Yes, that's right, an EV with rotary engine to be revealed soon.

 

Eh take it with a lot of salt. If we even make it to 2026. If mazda exists. And so on.

 

 

an ev with a tiny rotary "generator" doesnt count as a rotary imo

 

I still think they should develop the hydrogen program more, there's been some interesting advancements in the technology for harvesting hydrogen.

 

Distribution/infrastructure is why they won't pursue hydrogen any further. For better or worse, electric is here to stay.

As for the rotary range extender, if I were at all in the market for a vehicle of the sort it would be in, I'd jump in heartbeat. We should all be rooting for it. Mazda has a dedicated rotary engine production facility, and these days it's just churning out a small number of engines for maintaining existing vehicles. A new platform with a rotary would mean the facility gets fired up, tooled up, maybe modernized a bit (it's a pretty stone age facility from what I've seen). The more money that goes into the rotary engine building facility, and the longer Mazda keeps the rotary engine going as part of its DNA, the longer we'll be able to get engines and parts down the road.

 

it’s only an explosion or two away from never being seen again …
.

 

Mazda is collaborating with Toyota to make the EV with rotary. The rotary will be used for acceleration.
Here is theMX-30 that uses it as a range extender. In the Rx-7 they will use it for power.

https://cleantechnica.com/2022/04/28...-it-next-year/

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterly...h=5ffe4ee07666

patent for name has been issued.

 

and all teh suckerfish jumps into the net …
.

 

Been hoping Mazda would do something more exciting with the range extender rotary than the MX30 . Lets hope it comes to fruition!

 

It's not a real car.

 

yeah, try to remember that the RX-01 concept car for the RX8 debuted in 1995; not going to see it hit the production line for many years imo, if ever.

 

Fueling the myth of the upcoming mazda rotary
https://www.drive.com.au/news/toyota...d-4ce35049147a

 

Whole lot of 'reported' and 'rumored' in there.

We all fell for the 2015 RX9 'Unveiling'.
I'll believe it when I see it.

 

More of the same but with link to the japanese article that may started it.

https://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-ne...box=1660555868

 

Spam post deleted.

 

well in all honesty, if it was an AWD EV drivetrain like the Tesla with a rotary generator support engine it would likely end up being the fastest “rotary” engine street car Mazda ever built.

.

 

https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-new...nch-as-a-260kw

So they are doing something similar to what I am getting ready to do to my RX-8 with revr.tech

2 front wheel electric motors, 1 driveshaft mounted electric motor, and a 2 ROTOR ICE powering the backwheels along with the 3rd electric motor.

I have been saving up and talking with revr.tech and they expect to have a v3 prototype ready for me by march 2025. It is with 2 700nm front wheel motors.

In both cases the vehicle(the new rx-7 and my rx-8 will
1) Run electric only for short trips
2) Run gas alone
3) Run both together for AWD performance boost.

The greatest part for the rx-8 is not wearing it out with 5 mile trips, and being able to start the engine and allow it to warmup while using electric.

 

I just want the RX-Vision, that's all.

 

Sounds awesome . Do have concerns over how heavy yours will be though?

 

Yes this will be a concern. The motors themselves way a bit over 80lbs each, and the biggest weight will be the battery. So the minimum is 200lbs and maximum 600lbs. If I undersize the battery my short electric trips will be really short(<50 miles, and combined mode will only be available for 30-60 minutes of spirited driving. By the time I am building I expect solid state batteries will feasibly reduce this by 1/2. so I think it will impact handling, but with the wheels up front and the battery in the trunk it should be possible to keep close to 50/50. My plan then is to reduce weight of wheels and tires as much as possible. I have trimmed off about 70 lbs with a complete custom exhaust, so that helps. I would want the ICE battery to be one of the new lightweight lithiums as well. It would just be a matter of determining the best positioning for it. Thinking about this I am now wondering if there might be able to have the electric car battery sub for the ICE battery, reducing another 20 lbs. Then while I am at it, I wonder if I could setup a slight charge from the alternator to the battery, but thats stretching it.

I forgot to mention in the last post, 700nm is ~521 ft/lb of torque. I am hoping the awd and increased torque will make it worthwhile. I foresee potentially snapping the front axle, may need an upgrade.

The RX-Vision will obviously be superior. My kit doesn't have a lot of the perks of electric, like regenerative braking, recharging through ice, etc.

 

The trouble I see here is... The weight.

We all saw what happened to BMW M5. 2.5 ton monstrosity, and that's with 40 km or so of fully-electric range. Coincidentally, this is on par with CX-90 PHEV, and the weight is pretty close for these two cars, with BMW obviously having more performance and Mazda having more practicality.

Sure, rotaries are lighter than a twin turbo V8, but if you want usable all-electric range for commuting unlike a MHEV or even THS, it ain't gonna be light. I can see this thing easily going over 2 tons if they go with the PHEV route...

For reference, the MX-30 R-EV is already like 1.8 tons. Not light by any stretch of imagination.

So you are essentially using the setup 2nd Gen Honda/Acura NSX used. Two front wheel motors, then your ICE and another electric motor in the back.

That's a generally okay setup, but keep in mind that, even with that level of price tag and budget for cutting edge tech and weight reduction, the car is still close to 1.8 tons.

Also, why put the powerful electric motors on the front axle? You wanna emulate the good'ld days of torque steering wrestling on Mazdaspeed3s? Acura NSX's front wheel motors are very small (54 lb-ft torque each), and that's realistically all you need.

Lastly, solid state batteries go in the same "I will believe it when I see it" bin. Toyota put that much money into R&D and still isn't releasing a mass production version. Samsung is supposedly coming out with a mass-produced version but A. the price isn't gonna be pretty and B. given Samsung's track record (*cough*Note 7*cough*)... not sure if I wanna be the white mice for this stuff.

 

it will be a battle to see if you shoot your eye out or burn your house down first.
.

 

I just don't get why you need that much all-electric range on a performance ICE car. That's basically the same question you have to ask about the BMW M5.

Yes, a good hybrid setup helps performance, but you don't have to make the batteries so big it has to do full EV for 40 to 50 km. If you are driving a BMW M5 or making a hybrid RX-8, it's very reasonable to assume gas cost isn't a big deal to you.

To me, if you want a short EV trip, there are old Nissan Leafs out there you can buy for like $5k or less. Ugly yes, slow yes, short range yes, but if you are just saving wear and tear on a performance car then it's really not a bad idea. Supposedly there are Leafs with batteries so worn they can only do 20 miles on a charge. Some parents still buy them to send kids to school and back.

200lbs of battery is all you need with current battery tech. Bonus that you don't have to wait for solid state tech that's perpetually "ready next year, pinky promise!" That's about how much battery a Prius or - if you want a cooler example - C63 S E has.

IMHO PHEV makes for excellent commuter cars, but terrible performance cars.