September 5, 2019

Mazda Marks the Return of the Rotary Engine, Technically.


Your eyes aren’t deceiving you. This is the first modern Mazda to gain a rotary engine, well technically. See, it’s the company’s test bed for their own electric vehicle technology and one that can be speced with a rotary engine range extender.

Mechanical details are still scarce as of the moment, but the test vehicle, dubbed the e-TPV or Electric Test Prototype Vehicle is based off the CX-30—a strong indicator that the Skayctiv-Vehicle Architecture is meant to fit an EV / electrified powertrain.

In its current test form, it produces about 140 horsepower and 265 Nm of torque. Without the rotary engine that acts as a power generator, a range of 200 kilometers is expected, but that’ll grow to 500 kilometers with the Wankel installed. Mazda says that a rotary is perfect as a range extender because it’s quiet, vibration-free, and very compact.

The resulting production vehicle based on the e-TPV is expected to debut this October at the Tokyo Motor Show along with a new Vision Sedan Concept which will showcase the brand’s 3.0-liter inline-6 Skyactiv-X engine and rear-wheel drive architecture for the first time.

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