Rotary-powered Mazda MX-30 on cards for Australia in 2022

March 24, 2021March 23, 2021 Toby Hagon 2601 Views ev, mazda, MX-30, rotary engine

Mazda Australia has asked for the range extender version of the MX-30 that will see the return of a rotary engine for the first time since the RX-8 sports car was killed off.

Due in 2022, the rotary range extender will use the body of the MX-30 but with a modern iteration of the Wankel engine that is synonymous with Mazda.

“We’ve expressed our interest,” said Mazda Australia managing director Vinesh Bhindi. “If it’s available for our market we would love to have a third addition [to the MX-30 family].”

The rotary range extender would drive like an EV – presumably using the same or a similar drivetrain to the 107kW/271Nm unit used in the MX-30 Electric – but instead of a large battery pack it would use a rotary engine as a generator to supply electricity.

Mazda trialled the technology almost in 2013 in its Mazda2 city hatchback, a car we drove back then. It used a 330cc single rotor engine.

2013 Mazda 2 EV fitted with a 330cc rotary engine as a range extender to charge the batteries — In 2013 Mazda fitted its 2 city car with an electric motor and a 330cc rotary engine as a range extender to charge the batteries

Our hazy recollection was of an EV with respectable acceleration and the occasional muted hum from the rotary engine that was fitted under the boot floor where a spare tyre would usually reside.

The advantage of the rotary engine is it is very compact, so can produce a fair amount of electricity without soaking up much space in the car.

Fans of high-revving zingy rotaries may be disappointed that its application in the MX-30 range extender is set to be far more sensible and subdued, but it’s at least a return of the innovative tech that only Mazda has persisted with.

Also expect to see technical innovations and changes to optimise the rotary for its use as a generator.

Mazda MX-30 M-Hybrid — In 2022 the MX-30 will get a rotary engine as a range extender

Mazda Australia marketing chief Alastair Doak said production would start in the first quarter of 2022 with markets such as the US already in line for the MX-30 rotary range extender and that Australia could benefit “assuming we can make the business case”.

The MX-30 rotary would sit alongside the M-Hybrid – which uses a 114kW 2.0-litre engine with a very mid hybrid system – and the MX-30 Electric, which goes on sale in Australia in mid-2021.

See our exclusive first drive of the Mazda MX-30 Electric.