Electric Mazda MX-30 with Wankel engine to Brussels

In Japan, among others, Mazda also supplies the MX-30 with a mild hybrid powertrain, but in Europe the MX-30 is always fully electric. Nevertheless, an MX-30 with a different type of powertrain will soon be coming to the Netherlands: the Mazda MX-30 R-EV, a special variant that will debut on January 13 during the Brussels Motor Show.

The Mazda MX-30 R-EV is a new variant of the MX-30, which has a brand new rotary engine that acts as a generator. The special piece of Mazda technology is therefore in fact a range extender. It is not entirely unjustified that Mazda describes the Mazda MX-30 R-EV as a ‘unique plug-in hybrid’. The Mazda MX-30 R-EV will go on sale in the spring of this year. Prices are of course not there yet.

Mazda

Almost three years ago, Mazda first reported that it would come with an MX-30 with a range extender. On paper, the MX-30 has an electric range of 200 kilometers, making it certainly not the EV with the largest range. The variant with a rotary engine may offer a solution for those who would like electric propulsion, but do not have enough of the range of the regular MX-30.

Every few years the rotary engine reappears at Mazda. For example, it used the Wankel engine as a range extender in a fleet of electric Mazdas 2 and also installed one in the RX-Vision shown in 2015. Traditionally, rotary engines have a relatively high fuel and oil consumption. Mazda previously stated that these unfavorable characteristics are less apparent when the power source functions as a range extender. Because the relatively small motor does not drive the wheels directly, but runs at the optimum possible speed to charge the battery pack, the disadvantages are minimized. Advantages of the rotary engine as a range extender: it would run relatively vibration-free and fairly quietly.