There's something about reviewing cars that are related to your personal vehicle that makes it extra fun and interesting. If there's a feature you don't like much, you can evaluate whether it's been fixed or improved, If there's one you love, you can see if it's been changed, broken, or improved further. That's how it is when I get into one of the new Mazda SUVs as an owner of a 2017 Mazda CX-5. The CX-5 has been great for me, reliable, and zero mechanical issues in its first 65K miles of driving. Is it a bit underpowered? Yes. But it also has some of the best interior design in the industry, making it a comfortable drive.
Zoom forward eight years and Mazda is still relying on many of the best aspects of the popular CX-5 model with its new breed of larger, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Like the 2025 Mazda CX-70 Premium Plus PHEV, which I have been driving for the last week while my older Mazda SUV sat quietly in my garage. The CX-70 is basically the same as the CX-90, a larger version of the CX-5, except the '90 has a third row of seats and the '70, with the same cabin dimensions, omits the third-row seat in favor of a large rear cargo space. The CX-90 is the successor to the three-row CX-9, if you're trying to make sense of all the model numbers, in the same way that the CX-50 is ostensibly the successor to the CX-5 (though Mazda sells both, which is legitimately puzzling).
The vehicle Mazda dropped off for my weeklong test drive was in a lovely Rhodium White Premium color with Black Nappa Leather interior:
While it's substantially longer and somewhat wider than the CX-5, the design lends itself to making the extra size almost invisible; This does not look like a three-row vehicle. I know, this is the CX-70 and doesn't have that third row of seats installed, but it's the same dimensions as the three-row CX-90 and their exteriors are identical. I really like the aggressive front grill with its symmetric air intake ports and "eyebrow" lighting above the headlights. Good curb appeal.
Sitting in the driver's seat, the biggest change over my CX-5 is that the center console is wider, which allows a different button layout and option arrangement. It's a straightforward design, with all of the infotainment system controls moved to the control area on the center console. It's such a great design to have volume, channel controls, AirPlay/Android Auto interaction controls all convenient to the driver without having to lean forward. This also shows up on vehicles from other manufacturers too, notably BMW with its excellent iDrive system.
It's hard to miss the big, bright 12'3" infotainment screen too, which is by design. It still seems a bit of an add-on to the dash design when compared to other manufacturers, but that's not necessarily unattractive. Still, at some point I expect that the dashboard will swoop up and encompass the screen.
Speaking of the center console...
You can better see the infotainment control cluster on the right, along with the mostly classic gearshift, wireless phone charging area and dual cup holder. Notice also the long strip of icon-identified climate controls too; that takes a bit of study to figure out what control is where and it seemed daft to have a temp up and separate temp down toggle when a single button that went up or down could simplify that to a single control.
Interestingly, the up/down toggle switches do show up on the steering wheel controls, which are somewhat symmetric. I do like the layout here: infotainment, talk interface, etc, are all on the left side, while the right side is dedicated to cruise controls (adaptive, of course) and related drive safety controls.
The main gauge display was rather austere, particularly for a plug-in hybrid, but it does show everything you need to know. Notice the "1mi" on the lower portion; that's how much range is left with the charge in the PHEV tech and it never did go to zero. Optimism! At its max, a full charge offered about 30 miles of EV-only range before the hybrid kicked in.
Thirty miles? What's the point? That is, of course, the fascinating tech of a plug-in hybrid: You get a short range, but it's all EV. When you use up that battery charge, the car seamlessly and automatically switches to a gas hybrid. Notice with a half-tank my estimated full range is 200, so fully charged and full gassed up, about 425mi. With a five-minute stop for gas along the way - perhaps at a Buc-ee's - for road trips.
The above fuel efficiency is a bit hard to calculate as a result: if it's charged up, the first 25-30 miles will consume zero gas, then it's I was seeing just a bit under 30mpg once the EV charge had run out. Given that my 2017 CX-5 consistently delivers 27.5mpg, I was disappointed that the CX-70 PHEV didn't have mid-30s or higher in this regard. By comparison, the Toyota RAV-4 PHEV offers around 38mpg in full hybrid mode.
Back to the infotainment screen, the big display did offer a bright, beautiful backup camera split view:
I've become so reliant on these backup cameras that it's hard to imagine parking - particularly parallel parking - without one as a fundamental part of the vehicle. The stitched-together overhead view is a boon, but it's the backup camera itself that lets me be very efficient at parking.
The 2025 Mazda CX-70 Premium Plus did have one of the nicest rear passenger climate and power control centers:
Definitely an upgrade from my 2017, for sure. Because of the longer interior space and the removal of the third row of seats in the CX-70, there was a nice amount of legroom for rear passengers too:
Notice the attractive racing stripe of the seat design too. However, also notice the surprisingly old-school lever to release the seats so they could be folded forward. Given the automated controls accessible from the very back of the vehicle (see below image), it's a surprise that these were just clumsy levers.
Speaking of the rear cargo space, as you would expect from a vehicle that sacrificed a third row of seats without changing its dimensions, the rear cargo area is spacious:
I flipped up the forward panel to show that there's a long storage well, handy because it's hidden, though inconveniently placed. Weirdly, you can lift up and out the entire cargo base and access all the wires running underneath, something that's not usually so accessible in modern vehicles.
Before I wrap up, I did want to say that I do not like the evolution of the RFID key fob from having the buttons on the wide face to having them all stuck on the edge:
I found this design required me to endlessly look at the key fob before pushing a button, which seems like an evolutionary step in the wrong direction.
Overall, I liked a lot of the refinements of the 2025 Mazda CX-70, particularly the additional space. It drove with some zip as expected from a PHEV, handled tight turns well, and was fun to pull into traffic with its extra acceleration. A few aspects felt a bit unfinished, however, notably the rear cargo area's design (why not have the hidden storage area closer to the rear for convenience?) and I was not a fan of the new key fob at all. More fundamentally, I feel that the additional cost of the PHEV technology was a bit more questionable given hybrid fuel efficiency that's only 2-3 mpg better than my non-hybrid CX-5 from eight years earlier. Perhaps the 2026 will bump this up? A vehicle worth evaluating if you're in the market for a room 5-person SUV, but with some trade-offs.
2025 Mazda CX-70 Premium Plus PHEV. BASE PRICE: $57,450. Options Included: premium paint surcharge, destination fees. AS DRIVEN: $59,420.00
Disclaimer: Mazda loaned me the CX-70 for a week in return for this candid write-up. This article originally appeared on PlanetDave.com as "Zooming Along with the 2025 Mazda CX-70 PHEV Premium Plus SUV".
