2025 Mazda CX-50 Hybrid Premium Plus - The best of both worlds!

Back in April I reviewed a non-hybrid CX-50. I thought the car was worthy of your consideration. I think this Hybrid is worthier. Why? In one word economy.

The 2025 Mazda CX-50 Hybrid is rated at 39-mpg city, and 37-mpg highway. I saw almost 39-mpg on the highway! That is darn good.

And the CX-50 Hybrid is no slouch even though its total system 219 horsepower doesn't match the Turbo's max of 256. Zero to 60 mph comes up in 7.6 seconds. That will let you merge into highway traffic seamlessly.

Instead of the non-hybrid's 6-speed automatic transmission, the Hybrid uses a CVT. The CX-50 is AWD. 

Most dimensions are identical to the non-hybrid plus or minus a tad here or there.

Although theoretically the test CX-50 is a five passenger (2 front, three rear), like most vehicles the center rear seat is best used like the picture below.

And if you have two kids leave the armrest down, it's a demarcation post.

Up front the seats were nice with some real stitiching highlighting the gray.

Relatively simple controls and a gearshift lever, and a sensibly sized screen. About perfect for me.

There's a fair amount of cargo space in the rear; 75.4" length to the front seats, and about 43" behind the rear seats. 

The 2025 Mazda CX-50 Hybrid Premium Plus weighs 4,008 lbs. Towing is limited to 1,500 lbs.

There are three CX-50 Hybrid versions - Preferred starting at $33,970, Premium at $37,400, and the as tested Premium Plus at $40,050. Prices are from mazdausa.com as of 8/16/2025.

I am sold on hybrids as "normal" vehicles (as opposed to performance or sports cars). They are cleaner than straight gasoline-powered vehicles, generally get excellent fuel economy, and they never need to be plugged in!