From one PHEV to another; Nat Barnes takes delivery of our new long-term Mazda CX-60.

List price (BiK): £40,115 (8%) CO2: 33g/km MPG/ EV range: 188.3mpg / 39 miles Test efficiency: TBC

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It probably isn’t unfair to say that, as car companies and new models go, Mazda hasn’t exactly been at the forefront of electrification. The MX-30 isn’t without appeal, but even the most hardened EV fan would admit it has a limited audience – even with the latest rotary-engined, range-extender version.

And then there’s this new CX-60. It takes a brave company to launch a new diesel into the market at the moment, but alongside this plug-in hybrid version, there’s no question that the CX-60 has some appeal. That’s particularly the case with this PHEV’s 2.5-tonne towing capacity.

So can this CX-60 PHEV perform as a late arrival to a fleet market that’s being dominated by full-blown EVs? That’s certainly what I’m hoping to find out. With a 2.5-litre petrol engine allied to a 17.8kWh battery, the Mazda boasts 33g/km emissions and a 39.15-mile EV range – originally giving it a 12% BiK rating, but officially dropped to 8% earlier this year due to rounding, as officially verified by HMRC.

Combined, that gives it an output of 327hp which is enough to drive it from 0 to 60mph in a very swift 5.8 seconds. That’s hardly slothful for what is a 2.1-tonne SUV and certainly it’s not a light car – or a small one. I have, admittedly, just stepped out of six months in a Vauxhall Astra, so I’m having to adjust my mental parameters to that of an SUV as opposed to a hatchback.

Size issues aside, I’m in the mid-range Homura trim CX-60. In Rhodium White (a £750 option) with 20-inch black metallic alloy wheels. I’ll be honest, I’m not usually a big fan of white cars but, like Editor Challen and his fashion ‘sense’, I’m all for challenging conventions. Despite that however, I have to say that I don’t not like the combination with the black alloy wheels. With autumn here and winter approaching though, I do reserve the right to have this statement thrown back in my face at a later date. I could come to regret this choice.

This particular, pre-specced car, has the Convenience Pack, Driver Assistance Pack and the Panoramic Sunroof, which bump this test car’s price up to £52,020, which is no small change, despite the fact that it’s a big car. I’ll go into more details on those packs in due course, but the CX-60 has already had a baptism of fire to Wales and back in a day, which saw the average economy nose-dive and is just recovering with some more local journeys. Watch this space…