The Wankel Rotary Engine Could End Up in the Mazda MX-30 EV
It was late 2019 when we reported that Mazda was bringing an all-new EV into its lineup at the Tokyo Auto Show and that model – based on the e-TPV 2 prototype and the CX-30 to some extent – turned out to be the MX-30 EV. The problem is that the MX-30 doesn’t have a big battery pack. With 35.5-kWh worth of battery hidden away in an all-new platform, the MX-30 finds itself sitting between the Hyundai Ioniq (28 kWh) and the Nissan Leaf (40 kWh.) At the time, we speculated exactly why we needed the single-rotor rotary engine as a range extender – with 130 miles of range, the MX-30 just isn’t suitable for most people here in the U.S.
Hell, the MX-30 even has a door configuration that pays tribute to the Mazda RX-8, so it really fits in the grand scheme of things.
Now, a new release from Mazda all but confirms that the very same single-rotor engine range extender from the Mazda 2 EV prototype could find its way into the MX-30 as, you guessed it, a range extender.
As previously mentioned, the MX-30’s 143-horsepower electric motor pulls power from that small battery pack and delivers just 130 miles of range per charge. And, so far, there have been no plans to bring the MX-30 to the United States, but it’s largely believed that’s because it can’t be competitive in a world full of long-range electric vehicles like the Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model Y, or the Mercedes EQC, for example. If Mazda really does transplant a small rotary into the CX-30, strictly as a range extender, it would kill three birds with one stone – it completely eliminates the issues associated with range anxiety, and it eliminates the burden of having to spend significant amounts of time at charging stations on longer trips.
As an example of how the rotary works as a range extender, we can look back to that Mazda2 prototype. The single-rotor engine in that car displaced just 0.333 liters and produced just 38 horsepower (28 kW.) It only weighed 220 pounds and was paired with a small
2.3-gallon gas tank. Mazda estimated that it could double the range of the prototypes 20-kWh battery, so pair a slightly larger gas tank with a 0.5-liter rotary, for example, and the MX-30 could easily be good for 300 miles or more on a single charge and light fill-up. Emissions would be slim, and almost everyone would be happy.
Unfortunately, the world has evolved to a point that we’ll probably never see a Wankel rotary used in a true performance application again, but at least it lives on in one way or another. Now, we just have to wait and see if Mazda will really use it as a range extender and if the MX-30 will actually come to the U.S.
2021 Mazda MX-30
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The 2020 Mazda MX-30 Electric Crossover Has Sporty Ambitions
Long Live Mazda’s Wankel Rotary Engine!!!