It will debut in the next 11 months.
The rotary engine will serve as a generator and extend the MX-30’s limited EV range.
With the exception of its dramatically limited 161 km range, the Mazda MX-30 is a very interesting urban crossover. It is pleasant to drive and uniquely (à la Mazda) styled but its appeal ends there in the ever-increasingly competitive electric vehicles.
To address range concerns, Mazda will make good on its promise to bring back the rotary engine last seen a decade ago in the cool RX-8. The engine’s ultra-compact size makes it an ideal generator to feed the electric motor and battery.
According to Automotive News, the range-extended MX-30 will become available before the end of Mazda’s current fiscal year which ends on March 31st 2023. Oddly, AN refers to this iteration of the MX-30 as a plug-in, which it isn’t.
The rotary engine will not power the front drive wheels directly. The configuration is identical to that of the Chevrolet Volt which also included a petrol engine to increase overall range. On that subject, it’s not clear if the RE Range Extender (Rotary Engine Range Extender) MX-30 will maintain the 35.5 kWh battery from the full EV version.
Finally, another issue with the Mazda MX-30 is, in Canada at least, that it is very expensive, on par or nearly with EVs with twice as much range. The RE Range Extender, even if the range increases to 400 km, cannot and should not be more expensive than the EV.
