Mazda’s range extended EV built on Toyota hybrid technology

The rotary engine is not going to power the next generation Mazda RX-8, but it could power Mazda's range extended hybrid vehicles.

RX-8 leaving the rotary engine behind

And the rotary engine

The Wankel rotary engine, made famous by Mazda, will be mothballed next summer with the launch of the new RX-8, but it probably won’t be decommissioned for long.

While the rotary engine might again make its way into conventional ICE vehicles, its real future might be the hybrid space. According to Mazda, a range extended plug-in using a rotary engine could be launched as early as 2013.

Similar to the Chevy Volt, the new Mazda hybrid would always be powered by electricity — or almost always — and would use the rotary engine to convert gasoline to electricity to extend its range. Interestingly, however, Mazda is planning to use Toyota’s hybrid technology to build this new range extended vehicle.

So, could the rotary engine offer any real advantages compared to other engine types?

If that’s the only output for the rotary engine, it seems hard to believe that there will be enough scale to be cost-competitive. Nevertheless, it’s obvious that Mazda would love to somehow keep the Wankel alive.

Overall, kind of interesting that Mazda is going to build a Volt-like vehicle using Toyota hybrid technology before Toyota, but not really that surprising. It’s still all about conventional hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius and small battery plug-ins for Toyota until battery costs decline significantly. Such vehicles just offer more battery bang for the buck according to Toyota.

Source: AutoWeek

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