Reports: All-new Mazda2 Rotary – city car to go all-electric with a range extender in 2022

February 3, 2021February 19, 2021 EV Central team 1753 Views mazda ev, Mazda MX-30, Rotary

There could soon be a Mazda2 EV rotary to give the Toyota Yaris Hybrid some stiff competition, according to new reports.

The new reports suggest the next Mazda2 will debut in September this year, with the conventional engine swapped out – at least in the top-spec models – for a 1.5-litre version of the brand’s mild hybrid SKYACTIV-X engine, which will give the Japanese brand a credible alternative to the Toyota Yaris Hybrid.

While full details are yet to be revealed by the brand, the combination of a three-cylinder engine with a mild-hybrid system should be enough to produce impressive fuel figures.

That vehicle will reportedly be followed, some time in 2022, by a huge evolutionary leap for the brand’s smallest car, with Japanese media reporting a shift to a full-electric drivetrain, which will be married with a rotary-powered range extender.

The idea behind a range extender is a petrol-powered motor that’s not used to drive the wheels, but to act as a generator that recharges the batteries while on the move, which is what would happen in a Mazda2 EV rotary.

While Mazda is yet to comment publicly on the reports, we do know the brand’s electric revolution is heating up in Australia, with the brand’s MX-30 EV about to launch.

That model is equipped with an electric motor driving the front wheels and producing 107kW and 271Nm. It’s fed by a 35.5kWh battery claimded to provide an NEDC range of 224km.

AC charging up to 6.6kW can provide a full charge in as little as three hours, while 50kW DC charging (through a Type 2 CCS combo plug) lowers that to 36 minutes.