Mazda's Rotary is Making an Unexciting Return in 2019
Mazda is launching a new electric car next year, and it will be available with a rotary range-extender engine.
Over the recent years, Mazda has publicly said it remains committed to the rotary engine, but it’s sounding more like it won’t be used in a performance sports car. In an interview with Dutch group AutoRAI, Mazda’s European sales chief, Martijn ten Brink, said the rotary range extender will appear on a new electric car that shares its platform with the next-generation Mazda3. Although he didn’t say it conclusively, he suggested a crossover body style would make sense.
SEE ALSO: Mazda Rotary Could Serve as Range Extender in Autonomous Toyota EV
As for the rotary engine itself, it will be a single-rotor unit without a turbocharger, and its compact design takes up no more space than two shoe boxes. It’s been developed to operate so smoothly that drivers will not even notice when the rotary engine is operating.
Mazda has been testing the idea of using a rotary engine as a range extender in an electric vehicle for quite some time. The Mazda2 RE Range Extender Concept was unveiled in 2013, and it sounds like the system heading to the production car next year is similar. In the Mazda2, it was a single-rotor 0.33-liter engine that could provide an additional 111 miles of range on a full tank of gas.
Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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It is similar to our BMW i3-REx: 168 hp motor and 640 cc range extender. This really is the way to go since around town, we get cheap electric miles and only pay for gas on cross country trips.
I look forward to see how brilliant Mazda engineering outdoes the pathetic competition