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By Jonathan Crouch

Mazda offers full-Hybrid tech - with a little help from Toyota. Jonathan Crouch drives the improved Mazda2 Hybrid.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 86

The Mazda2 Hybrid borrows everything from a fourth generation Toyota Yaris, which means that it's a full self-charging Hybrid - Mazda's first. So, everything's borrowed here, but from one of the supermini segment's most appealing and economical little small hatches. If you get the right deal and don't care about badge semantics, it's all good, especially with this lightly revised updated model. And if you can't quite stretch to one of these but want a small Mazda, there's still the ordinary mild hybrid version to consider.

Backgroundword count: 207

Meet the full-Hybrid version of the Mazda2. Except that underneath the badges, this isn't a Mazda2 and there's also another Mazda2 on sale, the one we've been familiar with since it was first launched back in 2015. Confusing isn't it? So let's try and straighten things out. That third generation 'DJ/DL'-series Mazda2 still has a bit of life in it, the car revised with new tech mild hybrid powerplants as recently as 2020. But it can't be engineered for the more electrified tech the supermini market now wants, so Mazda has drawn on its frequent partnership with Toyota to broaden the Mazda2 range. Which is why the old mild hybrid Mazda2 e-SKYACTIV-G model these days sells alongside the car we look at here, the Mazda 2 Hybrid, a rebadged version of the current Toyota Yaris. That makes this car a full-Hybrid, which means that it's engine, unlike the e-SKYACTIV-G mild hybrid unit, can run fully electrically some of the time, which makes all the difference to the efficiency figures. You can't plug it in. But you can expect to get the most economical Mazda2 ever. The brand announced some visual changes for this car for the 2024 model year, but otherwise, the recipe is much as before.

Driving Experienceword count: 269

This full-Hybrid Mazda2 is a very different product from its mild hybrid showroom stablemate - and you'll feel that immediately it zips more energetically away from rest. That has much to do with the dense cells used in the 0.76kWh lithium-ion battery that powers the two electric motor generators integral to its self-charging full-Hybrid drivetrain. This works with a 1.5-litre three cylinder petrol engine mated to an e-CVT auto gearbox that responds reasonably quickly to throttle inputs. Combined power output is 114bhp, but you'll only really feel that if you switch out of this car's usual 'Eco' drive mode and into the alternative 'Power' setting. There's a further 'EV' mode in which the car can run on battery power only for up to 0.6 miles or (in theory) at up to 31mph in totally electrified form. Rest to 62mph takes 9.7s. Beyond the city limits, you'll discover reasonably sharp handling, thanks to fairly responsive steering, a low centre of gravity and a stiff modern-era TNGA platform. You can expect refinement to be superb because it is with a Yaris Hybrid, which makes longer trips more palatable, these aided by the standardisation of 'Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control', which can automatically maintain your distance to the car in front on the highway where there's an all-electric top speed of 80mph. At lower speeds (when the battery will be your primary power source), all you really hear is a bit of muted whining under acceleration from the electrical hardware, exacerbated a little by the enhancement in regenerative braking you get when clicking the e-CVT auto gear selector into its alternative 'B' setting.

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