Thursday, 23 March 2017

Mazda Still Working on Wankel Engines, But Not Like You’d Hope

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Mazda RX Vision Concept

Mazda RX-Vision concept

Mazda has repeatedly teased—or tortured—Wankel-engine fans with the possibility of a multirotor sports car and then retracted that possibility. Now, new patent applications show the brand is once again working on the rotary, but in an application that’s likely to dash the hopes of the engine’s fans: using its iconic engine as an onboard generator, rather than the free-revving heart of a sports car.

It’s not a new idea for the brand. Mazda tested the idea a decade ago in the hydrogen-fueled, rotary-range-extended electric Mazda 5 (Premacy) minivan and more recently in the electric Mazda 2 RE Range Extender (an application similar to that of the BMW i3), which complemented an electric-only version of the Mazda 2 in Japan.

Two new U.S. patents filed by Mazda, and first reported by Autoblog, indicate that the company is still at work on that idea for a small car. One of the patents covers the layout of the Mazda 2 RE while the other points specifically to the Wankel—and a mechanism that would stop it at precisely the place in its combustion cycle that would minimize emissions while easing restarting.

Mazda rotary engine stop-start system
Mazda spokesperson Jacob Brown confirmed that the automaker continues to study and develop range-extending technologies based around the pistonless engine, and he also confirmed that Mazda is planning to launch an electric vehicle in 2019. “We can’t quite say yet where a potential EV or PHEV would be sold, as the vehicle doesn’t exist,” Brown said. “But we can confirm that Mazda is committed to delivering driving enjoyment in an environmentally responsible manner.”

Matsuhiro Tanaka, Mazda’s research and development chief for Europe, did confirm to Auto Express that the plug-in hybrid (perhaps rotary) models will enter some markets in 2021 and that the EV would be a subcompact, with lighter underpinnings than equivalent gasoline models to make up for the weight of batteries.

Mazda range-extended EV

A simple range extender may be little consolation to those hoping for a successor for the RX-8 sports car, which was discontinued in 2012. The rumor mill of rotary-engine ups and downs has been turbulent; most recently, Wankel heads had their hopes up when Mazda introduced the RX-Vision concept at the 2015 Tokyo auto show (seen at top). Executives had teased that they were working on bringing the rotary engine back to market—and that a new RX sports car could only be made with such an engine (possibly turbocharged, even). Then, just a few months ago, Mazda CEO Masamichi Kogai said that the automaker had no plans to build such a sports car above the MX-5 Miata.

Sorry, Mazda, but the idea of a Wankel engine cycling on and off to charge a battery pack—that holds none of the appeal of a racy, two- or three-rotor screamer powering a new sports car.

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