Review: 2025 Mazda CX-50 Hybrid

An interesting variation of one of my favourite vehicles – including a powertrain from another company.

Review and photos by Tom Sedens. Please note the exterior pictures are of a 2023 model I reviewed. It is identical, save the Hybrid badging and having 20″ rims, versus my review vehicle’s 19″-ers. The weather simply did not allow me to take passable exterior pictures of this one. There are always more photos at the end of my reviews.

Front Quarter Turned

Pricing: 2025 Mazda CX-50 

Base price (Hybrid GTtrim): $

Options: $30o Polymetal Grey Metallic paint

Freight: $2,095

A/C tax: $100

Price as tested: $50,845

Dash Detail

 

Exterior

I still love the exterior styling on the CX-50. It’s handsome, combining a more squared-off silhouette than the CX-5. A long hood, lower roof, wide rear haunches and plenty of lower plastic cladding combine for a more aggressive, rugged appearance – without going overboard. There are (mostly) fake air intakes and vents on the front and rear fascias – although they’re basically for aesthetics, they also don’t feel excessive or silly and add a nice touch. All together, it looks powerful, refined and ready for an active lifestyle.

LED headlights and tail lights are bright and highly visible, as are the driving signature lights.

Front

The whole package is finished off with a set of handsome 19-inch rims shod with chunky 255/55-sized tires.

There is nothing that obviously sets this Hybrid model apart from the others visually, except the Hybrid badging on the cowls and the trunk lid.

 

Interior/Tech/Convenience

The CX-50’s modern lines continue on the inside. The styling is clean and functional and, for the most part, paired with lovely materials. There’s plenty of soft-touch stuff going on, contrasting criss-cross stitching on leather-like trim, etc. The entire centre console is hard plastic, and so is the lower dash, although that’s not unusual in this category.

Dash Wide

The heated steering wheel is standard Mazda fare, which is to say excellent. It feels great in hand and sits in front of a hybrid gauge cluster – analog instruments flank a central 7″ digital speedometer which can display its information in numerous ways.

The leather-upholstered seats are heated, ventilated and upholstered in leather. I don’t say this very often, but I didn’t find these seats, in particular the lower cushions which felt quite hard, to be the most comfortable thrones for me. They are well bolstered though, and offer excellent support for sportier driving.

Front Seats

The centre-mounted 10.25-inch screen is sharp and beautiful to look at. The interface allows for control from the rotary knob on the console or as a touchscreen (but only when Apple CarPlay is engaged – unfortunately it’s also a bit too far away to be reached comfortably as a touchscreen). The 12-speaker BOSE sound system is fantastic – Mazda’s typical volume knob and some quick access buttons can be found on the console.

Hmi Controller

There’s a massive panoramic sunroof with a powered sunshade overhead.

There’s a boatload of driver assistance technology. In this trim, you get a 360-degree surround-view camera with front and rear parking sensors, a bright, clear heads-up display, blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, Smart City braking support to avoid front and rear collisions, traffic sign recognition and pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning and lane keep assist.

Touchscreen

 

Rear Seats

The two outboard seats in the back are heated and spacious, offering up plenty of leg and head room. I’m 5’10”, and had about 3-4 inches to spare each way. The middle position isn’t great – it’s narrow, has to straddle a large floor tunnel and any passenger there will need to contend with the centre console that protrudes well into the rear seat area’s knee space.

Rear Seats

The back of the console houses adjustable air vents and two USB charging plugs. The middle seatback folds down to become an armrest with a couple of cupholders. There are two sets of ISOFIX anchors for child seats.

Rear Console

 

Storage

There are a few cubbies here and there on the centre console, including one at the front edge and underneath the armrest lid – it’s an angled wireless charging space for your phone. The clamshell armrest lid opens to reveal another small carpeted bin.

The power trunklid opens to reveal a high load floor and 826L of cargo space, which is in the ballpark but by the numbers, smaller than the competition. Fold the second-row seats down (they split 60/40) and you get a much bigger 1595L to work with.

Trunk

 

Under the Hood

Motivating this CX-50 is a 2.5L 4-cylinder hybrid sourced from Toyota. It puts out 219 HP and a combined system torque rating of only 163 lb.ft of torque. Of course, coming from Toyota, it’s paired to a CVT and the all-wheel drive is e-AWD, meaning the system uses a total of three electric motors to augment the gas engine’s power.

The point here is obviously the fuel economy – it’s rated at 6.1/6.4 L/100 km (city/highway). It was a pretty average January week, weather-wise for us – some warmer, some extreme cold, and we only ended up with an average of 8L/100 km, which isn’t really that astounding. It was a brand-new vehicle, so I think we can assume this will improve over time.

Hybrid Badge

 

The Drive

Here’s where things get interesting. I have always loved Mazdas for a number of reasons, one of them being how they drive. Even the non-turbo models are highly reactive to inputs and are quite fun to drive. And somehow that gets lost here. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since much of what’s underneath comes from Toyota, but somehow, this is the least fun CX I’ve driven. It’s not particularly powerful – and that’s not its fault. It also doesn’t like to play, where other Mazdas seem happy to play in the snow. This one is grumpy and will just rely on all the electronics to rein in the fun. That said, the typical driver will likely be 100% OK with how this drives. It’s not like it’s incompetent in any way – but it doesn’t feel Mazda-like somehow.

Drive Modes

It’s a small change, but you can see the Toyota influence in the shifter as well – Mazdas usually have an “M” mode if you throw the gear selector to the left, but this one has an “S” mode, just like you’ll find in Toyotas.

The driver can select Mi-drive modes, allowing choices of Normal, Power and Trail which tries to maximize traction. You can also choose to drive in EV mode although your range will be very limited, due to the small battery size.

Ev Button

Handling and ride are still superb. In true Mazda fashion, the ride is quite firm but never uncomfortable and the CX-50 can be thrown into corners without any drama.

The regenerative brakes are mushy and quite a departure from what I’m used to from Mazda, but of course that’s a big part of how the hybrid system charges its battery. You get used to it.

 

The Verdict

WAF (Wife Approval Factor) was quite high. She doesn’t care as much about performance, and liked how the vehicle looks overall and how it drives. She has never loved Mazda’s volume knob on the console and always complains about this.

Waf Volume Knob

I’m a bit torn on this one. I really, really love the CX-50 generally-speaking. It’s available with gas-only options – the normal 2.5L 4-cylinder or the mighty turbocharged version. Both are excellent choices, and neither will provide the (theoretical) outstanding fuel economy as this Hybrid trim will. I’m a big fan of hybrids, and I thought I would love this one. But I do not. I love the vehicle, but if it was my money, I’d probably just stick with the smaller 4-cylinder if I cared about fuel economy or the turbo if I cared more about performance. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this hybrid, and being a Toyota-sourced system, I’m certain it will prove to be highly reliable as well. In the end, I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the CX-50 options – I just don’t think the hybrid is the one for me.

Rear Quarter

Disclosure:  Vehicle was provided by Mazda Canada.

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