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Mazda’s rotary engine to return as a range-extender in MX-30

It has been revealed overnight Mazda's fabled rotary engine will make its return in the MX-30 electric SUV.


The 2021 Mazda MX-30 electric vehicle will receive a rotary engine as a range-extender, the company has confirmed.

Overnight, Mazda released a video with details of its MX-30, and revealed the iconic rotary engine would be fitted as an option on the small electric SUV.

Range-extenders are used like petrol generators: rather than being directly connected to the wheels via a transmission, the engine's output is used to replenish the batteries when charge is depleted – which would be after approximately 200km of driving, in the case of the MX-30.

The unique design of the rotary engine lends itself to being used as a range-extender, as its well-documented shortcomings – being lack of torque, fuel consumption, and long-term reliability – play far less of a role when being utilised as an electricity generator, running at a steady state.

Mazda first debuted the idea of a rotary range-extender in late 2013, fitting it to an electric Mazda 2 hatch prototype.

The compact 0.33-litre single-rotor engine produced up to 28kW, and while the power output may be low, the engine's job is only to deliver electricity to the battery pack and electric motor.

A spokesperson for Mazda Australia told CarAdvice: "The announcement in Japan around this engine being applied in future is the culmination of this undying belief in the rotary’s unique architecture".

"Mazda Corporation has continued to develop the engine since the RX-8 finished production, with applications including ‘range extender’ in prototypes," the spokesperson said.

A decision on whether the MX-30 would be offered in Australia was expected by the middle of this year, but an announcement on the model has been pushed to the end of 2020.


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Ben Zachariah

Ben Zachariah is an experienced writer and motoring journalist from Melbourne, having worked in the automotive industry for more than two decades. Ben began writing professionally more than 15 years ago and was previously an interstate truck driver. He completed his MBA in Finance in early 2021 and is considered an expert on classic car investment.

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