Occasionally, the price of modern conveniences can come at a cost. While it’s cool to have your car’s tailgate slowly open automatically as you wait with both hands carrying groceries, it’s another story altogether if it was raining cats and dogs and you’re still standing there like a drenched idiot as the tailgate rises at the same rate as paint dries.

Mazda thinks it’s got a solution for this with the CX-30 in the form of a two-speed motorised tailgate.

Carbuzz came across some patent filings from the USPTO that details a two-speed motor for the tailgate.

It doesn’t mess with the convenient handsfree concept but simply allows for an increased speed under certain circumstances.

As usual, the car will detect the proximity of the key fob but instead of using that info to ascertain if it’s safe to open, it’s also used to determine which of the two speeds to open at.

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If they key is deemed too close to the tailgate, such as when you swipe your foot under the rear bumper, the tailgate will open or close at an average of 11.8-15.7 inches per second.

However, if you take a step back, the CX-30 will sense the increased distance and increase the speed of the tailgate to 17.7-21.6 inches per second; approximately 50 percent quicker.

One of the biggest frustrations with modern technology with multiple functions is when the device doesn’t behave in the intended manner consistently.

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The same goes here, there’s no real way to determine if stepping back will initiate the higher operating speed. If say the person is vertically-challenged, would one step back be sufficient for the system to detect an increased distance between the tailgate?

Nothing against short people here. We’re always looking out for you guys… often literally because we can’t see you.

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Further complicating the process is a remotely operated tailgate. Mazda though has thought of this and made a provision for an “image capturing means,” likely a sensor that can detect if an object is too close to the tailgate, and hence will run on the slower speed.

Nonetheless, it remains to be seen if the system functions as intended in the real world. There’s often a significant lack of overlap between theory and practice. If it does work, it’s definitely the most Mazda way of improving life though and another reason why we love the Hiroshima carmaker.