At the end of last year, we noticed the return of the Wankel to Mazda in 2022, as a range extender. At the time, confirmation was made by Mazda's own executive director, Akira Marumoto, at the presentation of the MX-30 in Japan.
“As part of the multi-electrification technologies, the rotary engine will be employed in Mazda's lower segment models and will be introduced to the market in the first half of 2022 ″, he said.
But now, the Hiroshima maker will have put a brake on all this. Speaking to Automotive News, Mazda spokesman Masahiro Sakata said the rotary engine will not arrive in the first half of next year, as had been confirmed, and that the timing of its introduction is now uncertain.
Uncertainty is, moreover, the word that best reflects the return of Wankel to Mazda, since there are Japanese media that already write that the Japanese brand has even completely discarded the use of the rotary engine as a range extender.
Apparently, for the system to work properly, a larger battery capacity would be needed, which would make the MX-30, the model chosen by Mazda to be the first to equip this technology, too expensive.
It is important to remember that the Mazda MX-30, Mazda's first 100% electric production, was designed to receive more than one propulsion technology and in Japan it even has a combustion engine version with the lightest of hybridizations (mild -hybrid).
In Portugal it is only on sale in the 100% electric version, which is powered by an electric motor that produces the equivalent of 145 hp and 271 Nm and a lithium-ion battery with 35.5 kWh that offers a maximum autonomy of 200 km (or 265 km in city).
It remains to be seen whether Mazda has discarded this return (long awaited!) for good or if this is just a moment to “get back to hitting the needles”.