Mazda is experimenting with affixing a rotary engine range-extender to electric versions of its 2 subcompact hatch.
For those holding on to hope that Mazda will revive the rotary engine for a successor to the RX-8, we suggest you stop gripping so tightly. The automaker's performance ambitions, as in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, now rest with diesels. Still, Felix Wankel's rotary may be back in a different capacity, working as a back up in an electric 2.
Mazda is conducting an engineering study with a prototype model it calls the 2 RE Range Extender. It's based on the brand's Japanese-market limited-lease 2 EV, but has a 38-hp, 333-cc rotary engine—and a 2.6-gallon fuel tank—mounted beneath the trunk, which spins a generator via a belt. This provides electricity for the lithium-ion battery housed beneath the floor, which supplies juice for the 101-hp electric motor powering the front wheels. Mazda says that upgrading its EV with the range-extending equipment should up range from 120 miles to more than 200.
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Mazda says that it opted to use a rotary in this application because of the engine's quietness, lack of vibration, and compact size. Of course, there's also the nostalgic "Historical Mazda brand equity" of the rotary.
from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com
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