser provided you keep within a certain sweet spot. At a steady 70 mph, my test vehicle settled into an average right around 35 mpg. But hiking the speed up to 75 mph appeared to drop mileage to 32 mpg. 

Mazda CX-50 Hybrid: “Signature driving dynamics” of a different sort

Mazda has a reputation for providing sportier, better-driving vehicles, and the CX-50 has Mazda’s “signature driving dynamics,” according to the brand. As someone who loves the Miata, recommends the CX-30, and appreciates the new CX-70 and CX-90—as well as the frugal value of Toyota’s hybrids—I’m not sold on the CX-50 Hybrid’s dynamics. 

From the start, I was disappointed that the hybrid system felt very conservatively tuned. It felt incongruous with the CX-50’s lively personality in its look, feel, and packaging. It didn’t move me in any enthusiastic way. 

While you can take a standard CX-30 or a CX-90 plug-in hybrid on a backroad and find an unexpectedly vivid, spirited driving experience, this is simply not what you get in the CX-50 Hybrid. The CX-50 doesn’t drive with the graceful dynamics and above-and-beyond steering and suspension response of the rest of the Mazda lineup, although the ride quality is decent on its relatively softly tuned suspension, with struts in front and a torsion-beam layout in back. 

There’s no Sport mode (that’s left for the Turbo), so I was left to choose from Normal, Power, Trail, and Power modes. Power mode kept the engine on nearly all the time and eliminated the slight lag while waiting for it to fire up for full power, but it didn’t make the CX-50 feel any perkier. You can order up lower “gears” simulated with the hybrid system, but they don’t provide all that much more engine braking or regenerative braking for hills or curves. 

The hybrid transplant improves the weight distribution of the CX-50 to 55:45 front to rear. But don’t think of that or the CX-50 Hybrid’s all-wheel-drive system as adding anything to driving dynamics in most situations. Its tuning feels more benign even than that of the RAV4, and I felt no torque delivery to the rear wheels in tight corners on a rain-slicked road. I had to pull off on a snow-covered gravel turnout on Mt. Hood to verify that yes, indeed, my tester had all-wheel drive. At low speeds and gentle throttle, it offered up precise traction to the rear wheels as needed. Trail mode optimizes grip in low-traction situations such as that, but it wasn’t even needed there. 

Just as my fellow editors pointed out about the non-hybrid CX-50, this is a loud interior, and there doesn’t seem to be markedly more sound deadening materials in the hybrid. It booms at highway speeds on anything but perfect surfaces, with road noise, not engine noise, coming up through the back of the vehicle into the cabin. Back seat passengers may have a rather fatiguing experience on long trips. 

Mazda CX-50 Hybrid goes for value

For 2025, the whole CX-50 lineup gets more features without a price increase. The CX-50 Hybrid is offered in Preferred, Premium, and Premium Plus trims. The $35,390 Preferred gets heated vinyl seats, a power driver seat, rain-sensing wipers, a wireless phone charger, and a power tailgate. The $38,820 Premium adds a panoramic sunroof, a power passenger seat with memory settings, black roof rails and exhaust tips, 12-speaker Bose audio, additional driver-assistance technology including adaptive cruise control, and optional red leather upholstery. The $42,065 Premium Plus—the one I tested—gets 19-inch alloy wheels, cooled front seats, a heated steering wheel, and power folding side mirrors. 

With some additional equipment versus non-hybrid models, the CX-50 Hybrid Preferred costs $2,320 more than an equivalent non-hybrid CX-50 Preferred—or $3,670 more than the base non-hybrid CX-50 Select. Hybrid versions of Premium and Premium Plus CX-50 trims cost $3,400 and $2,550 more, respectively, than non-hybrid versions. 

For the most part this is a pretty well-designed interior, with a simple reconfigurable gauge cluster, good sightlines, and cupholders and bins in sensible places—although the CX-50’s wireless phone charger blipped back and forth between charging and not charging not just with my iPhone but two other test devices. 

The CX-50’s infotainment system includes a 10.3-inch touchscreen, but it revolves around a hierarchical menu system that may continue to leave you flabbergasted even after you get to know it. How do you channel-surf and simply go up and down channels on satellite radio, for instance, or return back to the channel you were on if you switch accidentally? The system requires clumsily backing out of several menus for contextual “next steps” that should be a click away. The system does have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration. That worked great and you may find yourself relying on it, as Mazda’s system seems to have lost some functionality in recent years. 

Mazda makes a full suite of active-safety features standard, including automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitors, and remarkably non-invasive active lane control. But on a simple lead-and-follow adaptive cruise, that system didn’t pass the test when traffic slowed slightly, the vehicle I was following changed lanes, and another vehicle was directly ahead—requiring my last-second jab of the brake pedal.

CX-50 Hybrid: Not a niche this time, but not Mazda’s future

Mazda has seemed lost when it comes to green vehicles, like with its Mazda MX-30 EV and SkyActiv-D engine tech that failed to deliver on their potential, and with a whole suite of technologies, including SkyActiv-X and a rotary range extender, that failed to even arrive in the U.S. 

The CX-50 seems like an easy opportunity for Mazda to build on the exciting side it’s shown with its perky, nicely tuned CX-90 plug-in hybrid. After spending a couple days with it, on one hand it feels like the mass-market, efficiency-oriented model that Mazda should have had in the lineup before either of those high-effort tech oddities. But on the other hand it doesn’t have the personality we expected, even given the limitations of the hybrid system going into it.

The CX-50 simply doesn’t have the built-in refinement of the Honda CR-V Hybrid, and it doesn’t feel like it even has the perkiness of a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid.

Beyond first impressions and the curb appeal, I’d much rather be in a Honda CR-V Hybrid. The Honda has a torquier, quicker-reacting powertrain. It also handles better, its cabin feels more upscale, and it makes better use of its space. 

Mazda is however on-path to a sales record, and it boasts that 2024 is shaping up to be its first year selling more than 400,000 vehicles annually. It has a record owner loyalty of over 50%, and it expects to sell 100,000 CX-50s in 2025, with Hybrid models making up 40% of that. 

Could that path be a little more moving? We’ll leave that question to Mazda—and the adventure to you.